Between 2008 and 2011, only 6.7% of Britons reported eating plant-based alternatives to traditional foods, such as oat milk, vegan sausage and Quorn mince.
Between 2017 and 2019, twice as many (13.1%) of this proportion of people ate these foods, resulting in more than doubling the total amount of plant-based food consumed.
This increase is not only due to a surge in veganism, but also as meat eaters are making decisions to consume less and occasionally avoid animal products.
However, people who are considered low meat consumers consume, on average, four times as many plant-based products as “meaty” people, eating 18.6 grams compared to 4.8 grams.
Studies have shown that eating a herbivore diet can have adverse health effects if people are not consciously replacing the nutrients and minerals they get from meat and meat-derived products.
For example, a Canadian study found that children who grew up vegetarian were twice as likely to be underweight than their meat-eating friends.
The researchers found that, nutritionally, there were no discernible differences in the growth of children who were vegetarians and those who ate foods of animal origin.
However, Dr. Maguire found a link between vegetarianism and being underweight.
Scientists at the University of Leeds have found that middle-aged vegetarian women are more likely to have hip fractures than omnivorous women.
Vegetarians can struggle to get enough nutrients into their bodies that lead to weakened muscles and bones, and a new study finds that vegetarian women have a one-third higher risk of hip fractures. is shown.
