Organic foods Archives - Health Tips From The Professor

Is The Impossible Burger Healthy For You?

February 11, 2020 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Is The Impossible Burger Healthy For the Planet?

Americans love their meat. In 2018 we averaged over 200 pounds of meat per person. If we just focus on beef, we eat about 54 pounds per year. That’s equivalent to four quarter pounders a week!

But we are also getting the message that too much meat, especially red meat, may be bad for us. Nearly 40% of us are trying to eat a more plant-based diet.

The problem is that we love the convenience of fast food restaurants, and we love our burgers. Plus, in the past the meatless burgers on the market were, in a word, disappointing. Their taste and texture left something to be desired. You really needed to be committed to a plant-based diet to eat them in place of a regular burger.

That all changed a few years ago with the introduction of the and new generation of meatless burgers – the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger. They had the taste and texture of a real burger, but they were completely plant-based. What wasn’t to like?

Both companies claimed that their meatless burgers were healthier for the planet than regular burgers. For example, Impossible Food’s mission statement is: “Animal agriculture occupies almost half the land on earth, consumes a quarter of our freshwater, and destroys our ecosystems. So, we’re doing something about it: We’re making meat using plants, so that we never have to use animals again”.

Neither company claims their burgers are healthier for you. However, because their burgers are plant-based, the almost universal assumption has been that they are healthier than regular burgers.

Since their introduction they have taken the world by storm. You can find them in almost every supermarket and in many of your favorite fast food restaurants. Now that they are omnipresent, it is perhaps time to step back and take a closer look at this new generation of meatless burgers. In this article, I will ask two questions:

Are they healthier for you than regular burgers?

Are they healthier for the planet than regular burgers?

For the sake of simplicity, I will focus on the Impossible Burger with occasional comparisons with the Beyond Burger. It is beyond the scope of this article to compare these burgers with the many other meatless burgers that are now starting to flood the marketplace.

What’s In The Impossible Burger?

When we think of a burger, the first thing we think of is protein. The Impossible Burger gets its protein from soy, while the Beyond Burger gets its protein from peas.

However, soy and pea protein don’t give you the mouth feel, flavor, red color, and texture of a beef burger.

The mouth feel of a burger comes from its saturated fat. Both the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger use coconut oil as their source of saturated fat.

- Coconut oil has gained a reputation as a “healthier” saturated fat. However, as I have discussed in my book, “Slaying The Food Myths”, we have no long term studies on the health effects of diets high in coconut oil. We don’t really know whether it is healthier than other saturated fats.

The taste and color of a beef burger come from its heme content. Heme does not occur in the parts of plants we eat. However, heme is involved in nitrogen fixation, so it is found in the roots of some legumes.

- The Impossible Burger has genetically engineered yeast to produce a type of heme called leghemoglobin that is found in soy roots. The Beyond Burger uses beet juice extract and annatto for the color and unspecified “natural flavor” for the flavor.

To get the texture of a beef burger, both the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger use maltodextrin, modified food starch, and a variety of other ingredients. They are both highly processed foods.

Iron is another important nutrient you expect to get from a beef burger. The Impossible Burger contains 4.5 mg of iron and the Beyond Burger contains 5.4 mg of iron.

- However, that is only part of the story. When iron is attached to a heme molecule, it is more efficiently absorbed by our bodies. Beef burgers and the Impossible Burger contain heme iron. The Beyond Burger does not.

In addition, the Impossible Burger adds in the vitamins, including B12, that we would expect to get from a beef burger. The Beyond Burger does not.

What Are The Pluses Of The Impossible Burger?

There are some definite pluses for the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger:

Both the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are made from plant-based ingredients rather than from meat.

Both are cholesterol free.

Both contain modest amounts of fiber (3 grams for the Impossible Burger and 2 grams for the Beyond Burger), while a meat burger contains none.

Both are good sources of iron, and the iron in the Impossible Burger is heme-iron, which is efficiently absorbed by our bodies.

What Are The Minuses of the Impossible Burger?

There are, however, some definite minuses as well.

Both the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger are high in saturated fat. The Impossible Burger is higher in saturated fat and the Beyond Burger contains the same amount of saturated fat as a real burger. That’s important because the latest advisory of the American Heart Association warns that saturated fat increases our risk of heart disease (I have discussed this finding in detail in a previous issue of “Health Tips From the Professor”).

- The saturated fat in both burgers comes from coconut oil. However, as I discussed above, we don’t know whether coconut oil is better or worse for us than other saturated fats. The relevant studies have not been done.

