Food Aficionado Smart Brief: Volume 18
Welcome back to another edition of The Food Aficionado Smart Brief! Happy Monday, we hope your weekend allowed you to recharge and get prepared for another opportunity-filled week! The world of alternative protein foods has truly taken off over the past few years. Whether you are a meat-lover or not, it's still interesting and worth trying some of the alternative choices for your protein. Who knows, you may even enjoy the variety of having some options for your protein!
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Major Protein Alternatives To Lookout For 1. Cultured Meat At this point, we are all familiar with Beyond-Meat and other brands that have plant-based alternative meat options. However, this industry to being taken to new heights. Completely grown in laboratories, cultured meat is being created from animal cells themselves. Dr. Uma Valeti, a leading researcher in the field, said “We are changing the paradigm, we are detaching the meat from the animal.” Although this concept is still a bit out-there for most of us, artificial meat is being created and tested every day. In fact, the market for cultured meat is probably the best position moving forward. So you may not be adding a plant-based or cultured meat product to your menu, but still, you may start seeing these products even more.
2. Soy and Pea Proteins The past few years have seen a rise and stall for plant-based proteins. A lot of the challenges leading to their success stemmed from limiting supplies and processing capacity. However, it is expected the pea protein will take charge as a leading protein alternative within the next year. Many of us are familiar with plant protein, especially soy which has dominated for years. With technology continuously proving new solutions, keep watch on this quickly growing sector, maybe even look into including some for your own menu!
3. Nuts & Seeds If you are familiar with a plant-based diet, nuts and seeds should come as no surprise for a protein alternative. To start, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios are the most protein-dense nuts. Additionally, pumpkin seeds are absolutely packed with protein; with other seeds like flax and sunflower also holding their own. There are almost endless possibilities when designing a dish to include nuts or seeds. This is a perfect opportunity to get creative and see where it leads. Although nuts and seeds are amazing alternatives to meat for protein purposes, they are also, of course, a major allergen. Thus, you should be careful when implementing these into your dishes or diet. Even if you have never been allergic to them before, the body is said to change every seven or so years. Maybe even tossing some nuts or seeds into your granola for an acai bowl could be a viable option! Funny enough, I myself became allergic to almonds around my twenty-first birthday, so be careful when experimenting!
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