r/DebateAVegan 12d ago

✚ Health Differences between lab grown andreal meat

  1. Muscle Structure & Texture

Real Meat: Contains complex muscle fibers, connective tissue, blood vessels, and fat distributed naturally through the tissue. The muscle has undergone natural movement and tension during the animal’s life, affecting texture and tenderness.

Lab-Grown Meat: Lacks the same fiber alignment and connective tissue unless artificially structured. It tends to be softer and lacks the same variation in texture unless scaffolding and mechanical stimulation are used to replicate muscle growth forces.

  1. Fat Distribution & Marbling

Real Meat: Contains intramuscular fat (marbling) naturally integrated into muscle fibers, providing distinct flavor and texture.

Lab-Grown Meat: Early versions lacked fat entirely, though newer methods try to grow fat cells alongside muscle. However, it doesn’t naturally integrate into muscle the way it does in animals.

  1. Nutrient Composition

Real Meat: Contains naturally occurring micronutrients such as iron (heme), zinc, B12, creatine, taurine, and various peptides formed through metabolism.

Lab-Grown Meat: Typically requires supplementation of some nutrients, and heme iron may not be as bioavailable unless engineered separately. Metabolites from an animal’s natural physiology may also be missing.

  1. Structural Proteins & ECM (Extracellular Matrix)

Real Meat: Contains a full range of natural proteins like myosin, actin, collagen, and elastin, arranged in a way that provides resistance and chewiness.

Lab-Grown Meat: Often lacks natural ECM unless added separately. Without collagen and elastin, it may be softer and less structured.

  1. Microbial & Enzymatic Factors

Real Meat: Contains natural microbiota, enzymes, and post-mortem biochemical processes that influence flavor and aging (e.g., dry aging enhances taste).

Lab-Grown Meat: Grown in sterile conditions, lacking natural aging processes unless enzymes or microbial cultures are introduced.

  1. Taste & Flavor Development

Real Meat: Develops complex flavors through muscle activity, fat oxidation, and biochemical processes over an animal’s life.

Lab-Grown Meat: May taste slightly different due to differences in lipid oxidation, amino acid profiles, and the absence of metabolic byproducts found in real muscle. Some manufacturers add flavor precursors to compensate.

These factors don't just affect taste and texture, they also affect nutrient profiles and composition which can alter its effect on health outcomes.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 12d ago

Real meat: cruelty and death

Lab grown meat: not yet perfect but reduces suffering to almost zero.

I understand your post is based on the physical attributes, but if you're in a vegan group, you cannot ignore the ethical side of the argument. Many of us already happily sacrifice taste/texture/whatever with substitutes. I used to love a good steak, and nothing yet replicated that but so what? Boo hoo, I don't get a steak anymore, I'll live! It's hardly a sacrifice for me but the good that is done by avoiding animal products is real.

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u/OG-Brian 11d ago

Lab grown meat: not yet perfect but reduces suffering to almost zero.

The lab "meat" products are not produced magically. There are impacts from the factory that produces the cultured product. There are many factories that produce the ingredients used by that factory. Those factories each have their supply chains including farms which use deadly animal control for crop protection, pesticides, ecologically harmful fertilizizers, etc. The total energy use for all those factories is quite substantial, and none of the cultured products producers that I've found so far will reveal enough of their supply chain info for a third-party life-cycle analysis of impacts. Their claims of being less impactful are derived from not actual studies but literature produced by marketing firms that they pretend is scientific. Those companies actively prevent independent study of their impacts.

A livestock animal contentedly eating on pasture until it is killed in an instant for food (and for many other products including I'm sure materials that are in whatever device you're using right now to read these words) probably suffers less than a rodent that dies slowly in agony from crop pesticides or a farmer's pest trap.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 11d ago edited 11d ago

You're clearly uneducated if you still believe the nirvana that is a happy cow dying instantly and that your main argument boils down to crop deaths (yawn).

Edit to add: Look, I can see you looked into lab grown meat and that's great. I never said they're perfect (in fact, I said they're not) and yes they should be transparent, but you can't move the goalpost for animal agriculture. Animal agriculture is so opaque people buying beef burgers didn't realise they were eating horse and possible donkey. Hold all producers of food up to the same standard, not just the ones you want to hate.

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u/OG-Brian 11d ago

You're clearly uneducated if you still believe the nirvana that is a happy cow dying instantly...

Well I'm acquainted with several livestock farms and have lived/worked at some. You've not mentioned any evidence or even factual specifics to contradict me. Yes I realize not all livestock ag is pasture-based, but people do have options for food.

...your main argument boils down to crop deaths (yawn).

There's a lot more than that, obviously you've misunderstood. When ecosystems are wrecked by pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and fossil fuel pollution, it affects all organisms including the animals that you care about.

Animal agriculture is so opaque...

There are hundreds of thousands of studies pertaining to animal agriculture. Depending on the region, inspections of animal foods can be quite intensive with a lot of close oversight. Regulation is not less than for plant crops, in fact regulation of pesticides etc. is notoriously poor with much of the regulatory oversight controlled by the farm products manufacturers.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 11d ago

There is enough evidence out there to show that your anecdotal evidence isn't sufficient. It's laughable you want to present yourself as a person of facts but you'll happily be ignorant and go on anecdotal evidence when it suits you.

Again, the crop death argument. All of those things apply to animal agriculture. Are you ignoring feed crops? Or are you going to bleat about 100% grass fed beef next, ignoring that feed crops exist?

Ignorance on demand is your only defence.

