The EU-funded Smart Protein Project was founded to develop alt-protein products that are healthy, environmentally friendly, and increase food security. And it thinks four crops — lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, and quinoa — could be the answer.
The BeanMan Study in Finland Examines Effects on Male Health of Legume Protein Compared to Meat
A study conducted at the University of Helsinki showed that partial replacement of red and processed meat with foods based on peas and broad beans (also known as faba or fava beans) ensures an adequate intake of amino acids in the diet and does not negatively affect bone metabolism. “Reducing the consumption of red and processed meat in the diet to the ceiling of the Planetary Health Diet while increasing the consumption of legumes grown in Finland, such as peas and field beans, is safe from a protein nutrition perspective. Bone health is also not affected by such dietary changes,” says PhD student Suvi Itkonen from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. For the BeanMan study, 102 Finnish men followed a study diet for six …