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. 2020 Jul 9;12(7):2034.
doi: 10.3390/nu12072034.

Increasing Plant-Based Meat Alternatives and Decreasing Red and Processed Meat in the Diet Differentially Affect the Diet Quality and Nutrient Intakes of Canadians

Hassan Vatanparast  1   2 , Naorin Islam  1 , Mojtaba Shafiee  1 , D Dan Ramdath  1   3
Affiliations

Increasing Plant-Based Meat Alternatives and Decreasing Red and Processed Meat in the Diet Differentially Affect the Diet Quality and Nutrient Intakes of Canadians

Hassan Vatanparast et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Current evidence suggests a link between red and processed meat consumption and the risk of various cancers and other health outcomes. Using national survey data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)-Nutrition 2015, we aimed to model a dietary scenario to assess the potential effects of increasing the intake of currently consumed plant-based meat alternatives by 100% and decreasing the consumption of red and processed meat by 50% on the diet quality and nutrient intakes of Canadians (≥1 year). This dietary scenario had no significant impact on dietary energy intake (p > 0.05), but resulted in a significant increase in the dietary intakes of fibre, polyunsaturated fatty acids, magnesium, and dietary folate equivalents (p < 0.05). On the other hand, this dietary scenario was accompanied by a significant decrease in protein (from 77.8 ± 0.6 g to 73.4 ± 0.6 g), cholesterol, zinc, and vitamin B12 intake (p < 0.05). Further, based on Nutrient Rich Food (NRF) scores, the overall nutritional value of the simulated diet was higher than the baseline diet. Our modeling showed that the partial replacement of red and processed meat with plant-based alternatives improves overall diet quality but may adversely affect the intake of some micronutrients, especially zinc and vitamin B12.

Keywords: Canada’s food guide; diet modeling; planetary health diet; plant-based meat alternatives; protein intake; red and processed meat.

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Conflict of interest statement

All the authors have no conflict of interest.

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