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1/n A quick tweetstorm about why I think Beyond Meat ($BYND) and Impossible Foods are the trans fat purveyors of our generation.
2/ Let’s start with Beyond Meat. For those that don’t know, $BYND’s flagship product is their Beyond Burger - a pea-protein product that’s supposed to replace the standard ground beef patty.
3/ Take a look at their ingredient list.
When you eat a $BYND burger, you’re effectively getting a giant dose of canola oil (terrible for you) and isolated pea protein. With a side of wood fiber, additives and unnatural ingredients.
When you eat a $BYND burger, you’re effectively getting a giant dose of canola oil (terrible for you) and isolated pea protein. With a side of wood fiber, additives and unnatural ingredients.
4/ My main concern here is the heavy concentration of canola oil, as vegetable oils are terrible for you + cause all sorts of health problems (see link).
https://chriskresser.com/how-industrial-seed-oils-are-making-us-sick/
https://chriskresser.com/how-industrial-seed-oils-are-making-us-sick/
5/ When you eat a $BYND burger, you’re effectively consuming a pea protein and canola oil smoothie.
Deconstructed, nobody thinks this is good for you. Put it in patty form, and people will apparently consider it healthy. Nuts.
Deconstructed, nobody thinks this is good for you. Put it in patty form, and people will apparently consider it healthy. Nuts.
6/ The Impossible Burger ingredients are different: their most controversial ingredient is Soy Leghemoglobin. To make this ingredient, Impossible genetically engineers a yeast bacterium to produce a protein (soy leghemoglobin) that gives their burger more of a “meaty” taste.
7/ The jury is out on how safe this ingredient is (Nassim Taleb notably has concerns on GMOs), but I’d consider myself skeptical.
In general, I think unwise to mess with the complex system of human biology by introducing large qts of foreign ingredients http://www.econtalk.org/nassim-nicholas-taleb-on-the-precautionary-principle-and-genetically-modified-organisms/
In general, I think unwise to mess with the complex system of human biology by introducing large qts of foreign ingredients http://www.econtalk.org/nassim-nicholas-taleb-on-the-precautionary-principle-and-genetically-modified-organisms/
8/ My larger concern on both of these burgers is that - at minimum - they are HIGHLY processed products with lots of stuff that doesn't lead to healthier humans: vegetable oils, soy, protein isolates, additives, all non-organic. They are not real foods. (cough, Soylent).
9/ Not only that, but I’m concerned any time I see a nutrient-dense food (like meat) being replaced by a highly processed variant. Historically, that hasn’t done good things for human health.
10/ The human body is an incredibly complex system, about which we still know very little. Complexity research cautions against introducing new things into a complex + related system, because it can have unintended consequences.
11/ All told, neither Impossible nor $BYND deliver on the health message they tout, and they’re not things I’d plan to incorporate into my diet.
I'd consider them fake food and - as long as there's not a starvation scenario - would stay far away.
I'd consider them fake food and - as long as there's not a starvation scenario - would stay far away.
fin/ I'm testing out doing some tweetstorms since my writing has fallen off.
Tomorrow, assuming I don't get taken out by an intnernet rage mob, I'll dig into the health of $BYND and Impossible's businesses.
Tomorrow, assuming I don't get taken out by an intnernet rage mob, I'll dig into the health of $BYND and Impossible's businesses.