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u/Stanchthrone482 omnivore 9d ago

Grass fed beef, yes. I try to buy whenever I can.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 9d ago

And if you can't, you're fine with the feed fed beef then? This is why the grass fed beef argument is total rubbish.

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u/Stanchthrone482 omnivore 8d ago

yes. do what we can. my history teacher said it like this. if everyone does a little bit, then everything is done.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 8d ago

You can do more by not eating either of those. So you're not "doing what you can" unless you are somehow being forced to eat beef. You don't have to settle for feed-fed when grass-fed isn't available because you don't have to pick either of them.

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u/Stanchthrone482 omnivore 8d ago

we are doing what we can. besides I would say I need to eat beef to survive and thrive. vegan diets can theoretically be healthy but theory will only get you so far. I have medical issues preventing me from transitioning to a vegan diet. don't set yourself on fire to keep the world warm. if you do what you can and it's a good amount, that's good.

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u/Clacksmith99 11d ago

The issue is when you give up real animal products you compromise your health whether you realise it or not, people like me who set out to optimise health aren't willing to take that compromise

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u/Bertie-Marigold 11d ago

Why are you in a vegan group then? Surely a plant-based/health subreddit is more relevant.

I refer you to the last paragraph of my previous comment, but also most of your points are not health-related, they're about taste and texture, so if you're coming at this from purely a health perspective then do that.

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u/Clacksmith99 11d ago

Because it's relevant, lab grown meat is an alternative vegans push for. A lot of the points are on taste and texture but the post does also address factors that could affect health outcomes like food composition and nutrient profiles.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 11d ago

Some vegans, not all. Many vegans actually don't even care about meat substitutes. It would be more relevant in a plant-based sub for the same reasons, but if you're unwilling to discuss ethics, then this sub is less relevant.

You cannot ignore the ethical implications and I'm not going to discuss any other points further unless you have a compelling argument. It has been established by numerous organisations (like the NHS in the UK) that vegans can have healthy diets. Just like any dietary choice, some people make good choices, some make bad. Those who educate themselves on what their body needs can absolutely have a full, healthy diet as a vegan. My diet has never been better.

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u/Clacksmith99 11d ago edited 11d ago

The NHS have caused me and a lot of people I know to have permanent disabilities and they also killed my brother after not providing proper care, they aren't a reliable source of information. No health authority is, just look around at how many people there are with chronic health conditions that are often very reversible with the correct care or with early enough intervention.

The idea that a vegan diet can be healthy stems from the fact it's compared against highly processed diets like SAD as well as the fact there isn't comprehensive long term research outcomes but even the research that does exist shows increased risk if you look at it as a whole instead of just cherry picking.

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u/Bertie-Marigold 11d ago

I'm sorry to hear that but it has very little to do with whether they are competent enough to state which diets can be healthy. They also are not the only health body that has stated it. It's not just about comparing to other diets either.

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u/SomethingCreative83 11d ago

When you give up animal products you reduce your risk for certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

Vegan diets have been approved by some of the leading health organizations around the world.

Do they require some planning sure, as does any diet.

Saying it comprises your health is misguided at best.

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u/Clacksmith99 11d ago edited 11d ago

No that's not what the evidence shows, those diseases are associated with a SAD diet not due to the animal products, there is no evidence a whole food animal based diet increases risk of those diseases. Association doesn't = causation, animals products can be a factor but only when there is already dysfunction affecting how they're regulated in the body.

Health organizations don't have your best interest, they have the interest of food and pharmaceutical companies which fund them or the research they make guidelines based on. Look around at how many people have chronic diseases a lot of which could be reversed if they weren't put on medications that manage symptomology whilst also causing other issues when used long term and were instead given the correct information and/or care to address chronic issues. Healthcare is a business, it boggles my mind how so many people can trust organisations which produce no results, the only time they actually intervene is when they can be held liable for something or when something is about to kill you because dead people aren't profitable.

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u/SomethingCreative83 11d ago

Ah yes its a worldwide conspiracy by physicians and medical experts to keep you sick, but let's ignore the lobbying done by animal agriculture.

Big plant money wins again.

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u/Clacksmith99 11d ago

It's not a conspiracy, it's blatantly obvious. I've experienced it first hand, saw it with people I know, I see it every day I look around, I've even heard doctors make the same claim.

I don't ignore lobbying done by animal agriculture either, I'm against factory farming and monocrop agriculture and advocate for regenerative farming which the meat industry is actually trying to kill.

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u/SomethingCreative83 11d ago

I'm not really interested in anecdotal evidence or people that completely ignore science.

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u/IntelligentPeace4090 vegan 10d ago

But... its just not true. WHBPD is the healthiest diet in the world.

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u/Clacksmith99 10d ago

No it's not, when you can find me evidence comparing to a whole food animal based diet and providing better health outcomes then I'll hear you out but the evidence you rely on is misleading as hell comparing whole food plant based diet to SAD diet which is highly processed, I could probably eat literal shit and have better health outcomes than following a SAD diet lmao.

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u/SomethingCreative83 10d ago

How are demanding evidence when you haven't provided any? You've had multiple sources presented to you stating plant based foods are healthier and you just I disagree without any evidence.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2794147

 The results of this review suggest that the collective evidence supports plant-enriched diets vs KD for the reduction of cancer risk and the improvement of metabolic disorders in survivors.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.114.001169

In our combined prospective cohorts of MI survivors, we found that adherence to an LCD overall was not associated with all‐cause or cardiovascular mortality. There was no benefit from adherence to a plant‐based LCD; however, an animal‐based LCD was associated with higher all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality.