Impact of plant-based meat alternatives on the gut microbiota of consumers: A real-world study

Abstract

Eating less meat is increasingly seen as a healthier, more ethical option. This is leading to growing numbers of flexitarian consumers looking for plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) to replace at least some of the animal meat they consume. Popular PBMA products amongst flexitari-ans, including plant-based mince, burgers, sausages and meatballs, are often perceived as low-qual-ity, ultra-processed foods. However, we argue that the mere industrial processing of ingredients of plant origin does not make a PBMA product ultra-processed by default. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to assess the changes to the gut microbiota of a group of 20 participants who replaced several meat-containing meals per week with meals cooked with PBMA products and compared these changes to those experienced by a size-matched control. Stool sam-ples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. The resulting raw data was analysed in a composi-tionality-aware manner, using a range of innovative bioinformatic methods. Noteworthy changes included an increase in butyrate metabolising potential—chiefly in the 4-aminobutyrate/succinate and glutarate pathways—and in the joint abundance of butyrate-producing taxa in the intervention group compared to control. We also observed a decrease in the Tenericutes phylum in the intervention group and an increase in the control group. Based on our findings, we concluded that the oc-casional replacement of animal meat with PBMA products seen in flexitarian dietary patterns can promote positive changes in the gut microbiome of consumers.