Cardioprotective Properties of Vegan Burger

Several studies over the last decades have demonstrated the important role of nutrition in the development of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. One dietary component that has been in the center of scientific research is red meat and processed meat (e.g., cold cuts, sausages, burgers). Burger, in particular, is one of the most popular red meat products and its consumption has increased rapidly in recent years due to the expansion of fast-food restaurants, its wide availability and its low price. However, due to its high animal fat content which is mostly saturated and high degree of processing, its nutritional value and the safety of its long-term high consumption have been questioned. The wide acceptance of burger by the general population, combined with the perception that it is a "burdensome" food for health, makes it an ideal subject for interventions aiming at modifying its nutritional value without downgrading its organoleptic characteristics and increasing its cost. Such an approach could be applied to the meat industry in order to develop innovative, functional meat analogues of high nutritional and organoleptic value, which could find acceptance by both meat-eating and vegetarian/vegan populations. Therefore, the aim of the present double-blind, randomized, crossover clinical trial is to explore the potential cardioprotective properties of "vegan burger", a novel meat analogue developed through the substitution of animal proteins and lipids with plant-based constituents using innovative technologies, against the conventional animal-based burger, in apparently healthy volunteers.