When considering the healthiness of a food, I enjoy using the acronym, No/Low PASS , meaning, Low P rocessed, No A nimal, Low S alt, Low S ugar.

Reading the ingredient list on some vegan meat substitutes I have found that being other than No Animal, they do not stack up well against the No/Low PASS criteria. Of particular concern is the amount of salt in vegan burgers, and in processed food in general.

There are, however, some relatively healthier alternatives that include:

• Sunshine Burgers - Organic cooked brown rice, organic ground raw sunflower seeds, organic carrots, organic spices, sea salt. Available on Amazon
• Amy’s Kitchen California Veggie Burger - organic mushrooms, organic onions, organic bulgur wheat, organic celery, organic carrots, organic oats, filtered water, organic walnuts, wheat gluten, organic potatoes, sea salt, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, organic garlic. Available at Amazon

When considering “healthy meat” let's assume that we mean:

• organic
• no antibiotic
• no growth hormone
• grass fed

Putting aside the ethical treatment of animals question, there is an interesting study called Dietary habits and mortality in 11,000 vegetarians and health conscious people: results of a 17 year follow up. that concluded, according to Dr. Mark Hyman “…the overall death rates were cut in half for both health-conscious meat eaters and for vegetarians, as compared to the average person eating a western-style, processed food diet. “

Of importance also is how meat is cooked. High-temperature cooking like grilling, frying, smoking or charring causes toxic byproducts such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs) which are carcinogenic.

The takeaway being that health and longevity are dependent on a number of critical factors and that the substitution of a single food for another may not be an effective strategy to achieve optimal health. Anchoring your diet in nutritionally rich, fresh, fiber dense foods and enjoying a consistent physical fitness practice may be valuable steps toward living a healthy life.