What are the effects of plant-based meats on premature puberty, childhood obesity, and hip fracture risk?
Plant-Based Meat Substitutes Put to the Test
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
As noted in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association on plant-based meat alternatives, just looking at the nutrition facts info of a regular burger versus Beyond Meat or the Impossible Burger, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to predict the health consequences without further studies. But we’ve had plant-based meat alternatives for over a century. I mean, who wouldn’t want a can of good eatin’ Protose? It is, after all, the modern vegetable meat patent filed by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in 1899.
Of course, “products such as tofu and tempeh have existed in Asia for centuries,” but I think of those as separate foods in their own right, as opposed to products intentionally designed to mimic the taste and texture of meat. With such a rich history, harkening back to the days of pass-the-Proteena, you’d think there’d be some studies of consumers. And indeed, there are. For example, girls who eat meat may start their periods six months earlier than girls who don’t. Is it just because they’re eating lots of protein and fat? Evidently not, because girls who instead are eating meat analogues, like veggie burgers and veggie dogs, are able to delay menstruation by nine months. Of course, it’s hard to tease out how much of that is just from avoiding meat. But compared with girls who eat meat just a few times a week, those who ate meat a few times a day had a significantly earlier age of first menstruation, which also may help provide an explanation for why childhood meat consumption is linked to breast cancer later in life, since the earlier you start your period, the higher your lifetime risk.
Now, obesity itself may contribute to the early onset of puberty in girls. So, that could be another factor. Studies have suggested vegetarian children tend to be leaner than nonvegetarian children. They aren’t smaller in general, though. Vegetarian boys and girls may measure up to be about an inch taller than their classmates; they just aren’t as wide. So, the fact that girls who eat plant-based meats may be less likely to suffer from premature puberty may, in part, be because they were leaner.
Indeed, childhood obesity research found meat consumption seemed to double the odds of schoolchildren becoming overweight, compared to the consumption of plant-based meat. Now, whole plant food sources of protein, such as beans, did even better though, associated with cutting in half the odds of kids becoming overweight. So, that’s why I consider these kinds of plant-based meats more of a useful stepping stone towards a healthier diet, rather than the endgame ideal. The same amount of protein in a bean burrito would be better in nearly every way.
Similarly, in terms of hip fracture risk, in the Adventist 2 study following tens of thousands of men and women for years, daily intake of plant-based meats appeared to reduce the risk of hip fracture by nearly half; but daily legume intake—beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils—may drop risk of hip fracture by even more, nearly two thirds.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Hu FB, Otis BO, McCarthy G. Can Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Be Part of a Healthy and Sustainable Diet? JAMA. 2019;1-3.
- "Gordon W, Gantori S, Gordon J, Leemann R, Boer R. The food revolution: the future of food and the challenges we face. UBS. July 2019."
- Lake Union Herald. 1960;52(49):14.
- The Modern Vegetable Meat.
- Kellogg JH. Vegetable-food compound. March 19, 1901.
- Wild F, Czerny M, Janssen AM, Kole APW, Zunabovic M, Domig KJ. The evolution of a plant-based alternative to meat. From niche markets to widely accepted meat alternatives. Agro Food Ind Hi-Tech. 2014;25:45-9.
- Dinner varieties with Loma Linda. The Record. 12.
- Kissinger DG, Sanchez A. The association of dietary factors with the age of menarche. Nutr Res. 1987;7:471-9.
- Jansen EC, Marín C, Mora-Plazas M, Villamor E. Higher Childhood Red Meat Intake Frequency Is Associated with Earlier Age at Menarche. J Nutr. 2015;146(4):792-8.
- Li W, Liu Q, Deng X, Chen Y, Liu S, Story M. Association between Obesity and Puberty Timing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(10):1266.
- Newby PK. Plant foods and plant-based diets: protective against childhood obesity?. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89(5):1572S-87S.
- Sabaté J, Lindsted KD, Harris RD, Sanchez A. Attained height of lacto-ovo vegetarian children and adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1991;45(1):51-8.
- Sabaté J, Wien M. Vegetarian diets and childhood obesity prevention. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91(5):1525S-9S.
- Lousuebsakul-Matthews V, Thorpe DL, Knutsen R, Beeson WL, Fraser GE, Knutsen SF. Legumes and meat analogues consumption are associated with hip fracture risk independently of meat intake among Caucasian men and women: the Adventist Health Study-2. Public Health Nutr. 2014;17(10):2333-43.
Video production by Glass Entertainment
Motion graphics by Avocado Video
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
As noted in an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association on plant-based meat alternatives, just looking at the nutrition facts info of a regular burger versus Beyond Meat or the Impossible Burger, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to predict the health consequences without further studies. But we’ve had plant-based meat alternatives for over a century. I mean, who wouldn’t want a can of good eatin’ Protose? It is, after all, the modern vegetable meat patent filed by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in 1899.
