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Reader letter: Food for thought — plant-based diet makes sense

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I have a “beef” surrounding the recent controversy over new plant-based options.

My family and I went plant-based four years ago due to a scary health diagnosis. This spurred me to go back to school for nutrition.  After doing lots of research on dietary options, the whole food, plant-based option seemed like the smartest choice. When beyond meat selections came out at A&W and Tim Horton’s we were overjoyed that there was now an option that fit in with our lifestyle.

Not only were they delicious, but they were plant-based. In doing research for this lifestyle, we watched many documentaries such as What the Health, Forks over Knives, and Food Matters. Given the conversations generated around the emergence of new plant-based options, I have noticed how much misinformation there is.  Beyond meat is definitely a processed product, and has its share of fat, however there are several reasons that it is a better choice than meat.

Firstly, it has no trans fats as compared to beef burgers. It has less saturated fat than beef.  It also contains fibre, whereas animal products do not.  It is high in sodium, but if it is included in a balanced diet, and not an everyday choice, then it is a great selection.  I would rather consume the processed product of plants over the processed product of meat.  With animal flesh comes hazards of E.coli, listeria, and other various “decaying flesh” born problems.

Lastly, one of the biggest benefits of the new plant-based selections is to the environment.  It takes 15,944 litres of water to get beef from farm to table, or 7,229 litres for every pound of edible beef. That is a lot of wasted water.

Raising cattle also raises the CO2 in the atmosphere due to the gases they produce.  This is more harmful than vehicles for global warming.

Nicole Tracey, RHN, Lakeshore

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