They are everywhere now. In supermarkets, restaurants and even some fast food burger places sell them. The meat industry is going crazy trying to discredit them. Plant-based burger substitutes now look and largely taste like their real meat competition. And unlike meat production they are not a huge contributor to carbon waste and global warming. But are they really better for you?
While most of the leading meatless burgers are truly meatless and offer as much - in some cases more - protein than beef, they are also a very highly processed food and carry many of the same problems and drawbacks of other processed foods.
They are made in a way that actually strips many of the naturally occurring nutrients and phytochemicals from the finished product. They are also disturbingly high in saturated fat and sodium. The fat is added mostly to produce a "marbled" appearance that mimics real meat, and a four ounce plant-burger may contain as much as 400mg of added sodium.
This means that making yourself a burger using 85% lean ground beef will give you no more saturated fat and only slightly less protein than a plant-based alternative. The beef does contain a good bit of cholesterol compared to none in the substitute. There is less sodium in the real beef.
Older meat alternatives such as Morningstar and Boca products are made primarily from beans and grains and are almost free of saturated fat and lower in sodium. While I favor them and find them to taste pretty good, you would not be in any danger of confusing them with real meat.
The bottom line is that the current lineup of plant-based burger substitutes are a mixed bag and you should not automatically assume that they are a healthier choice than lean beef or, better yet, bison. But there is no reason to entirely avoid them either. As is so often the case, moderation is a good policy.
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