Both the Impossible and Beyond burgers are high in sodium. They have almost 5-times more sodium than a beef burger.

The heme in red meat catalyzes the formation of N-nitroso compounds in our gut which increase the risk of colon cancer. We do not know whether the form of heme added to Impossible Burgers catalyzes the same reaction, but it is likely.

Both plant-based burgers are low in protein compared to a beef burger (~20 grams versus 27 grams). On the other hand, 20 grams of protein is reasonable for a single meal.

The plant proteins used for these burgers (soy for the Impossible Burger and pea for the Beyond Burger) are highly processed. They lack the phytonutrients found in the unprocessed proteins.

- The isoflavones found in soy are thought to decrease the risk of cancer and osteoporosis.

- The phytonutrients found in peas have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. They are also thought to decrease the risk of certain cancers.

The Impossible Burger is GMO. The leghemoglobin is produced by genetically engineered yeast, and the soy is also GMO.

Neither the Impossible Burger nor Beyond Burger are certified organic. Organic certification refers to how the plant was grown. Both burgers are highly processed. Many of the ingredients in both burgers came from factories, not farms.

Is The Impossible Burger Healthy For You?

Now, it is time to return to the original question: “Is the Impossible Burger healthy for you?” Since it is plant-based, it would be easy to assume that it is healthier than a burger made from beef. However, when you look more closely, it is not clear that it is healthier.

The manufacturers of the Impossible Burger and similar burgers have gone to the laboratory and have been successful at creating meatless burgers with the taste, mouth feel, and texture of real burgers. However, these improvements have come with a price.

The Impossible Burger and similar burgers are higher in saturated fat than a beef burger. This means they may be just as likely to increase the risk of heart disease as a beef burger.

The Impossible Burger contains as much heme as a beef burger, which means it may be just as likely to increase the risk of cancer as a beef burger.

The Impossible Burger and similar burgers are highly processed. That means:

- The plant proteins no longer contain the phytonutrients thought to be responsible for some of their health benefits.

- They also don’t contain the vitamins you would expect to find associated with the plant proteins.

The Impossible Burger and similar burgers are not organic. Even worse, the Impossible Burger is GMO.

On balance, we can’t really assume the Impossible Burger is any healthier than the beef burgers it replaces. Plus, if you include the usual condiments and add fries and a soft drink, any slight health benefits of the Impossible Burger will be lost.

It would be much healthier to choose a bean burger. They don’t taste like beef, but many of them are quite tasty. Plus, if you do some label reading, you can find ones that use only whole, unprocessed ingredients.

For example, I looked up the Organic Sunshine brand South West Black Bean burgers. It only provides half as much protein as an Impossible Burger, but all the ingredients are organic, non-GMO, and minimally processed. Note: I am not recommending a particular brand. However, with a little research I am confident you can find a healthy meatless burger with a taste you will enjoy.

Is The Impossible Burger Healthy For the Planet?

Now, let’s look at the second question: “Is the Impossible Burger healthy for the planet?” The answer to this question seems obvious. As the Impossible Burger company states in their mission statement: “Animal agriculture occupies almost half the land on earth, consumes a quarter of our freshwater, and destroys our ecosystems”. It seems logical that any meatless burger would be an improvement.

If we are talking about a minimally processed black bean burger, like the one I described above, the answer is a clear yes. It is healthier for the planet. However, when you look more closely at the Impossible Burger, the answer isn’t as clear.

As coconut oil has increased in popularity massive areas of untouched, forested land have been cleared for coconut plantations.

- These forested areas provide an essential ecosystem for animals and provide natural storm protection by absorbing rainwater. Therefore, coconut oil, like beef, also destroys our ecosystems.

- In addition, many of the coconut plantations use large amounts of chemical fertilizers which contribute to phosphate pollution and algae overgrowth in lakes, rivers, and coastal ocean areas. This also degrades our environment.

The Impossible Burgers and similar meatless burgers contain many highly processed ingredients. Each of these ingredients imposes its own environmental burden. For example:

- Coconut oil is often processed with hexane, which is categorized as a hazardous air pollutant by the Environmental Protection Agency.

- In addition, coconut oil is primarily grown in the Philippines, Indonesia, and India. Transporting it to this country generates significant greenhouse gas emissions.

- And, of course, coconut oil represents only one of the many highly processed ingredients in the Impossible Burger and similar meatless burgers.

