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Comment by simonebrunozzi | Hacker News Reader

Serious question for healthcare/nutrition/chemistry experts: how healthy, or not healthy, are milks based on alternative protein and fat sources? e.g. Ripple's pea milk.

Is there any good, easy way for a consumer to know that a particular alternative milk has been produced in an ethical, healthy way?

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I learned, I'm allergic to plants so I looked it up. All this anti meat stuff is kinda scary to me and I'm afraid of depression and anxiety comming back so I might be biased.

There is something called anti-nutrients, they prevent you from absorbing minerals or if allergic use up your vitamins to battle inflammation. There are lectins in peas. I don't know how much of the lectins will still be in there after the processing, but I'd avoid plant protein for that reason, exception might be avocado protein, but they're a waste of global resources if you can buy animal protein pasture raised locally. Or if you care for the animals, insect protein might still be healthier, although it might require the supplementation of chitinase.

I was a vegetarian for a long time and then was forced to start eating primarily meat by food allergies, intolerance and celiac disease. I know what you mean - lack of availability of fresh chickens to cook would render life very difficult for me. Surviving on vegetable sources is difficult because almost everything gets contaminated with wheat/barley/rye and if not that, tree nuts.

I had to cut out almost all grains and the foods that make me feel best overlap with the paleo and AIP diets.

Yeah, my wife is allergic to legumes so this explosion of pea protein in everything is worrying to us, too. It's easy enough to avoid peas themselves, since people generally know what they are and if they're in dishes they're making, but people are pretty clueless about what goes into their fancy, whole foods flours or whatever. Pea protein, for instance, is in a lot of almond milk these days.

also gmo mixing up between different plant species

Truth be told pea based proteins are heavily processed. To keep costs down they (generic) use produce from China and often will change one step so it can be called US made.

Some of the processing techniques use some pretty nasty hydrocarbon solvents, which are largely filtered out.

Just like renewable energy though, it’s not nearly as clean as it seems at first glance. But as in both cases, it’s still progress.

Some plant proteins become more allergenic after cooking/processing. Peanut, another legume, is one example of such plant.

These alternative milks are mostly water though. I'd say things like pea-based burgers and chicken are more likely to have issues.

But, as you say, it's still progress.

It depends. Legumes have risks for some people for blood pressure, vitamin absorption and a few other things.

End of the day, all of the not-milk, not-meat stuff is a fad, just like oat bran, low fat and whole grain. You're best to ignore it. If you don't want to drink milk, drink water. Cloudy water drinks are usually a place where you pick up alot of sugar.

The best approach is an omnivore diet that's mostly plant based. By using 3-4oz of meat or fish in a meal you can afford to buy humane, quality meats.

I haven't dived into plant-based milks and health risks/benefits too much. What I can tell you is that Animal based Milk in general is not healthy, they are high in saturated fats, have a too high calcium and estrogen concentrations and increase the risk to prostate cancer[1], ovarian cancer [2], uteri cancer [2] and other health risks.

Do note that a lot of pro-milk studies are industry backed. The new Canadian food guide has discarded all industry backed studies and based on science created a new food guide [3]. This food guide removed the "recommended" glass of milk based on these studies with water.

[1]:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008823601897

[2]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16125328?dopt=Citation

[3]: https://www.treehugger.com/green-food/canadians-would-rather...

Most allergens are plants. There is even a fruit-vegetable syndrome. LTP syndromes are from proteins that are heat resistant and at times become even more allergenic after processing/cooking. Allergies to nuts are often life threatening.

But nobody is allergic to meat.

Buy the stock in whoever is making EpiPens.

People can definitely be allergic to meat (animal protein):

https://allergyfacts.org.au/allergy-anaphylaxis/food-allerge...

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/ConditionsAndTrea...

There are even people who are literally allergic to water. However, the number of such people in practical terms is zero.

People bitten by certain ticks can become allergic to meat.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/25/621080751/re...

alpha gal is only allergy to very specific types of meat - not all meat.

It is certainly possible to be allergic to animals and rating meat. Fish and seafood is common. Some people are allergic to pork, mainly people with cat allergies for some reason. Specific tick bites can cause allergy to beef and pork. One can be allergic to chicken as well.

> But nobody is allergic to meat.

Except from Lyme's Disease, perhaps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_allergy

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