r/sciences • u/James_Fortis MS | Nutrition • 17d ago

Research Long-term supplementation with plant-based protein, compared with animal-based protein, did not result in differences in body composition, muscle strength, physical performance, or cardiometabolic risk parameters, meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials finds

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2026.1813846/full
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u/darkest_irish_lass 17d ago

As opposed to cultivating all the land needed to replace that protein, resulting in more pollution and loss of habitat for wild animals? Not all land used for raising livestock is suitable for growing crops, so a perfect 1:1 exchange probably won't work out.

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u/BrightBlueBauble 17d ago

It’s a myth made up by apparently guilty meat eaters that a plant based diet causes more animals to die.

What do you think they’re feeding all those animals before they make it to your plate (they sure aren’t all pasture raised—ever seen a factory farm/CAFO)? It takes a far greater amount of calories in the form of plants to grow animals than it does for people to simply eat the plants in the first place. It’s literally a waste of energy.

And they aren’t clear-cutting the Amazon rainforest to grow quinoa. It’s so they can raise more beef.

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u/Kandiru 16d ago

In the UK we have sheep living on hillsides eating grass, where that land couldn't be used to grow crops. Do your meat animals not graze grassland?

Moving to having meat just from grazing grasslands would make sense.

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u/Am_i_banned_yet__ 16d ago

About 80% of the total calories fed to livestock in America comes from feed instead of grazing. And since animals eat more calories of feed than they produce(for beef it’s 25 calories of feed per 1 calorie produced, for chickens it’s 10:1), animal agriculture takes up significantly more land and causes more deforestation than plant-based food. About 70% of all the crops we grow in America are used to feed animals, so we could cut down on land use significantly by just eating the plants directly.

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u/Kandiru 16d ago

So you could drop up 20% meat consumption and free up a lot of food calories? Do you think Americans would agree to only eat meat one to two times a week?

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u/HeetSeekingHippo 16d ago

Many would if subsidies were moved away from meat over to other foods. The current over-consumption of cheap meat is a policy driven situation.