Sun, May-05-24, 11:04
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Martin Freeman’s returned to meat for his health. Has he got a point?
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Martin Freeman’s returned to meat for his health. Has he got a point?
The actor has ditched vegetarianism after almost 40 years. A nutritionist explains that ultra-processed food can be ‘plant-based’ too
Are vegans and vegetarians right to feel virtuous? Last week, Martin Freeman hammered another nail in the plant-based coffin, admitting he had given up vegetarianism after 38 years, blaming meat replacements for being “very, very processed”.
Appearing on the Dish podcast, the Sherlock and The Hobbit actor, 52, said he had gone vegetarian as a teenager in 1986 because he was not comfortable with the idea of eating animals, but had now returned to meat, saying: “It’s a funny one, because I like meat-replacement things, but my reservation about them is they can be very, very processed, and I’m trying to eat less processed food.”
So was Freeman right to return to meat for his health, or was he just doing it wrong?
Back in the days when Paul and Linda McCartney championed a veggie lifestyle and the Smiths brought out Meat Is Murder, you had little choice but to get on board with eating wholefoods such as vegetables, lentils and pulses.
But in the late Noughties, the plant-based food industry boomed, and with it the number of people opting to go meat-free. It was simpler than ever to switch from rashers of bacon to “facon” or from hamburgers to veggie versions with a similar smoky flavour.
Being vegetarian has become a lot easier for people because of all the products out there, but it has also become easier to be unhealthy. Vegan junk food has taken off — and many of the meat-free alternatives are ultra-processed and crammed with artificial additives.
Fake meats are low in fibre and low in nutrients and use gums and flavourings to create the meaty taste and texture. Many ultra-processed foods, or UPFs (broadly defined as foods with five or more ingredients that you couldn’t create at home), are very soft. That makes them easy to eat quickly but they do not satisfy your appetite, meaning you may overconsume them, increasing the risk of becoming overweight.
This affects all of us, not just vegans and veggies. There is strong evidence that eating too much processed meat is linked to colorectal cancer. Meats such as bacon and salami fall into this category.
But it’s easy to think eating a plant burger is “good for you” without being aware of what exactly is in it. Just like a fast-food burger, some plant-based burgers may be just as addictive because of their combination of fats, salt, flavourings and texture, maximising their palatability and triggering reward centres in the brain. Having more UPFs in your diet may also mean more nutritious foods are sacrificed.
There is undoubtedly a growing awareness of this. Earlier this year, the Good Food Institute reported that sales of meat alternatives were down. Last year, Heather Mills’s vegan food company went into administration, and Quorn reported a £15.5 million loss.
But not all UPFs are as bad as each other, and it is not as simple as counting the ingredients on the back of the packet. Often it’s a question of budget. Some premium products will contain very few additives, while others will be full of ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilisers.
My advice to Freeman would be to look for veggie burgers made with beans, pulses and lentils. They may have some ingredients you would not find in a kitchen, but it could also still be providing you with whole nutritious food.
If you do a vegetarian diet right and get the right balance of nutrients, including iron and B12, it can be a very healthy option. Equally, if you are eating a bit of good quality meat, that’s also healthy for us. I eat meat myself.
We live in an environment where it is easy to access addictive, hyper-palatable food, so cutting out all ultra-processed food can be very difficult. Some may also view it as a privilege to be able to do so.
If I am buying lunch out, I try to pick the food that looks most natural. It’s not the end of the world to put a little ultra-processed dressing on a couscous salad full of fresh vegetables and lean meat or fish.
My advice for people wanting to cut back on UPFs, whether they eat meat or not, is to make lots of really small changes that you can stick to. Pick the point in the day when you’re more likely to reach for UPFs and start there. If it’s at lunch, just focus on that at first. If it’s dinner, then batch cook one dish for the week.
So is a veggie diet better for you than eating meat? Not necessarily. The same goes for plant-based. The days when vegans held the upper hand nutritionally over carnivores is long gone.
As for Freeman, he has said he wants to eat less processed food. From my professional point of view, that’s great news … though he might want to rethink his meal choices. He spoke of his joy at now being able to eat scotch eggs and pork pies with jelly. Both, ironically, are ultra-processed foods.
Rob Hobson is author of Unprocess Your Life: Break Free from Ultra-processed Foods for Good
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...point-zd0058j5k |
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