Of course, “products such as tofu and tempeh have existed in Asia for centuries,” but I think of those as separate foods in their own right, as opposed to products intentionally designed to mimic the taste and texture of meat. With such a rich history, harkening back to the days of pass-the-Proteena, you’d think there’d be some studies of consumers. And indeed, there are. For example, girls who eat meat may start their periods six months earlier than girls who don’t. Is it just because they’re eating lots of protein and fat? Evidently not, because girls who instead are eating meat analogues, like veggie burgers and veggie dogs, are able to delay menstruation by nine months. Of course, it’s hard to tease out how much of that is just from avoiding meat. But compared with girls who eat meat just a few times a week, those who ate meat a few times a day had a significantly earlier age of first menstruation, which also may help provide an explanation for why childhood meat consumption is linked to breast cancer later in life, since the earlier you start your period, the higher your lifetime risk.
Now, obesity itself may contribute to the early onset of puberty in girls. So, that could be another factor. Studies have suggested vegetarian children tend to be leaner than nonvegetarian children. They aren’t smaller in general, though. Vegetarian boys and girls may measure up to be about an inch taller than their classmates; they just aren’t as wide. So, the fact that girls who eat plant-based meats may be less likely to suffer from premature puberty may, in part, be because they were leaner.
Indeed, childhood obesity research found meat consumption seemed to double the odds of schoolchildren becoming overweight, compared to the consumption of plant-based meat. Now, whole plant food sources of protein, such as beans, did even better though, associated with cutting in half the odds of kids becoming overweight. So, that’s why I consider these kinds of plant-based meats more of a useful stepping stone towards a healthier diet, rather than the endgame ideal. The same amount of protein in a bean burrito would be better in nearly every way.
Similarly, in terms of hip fracture risk, in the Adventist 2 study following tens of thousands of men and women for years, daily intake of plant-based meats appeared to reduce the risk of hip fracture by nearly half; but daily legume intake—beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils—may drop risk of hip fracture by even more, nearly two thirds.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Hu FB, Otis BO, McCarthy G. Can Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Be Part of a Healthy and Sustainable Diet? JAMA. 2019;1-3.
- "Gordon W, Gantori S, Gordon J, Leemann R, Boer R. The food revolution: the future of food and the challenges we face. UBS. July 2019."
- Lake Union Herald. 1960;52(49):14.
- The Modern Vegetable Meat.
- Kellogg JH. Vegetable-food compound. March 19, 1901.
- Wild F, Czerny M, Janssen AM, Kole APW, Zunabovic M, Domig KJ. The evolution of a plant-based alternative to meat. From niche markets to widely accepted meat alternatives. Agro Food Ind Hi-Tech. 2014;25:45-9.
- Dinner varieties with Loma Linda. The Record. 12.
- Kissinger DG, Sanchez A. The association of dietary factors with the age of menarche. Nutr Res. 1987;7:471-9.
- Jansen EC, Marín C, Mora-Plazas M, Villamor E. Higher Childhood Red Meat Intake Frequency Is Associated with Earlier Age at Menarche. J Nutr. 2015;146(4):792-8.
- Li W, Liu Q, Deng X, Chen Y, Liu S, Story M. Association between Obesity and Puberty Timing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(10):1266.
- Newby PK. Plant foods and plant-based diets: protective against childhood obesity?. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89(5):1572S-87S.
- Sabaté J, Lindsted KD, Harris RD, Sanchez A. Attained height of lacto-ovo vegetarian children and adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1991;45(1):51-8.
- Sabaté J, Wien M. Vegetarian diets and childhood obesity prevention. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91(5):1525S-9S.
- Lousuebsakul-Matthews V, Thorpe DL, Knutsen R, Beeson WL, Fraser GE, Knutsen SF. Legumes and meat analogues consumption are associated with hip fracture risk independently of meat intake among Caucasian men and women: the Adventist Health Study-2. Public Health Nutr. 2014;17(10):2333-43.
Video production by Glass Entertainment
Motion graphics by Avocado Video
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Title
Plant-Based Meat Substitutes Put to the Test
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
This is the fourth in a nine-part video series on plant-based meats. If you missed the first three, see:
- The Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Meat Substitutes
- Are Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger Healthful?
- Are Pea and Soy Protein Isolates Harmful?
Stay tuned for:
- The Health Effects of Mycoprotein (Quorn) Products vs BCAAs in Meat
- What About the Heme in Impossible Burgers?
- Does Heme Iron Cause Cancer?
- Heme-Induced N-Nitroso Compounds and Fat Oxidation
- Is Heme the Reason Meat Is Carcinogenic?
If you don’t want to wait for all nine of the videos in this series to roll out on NutritionFacts.org, you can get them right now in a digital download from my webinar a few months ago.
If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to our free newsletter. With your subscription, you'll also get notifications for just-released blogs and videos. Check out our information page about our translated resources.
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