Seeking Alternative Protein Health Research Status Update
I believe animal welfare should be a top cause area and I see alternative proteins as a key way to address it. However, in conversations with colleagues, friends, and family (including EAs), a common concern I hear is skepticism about the health impacts of these products.
I’m wondering if there’s a place where evidence on the health impacts of various alternative proteins is synthesized and clearly explained (e.g., did the data come from RCTs or observational data?; what gaps exist?). If not, I would love to be linked to studies that address this concern.
A lot of existing media (example) explains that meat substitutes are NOT “health foods,” but what’s often missing is clarity on whether they’re at least nutritionally equivalent to meat or if they pose unique health concerns that meat doesn’t.
This matters because, for high-income consumers (who often have a high willingness to pay), uncertainty around health impacts can be a significant barrier to adoption.
I’m curious about content/research covering multiple alternative protein categories:
Meat Alternatives: Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, and similar plant-based “meats.”
Egg and Dairy Alternatives: JUST Egg, plant-based milks (e.g., oat, almond, soy).
Traditional Plant Proteins: Tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc.
Meal Replacements: Products like Soylent, Huel, and similar nutritionally complete options.
Maybe examples like this already exist, and I’ve missed them. If so, please point me in the right direction! If not, I think developing and sharing this information would be useful.
Photo from Thrillist.
Kudos for catching on to a barrier to adoption which is still somehow under-discussed[1].
I haven’t come across exactly what you’re looking for but I am working on a long post going through every micronutrient and flagging which ones vegans and vegetarians are more likely to be deficient in, going beyond just the iron and B12 issues most people know about. I’m including mentions of where consumption of some specific traditional plant foods could help someone with a specific deficiency, having read your post I now think I should also see where the alternative products can fit in.
One of the advantages of cultivated meat in terms of public adoption will be getting to sidestep the nutritional content issue. It does look like some products will deliberately introduce differences which might be nutritional improvements (eg. different fat profiles) but there will definitely be demand for an “as close to a clone of the non-cultivated alternative as possible”.
Anyways, if no one digs up anything which directly addresses this I’d be willing to also write up a non-expert review of whatever literature is available.
To give us credit, we are up against a long history of ignorance and dishonesty regarding the nutritional differences between vegan and omnivore diets; I shouldn’t complain about how long it takes to turn around an oil tanker.
Hi Clifford,
Here you can find some info regarding plant-based meats:
https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=plant-based%20meat