In short, the Impossible Burger may be slightly healthier for the planet than a beef burger, but it is much less environmentally friendly than your typical, minimally processed, bean burger.

The Bottom Line

Two weeks ago, I wrote about recent headlines claiming that the best advice for the American public was to eat as much red meat as they like. I looked at the study behind the headlines and pointed out the many flaws in that study.

Last week I wrote about headlines claiming that red meat was just as heart healthy as white meat. I looked at the study behind the headlines and showed it was an excellent example of how the beef industry influences the design of clinical trials to minimize the health risks of red meat. It is also an example of how the media misleads and confuses the public about the effect of nutrition on their health.

What the studies I reviewed the last two weeks really showed was that very small amounts (2-3 ounces) of very lean red meat is probably OK as part of a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet. Larger servings of fattier cuts of red meat as part of the typical American diet is problematic.

However, if you love your burgers, what are you to do? Are the meatless burgers like the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger that are showing up in your favorite fast food restaurants the answer? Specifically, you are probably asking:

Is the Impossible Burger, and similar burgers, healthy for you?

Is the Impossible Burger, and similar burgers, healthy for the planet?

I looked at the composition, pluses, and minuses of this new generation of meatless burgers in this article. The bottom line is:

On balance, the Impossible Burger is only slightly healthier than the beef burgers it replaces. And, if you include the usual condiments and add fries and a soft drink, any slight health benefits of the Impossible Burger will be lost.

It would be much healthier to choose a bean burger. They don’t taste like beef, but many of them are quite tasty. Plus, if you do some label reading, you can find ones that are organic, non-GMO, and use only whole, unprocessed ingredients.

Similarly, the Impossible Burger may be slightly healthier for the planet than a beef burger, but it is much less environmentally friendly than your typical, minimally processed, bean burger.

For more details, read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Do Organic Foods Decrease Cancer Risk?

November 27, 2018 by Dr. Steve Chaney

Is Eating Organic Worth The Cost?

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney

Millions of Americans choose organic foods whenever possible. However, organic foods are expensive, and some experts claim they are a waste of money. That is why recent headlines claiming that eating organic foods decrease cancer risk have created such a stir. I will look at the study behind the headlines below, but first let me summarize what we do know about organic foods.

I discussed a study comparing organic and conventionally-grown produce in a recent issue, Organic Foods Healthier, of “Health Tips From the Professor”. It was a major study that combined the results from 343 of the best-designed previous studies. The study found that pesticide and herbicide residues were 4-fold lower in organically-raised produce than in conventionally-raised produce. It also found that the polyphenol content of organically-raised produce was slightly higher than in conventionally-raised produce.

Neither of these findings automatically mean that eating organic produce will improve your health. However, there is increasing evidence that pesticide exposure is linked to increased risk of cancer. Thus, it seems logical that eating organic might decrease cancer risk. It is that hypothesis that the current study (J Baudry et al, JAMA Internal Medicine, doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4357 ) was designed to test.

How Was The Study Designed?

This study is part of a major French study called NutriNet-Santé that was launched in 2009. The NutriNet-Santé study is web-based study designed to investigate associations between nutrition and health.Volunteers with access to the internet were recruited from the general population. After agreeing to participate in the study, the volunteers were asked to complete a battery of online assessment forms.

The baseline data for the NutriNet-Santé study included age, sex, occupational status, education level, marital status, income, number of children, smoking status, physical activity, and diet. Dietary intake was assessed using three 24-hour dietary recalls collected over a 2-week period. Two of the 24-hour dietary recalls were on weekdays and one was on a weekend.

The dietary recalls were used to create a “score” of diet quality. Without going into detail, diets that favored animal protein, animal fats, sweets, and highly processed foods were considered “poor quality diets.” Diets that favored plant proteins, vegetable oils & and omega-3 fats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains were considered “good quality diets.”

This portion of the NutriNet-Santé was designed to measure the correlation between organic food consumption and cancer risk. Two months after enrollment in the study, the participants were asked to provide information on the frequency with which they chose the organic version of 16 different types of food. From this information each participant was assigned an “organic food score” ranging from 0 to 32 points.

The participants in this study were also asked to complete a yearly health status questionnaire online. If they reported a cancer diagnosis, they were asked to provide their medical records, and the study physicians contacted the patient’s physician to confirm details of the diagnosis.

A total of 68,946 French adults completed the study (78% female, mean age 44.2 years). They were followed for an average of 4.56 years. During this time period there were 1340 new cancer diagnoses in this population.

