Healthy living & lifestyle
A market of many options According to Kathryn Burton-Pimentel, scientific researcher and registered dietitian at Agroscope, the Swiss Confederation’s centre of excellence for agricultural research, the association between plant- based products and health is a common misconception among consumers. “There are some advantages and some disadvantages,” she notes. “We have to consider, for example, the type of products and how they’re processed to really assess what the impact is in terms of health – we can’t just assume that plant-based equals healthy in this particular arena.” The marketing departments for many PBDA products are responsible for this assumption, which has led consumers to expect PBDAs to be similar or identical to their dairy counterparts in terms of nutrition. This often isn’t the case, especially when it comes to key nutrients like protein, calcium and vitamin B12. A 2022 study published in the journal Nutrients looked at 245 plant-based cheese alternatives and found that the majority contained less protein than their dairy counterparts. And it’s not only cheese alternatives that are lacking in protein, calcium or other nutrients, yoghurt and ice-cream alternatives suffer in this area as well. That’s not to say that dairy alternatives cannot possess these qualities, but they require additional fortification to ensure the desired micronutrient levels that are found in dairy. However, since there is no legislation in place in neither the UK, the US or Europe that require PBDAs to aim for a certain level of nutrition, this can cause confusion for those consumers attempting to read between the labels. There are groups looking to change this, including the FDA in the US that has recently requested PBDAs possess a base level for nutrients in correspondence to dairy products or at least make any gap clear to the consumer.
Nutrients and negatives Not all PBDAs are equal either. Just as rice-based products often have higher sugar levels when compared with other dairy alternatives, coconut products have considerably higher saturated fat levels. While this leads to an improved mouthfeel closer to dairy, it also robs PBDAs of one of the big health benefits they possess over dairy. Soy and pea products offer the closest nutrient profile to their dairy counterparts when it comes to protein. Such drinks frequently possess similar or even higher amounts than dairy milk, and other PBDAs are often fortified with either soy or pea protein to boost their nutrient content. While there remain concerns over the bioavailability of nutrients – how they are absorbed
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
and made available for use in the body – like protein and calcium in PBDA products, the British Dietetic Association, the association and trade union for UK dietitians, states that calcium bioavailability from fortified plant-based drinks and tofu is comparable to that of dairy milk. Elsewhere, studies have shown the same to be true for PBDAs based on pea or soya protein in terms of that particular micronutrient. For those on a plant-based diet, it’s important to ensure that they consume PBDAs fortified with vitamin B12, which contributes towards keeping blood and nerve cells healthy and helps with the formation of DNA. On the other hand, PBDA’s fortified with vitamin D can offer some potential benefits in markets like the UK and Europe where dairy products are typically not similarly fortified, unlike in the US. Even the terminology can bring their own headaches, with many supporters of PBDAs objecting to the ‘ultra-processed’ label that can be associated with these products. Typically, this term has been used to highlight food and drink containing high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugars, which can be misleading when discussing PBDAs with a more balanced nutritional profile. However, there is often an association among consumers, particularly those in Europe, that ultra-processed food is a cause of the today’s deadliest diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, just to name a few. While it is true that many of the highly processed foods are connected with such chronic disease, many critics object with the likes of soya milk, as an example, being placed in this same category.
Careful consideration It’s worth noting that different population groups will have different nutritional requirements when it comes to consuming PBDAs. For instance, PBDAs
35
Oat milk, one of the most popular choices for plant- based milk, may be better for the planet than its dairy counterpart, but how do they compare nutritionally?
rblfmr /
Shutterstock.com/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
