Meat has been a staple of the human diet for approximately three million years — since our ancient ancestors were scavenging raw meat and fish, and long before the invention of fire and cooking.

But times change. Today, we have access to an array of plant-based meat alternatives, or PBMAs, packed with comparable nutrients to real meat.

At the same, there is more awareness than ever about the negative cardiac effects of highly processed foods — which describes many PBMAs.

When it comes to heart health, how do these fake meats stack up to real meat?

Scientists recently explored this question by looking at research on PBMAs published from 1970 to 2023, including their nutritional profiles and their impacts on cardiovascular disease risk factors.

The nutritional profiles of meat alternatives were found to vary greatly but tend to align with guidelines aimed at improving heart health. The PBMAs tended to have less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat and dietary fiber than their meat counterparts.

Fake meat is typically highly processed and high in sodium, but the researchers did not find evidence that these factors negate the potential heart benefits.

Instead, they found that some dietary trials where meat was replaced with PBMAs showed improvements in cardiovascular risk factors, including cholesterol and body weight.

Researchers said that, based on the existing evidence, opting for PBMAs instead of meat may provide heart-healthy benefits, though research continues in this area.

While our ancient ancestors may have scoffed at fake meat, the protein-rich alternatives may have a permanent place at the table for modern humans.