Do Organic Foods Decrease Cancer Risk?

The participants were divided into four groups based on their organic food score. When participants with the highest organic food score were compared to those with the lowest organic food score there was a:

25% reduction in total cancer risk.
86% reduction in non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk. This is not a novel finding. A previous study has also suggested eating organic might reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
76% reduction in all lymphoma risk.
34% reduction in postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

The authors concluded “A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. Although the study findings need to be confirmed, promoting organic food consumption in the general population could be a promising preventive strategy against cancer.”

These are the results and conclusions that made the headlines. However, the scientists who designed the study were aware of previous data showing that people who eat organic are also more likely to eat a healthy diet and follow a healthy lifestyle. Thus, their statistical analysis of the data considered all factors that might influence cancer risk. This analysis provided a much more nuanced interpretation of the data. They found that the association between increased organic food consumption and decreased cancer risk:

Was significant for women, older adults, individuals with a family history of cancer, individuals who had a poor diet, and former smokers.
Was seen for people of all weights but was greatest for individuals who were obese.
Was non-significant for men, younger adults, individuals with no family history of cancer, individuals who had a good diet, never-smokers, and current smokers.
Was non-significant for other types of cancer.

You are probably wondering “Does this mean organic foods are beneficial for some people, but not for others?” A superficial interpretation of these data might lead to that conclusion, but let’s dig a little deeper.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

In interpreting a study of this type, it is important to ask whether enough people will develop cancer during the study for the results to be statistically significant. That depends on 3 factors:

The number of people enrolled in the study.
The duration of the study.
The probability that participants will develop cancer during the duration of the study.

When you look at the whole study population, all three criteria have been met. There were 68,949 participants who were followed for 4.56 years. During that time 1340 of them developed cancer, of which 459 were breast cancer, 47 were non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and 15 were other lymphomas. A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a decreased in the risk of all these cancers, and that decreased risk was statistically significant. This is the main take-home lesson of the study.

However, when you start to break the study down into subgroups, the number of people in each subgroup and the duration of the study become limiting factors. For example:

We don’t really know whether eating organic foods are unimportant for men or whether there were too few men in the study for any benefit to be statistically significant.
Colon cancer and many other cancers develop gradually over a 10 to 20-year period. We don’t know whether choosing organic foods is unimportant for these cancers or whether 4.56 years is too short a time to show a significant benefit.
The same is true for several of the other variables in this study. For example, if you are an older adult, have a family history of cancer, have a bad diet, and/or have smoked in the recent past, your probability of developing cancer over a 4.56-year time period is relatively high. On the other hand, if you are younger, have no family history of cancer, have a good diet, and have never smoked, your probability of developing cancer during that same time period is very low.

So, how do we interpret the data with these subgroups? We could conclude that eating organic foods in unimportant for people who are young, have no family history of cancer, have a good diet, and have never smoked. A more likely interpretation, however, is that people in these groups have such a low risk of cancer that 4.56 years is too short to demonstrate a benefit of organic foods. It might require a 10, 20, or 30-year study to show benefit of organic foods for these people.

Let me close with three important observations:

People often say too me: “I can’t afford organic fruits and vegetables, but I am concerned about pesticide exposure. Does that mean I should avoid fruits and vegetables?” The data from this study provide a clear answer. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is beneficial even if you can’t afford organic.

[I also let them know about “The Dirty Dozen” ( Rank Produce Items By Pesticide Level ). This is a list of the fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated with pesticides. If your budget for organic foods is limited, these are the most important fruits and vegetables to spend it on.]

I find it ironic that people who consume a poor diet are the ones most likely to experience an immediate benefit from choosing organic foods. This is, of course, the group that is least likely to eat organic.
If you smoke, eating organic probably isn’t going to help you much. Your best bet is to stop smoking.

The Bottom Line

A recent study looked at the association between organic food consumption and cancer risk. When participants who consumed organic foods frequently were compared to those who almost never consumed organic foods there was a:

25% reduction in total cancer risk.
86% reduction in non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk. This is not novel. A previous study has also suggested eating organic might reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
76% reduction in all lymphoma risk.
34% reduction in postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

These are the results and conclusions that you have seen in the headlines. However, the scientists who designed the study were aware of previous data showing that people who eat organic are also more likely to eat a healthy diet and follow a healthy lifestyle. Thus, their statistical analysis of the data considered all factors that might influence cancer risk. This analysis provided a much more nuanced interpretation of the data, which I have discussed in the article above.

For more details read the article above.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.