Quorn and Beyond Meat have both released studies highlighting how their vegan meat alternatives lower low-density lipoproteins (LDL), commonly known as “bad” cholesterol. Consumption of Quorn’s protein-rich mycoprotein resulted in a decrease of up to 19 percent in total cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, results of a Stanford University study revealed that upon Beyond Meat consumption, study participants’ LDL cholesterol dropped on average 10 mg per dL, which Beyond Meat notes as being “not only statistically but clinically significant.”

In a week-long Quorn-funded study, 20 healthy adult participants were given a fully controlled diet containing twice-daily meals with either meat and fish or mycoprotein as the main dietary protein. Participants’ glucose levels were monitored continuously throughout the week and blood plasma samples were taken before and after the diets to track the effects of the different protein sources.

The results showed that there was no significant change in blood sugar levels when eating meat and fish or mycoprotein. This suggests that a diet based on mycoprotein does not increase the risk of diabetes compared to animal proteins. The levels of 45 different lipoproteins fractions showed a decrease in those eating mycoprotein. These included LDL, intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and very LDL (VLDL) found in the plasma samples of those that ate Quorn products containing mycoprotein.

Quorn underscores that high LDLs create a build-up of cholesterol in the arteries and can represent a high-risk factor for heart attacks. The paper also suggested that beneficial effects of consuming mycoprotein came as a result of an increased fiber intake against the meals containing meat or fish. Providing 6 g per 100 g, mycoprotein provides more fiber than baked beans and brown bread, according to the company.

While this study demonstrated that substituting meat for mycoprotein at main meals can lower circulating cholesterol concentrations, these early changes did not translate to changes in daily blood glucose control or insulin sensitivity, at least over a one-week period.

“It will be important to follow up this work and assess whether longer periods of habitual mycoprotein consumption translates to changes in robust markers of metabolic health, particularly in more metabolically compromised individuals,” co-author Benjamin Wall, Associate Professor of Nutritional Physiology, University of Exeter flags.

Beyond Meat targets CVD risk improvement
In Stanford University’s eight-week Study With Appetizing Plantfood – Meat Eating Alternative Trial (SWAP-MEAT), the research team compared the effect of consuming plant-based meat alternatives as opposed to animal meat on health factors. Among 36 generally healthy adults, there were no adverse effects on risk factors from the plant-based products. Participants even lost 2 lb (910 g) on average, during the plant-based portion of the diet. Moreover, vegan meat improved several cardiovascular disease risk factors, including trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO).

Co-author Dr. Christopher Gardner, Professor of Medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, calls TMAO “an emerging risk factor,” meaning there seems to be a connection between higher levels of TMAO and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the connection has yet to be definitively proved.

“At this point, we cannot be sure that TMAO is a causal risk factor or just an association,” he says. Nevertheless, he sees a reason to pay attention to TMAO readouts. The researchers observed that participants who ate the red meat diet during the first eight-week phase had an increase in TMAO, while those who ate the plant-based diet first did not. Notably, those who transitioned from meat to plant had a decrease in TMAO levels, which was expected. Those who switched from plant to meat, however, did not see an increase in TMAO.

“For the participants who had the plant-based diet first, during which they ate no meat, we basically made them vegetarians, and in so doing, may have inadvertently blunted their ability to make TMAO,” he said. Whether this type of approach could be used as a strategy for decreasing cardiovascular disease risk remains to be seen.

Health benefits of plant-based meat debate sizzles
While vegan meat alternatives such as Quorn and Beyond Meat have expanded the meat sector, their products’ health implications are still under review. In March, UK lobby group Action on Salt flagged the “shocking” amounts of salt and saturated fat found in plant-based meals.

That same month, a Greece-based study warned that not all kinds of plant-based diets are healthy, considering health differences may exist between men and women. Calls for improved meat analog transparency were already made in January.

Meanwhile, two separate investigations in July came to similar conclusions that incorporating more plant-based protein into the diet can decrease the risk for noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) as well as overall mortality. A German study also found that the less animal-derived food incorporated into a person’s diet, the lower their body mass index (BMI) is on average.