Eating Plant-based Meat Burgers & Sausages Will Make Your Gut Healthier - New Study

Flexitarians who occasionally swap meat meals for plant-based meat alternatives such as burgers and sausages have positive changes in the microbiome that are associated with a healthy gut, a new study has found.

According to the findings published in the FOODS journal and top researchers at London Southbank University, plant-based meat company Meatless Farm was involved in a consumer trial to examine the impact of plant-based alternatives on the gut microbiome, and positive changes were found in flexitarians who swapped just five meat meals for Meatless Farm meals a week.

Angela Walker, MSc Nutritional Medicine and Nutritionist at Meatless Farm says: “The research challenges perceptions about plant-based meat being ultra-processed. It can have high nutritional value like fibre and phytonutrients and is therefore different from what is topically associated with ultra-processed food.”

The study examined people aged between 18 and 55 who all ate a ‘typical’ diet, including animal-based foods and were a mix of men and women. They were randomised into a control group who ate their normal diet and an intervention group who consumed just five plant-based meat meals a week over a four-week period.

The plant-based meat meals included Meatless Farm’s burgers, sausages, mince, meatballs and sausage patties.

Both groups completed a stool test to analyse their gut microbiome at the start and end of the study. The researchers found the plant-based meat group had a greater ability to produce butyrate from the bacterial populations in their gut, which has been found to have many health benefits such as supporting positive mental wellbeing and helping maintain the intestinal barrier in the colon, which is essential for the functioning of the gut and a healthy immune system.

Further gut diversity measurements were observed compared to the control group with the scientific researchers concluding that the plant-based meat diet led to positive changes in the microbiome that are aligned to a ‘healthy gut’.

Miguel Toribio-Mateas, lead researcher, clinical neuroscientist and microbiome researcher at the Bowels and Brains Lab at London South Bank University says: “This study is ground-breaking as it’s the first to indicate a direct correlation between plant-based meat alternatives and changes in gut bacteria associated with better gut health.

“Butyrate is a fatty acid and there are emerging studies to suggest it helps to support the health of the thin barrier that separates your gut from your bloodstream, which is good for your colon, and has an ability to promote balanced blood sugar control.

“There is also a reported impact of butyrate on brain health, which can influence the way we feel for the better. The science is still emerging but having a thriving community of butyrate-producing bacteria in your gut is always likely to be good news, which can be helped by eating more plant-based meat alternatives.”

A flexitarian who has felt the difference since incorporating more plant-based food into his diet, including Meatless Farm, is the greatest sprinter in the history of Tour de France, Mark Cavendish, 36 from Douglas, Isle of Man. He reassessed his diet in the past year to incorporate more plant-based food.

Mark Cavendish, MBE comments: “Since I started swapping my meat meals for plant-based alternatives, I feel a lot less lethargic and better in myself both physically and mentally. You always feel tired as a professional cyclist training all the time, but my rest days now feel much more invigorated. I find it so easy to substitute meat now and plant-based meat offers new textures and flavours that are actually really tasty.”

Registered Nutritionist, Rhiannon Lambert, says: “Scientists are uncovering more about all the ways the bacteria in your gut may be involved in your overall health – even your mental wellbeing. Meatless options are often perceived as not having as beneficial an impact on the body as the meat itself. However, it's becoming increasingly clear you can still obtain sufficient protein with the added gut health boosting properties of fibre to support good health.”