Why not include meat alternatives to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended foods? That way people could get yet another way to dine on produce.
COOKSON BEECHER: If you want to see a lot of people become unhinged, try floating this: why not include meat alternatives such as plant-based burgers to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended foods? Especially, since the recently released report from the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee extols the health benefits of eating a lot of vegetables and fruits…
While this line of thinking might make perfect sense to some people, especially those agreeing with the federal departments that people should limit how much meat they eat, it would, of course, cause fireworks among groups that raise livestock such as cows, pigs, chickens, and lamb. After all, in their minds — and in the minds of many consumers —meat is the backbone of a healthy diet. This has long been a firm dietary belief in the United States…
Not that everyone will abide by the guidelines. After all, french fries and Dorito chips are tempting. But the hope is that people will substitute healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and lean meats… for junk food… Notice that they didn’t cut out meat altogether. But when it comes to beef, it needs to be lean… These sensible changes will mean healthier school lunches for our children, better nutritional advice for all, and progress in the fight against climate change,” said Erik Olson, Senior Strategic Director of the Health Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council…
Top of the list is overweight and obesity… more than 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. More alarming than that: the prevalence of severe obesity has increased over the past two decades… And while the high rates of overweight and obesity are a public health problem in themselves… they also can lead to prevalent diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer…
As for plant-based burgers such as the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat burgers, Danielle Beck, a policy guru, and Shalene McNeill, one of the association’s nutritionists, warn that those types of options are processed — made with a lot of ingredients. And they contain a lot of sodium… According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, diets higher in sodium are associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, which is a major cause of stroke and heart disease…
On the other side of the fence, Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown said that the critics of plant-based meats are missing the point; “Our product is substantially better for the consumer than what it replaces,” he told CNBC… According to a long-term study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, researchers found that swapping only 3 percent of total calories in the diet from animal to plant protein was linked to a 10 percent decrease in the risk of death…
Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant-Based Foods Association said she is pleased to see the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee follow the science on recommending a mostly plant-based diet while reducing saturated fats as well as red and processed meats… But when asked if the dietary guidelines should include recommendations in favor of plant-based meats, Simon said the ball is in the consumer’s court. SOURCE…
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