Battle Breakfast Link

Breakfast sausages are probably one of the only meat products I truly miss. Plump, juicy, salty, and so satisfying, but obviously made with animals so that's a never-againer in my books. Lucky for us all, there are some pretty amazing plant-based options available to us in the market. Which one gives you the most nutritional bang for the buck you say? 

We want protein, nutrients, and flavour of course. We don't want lots of ingredients, lots of sodium, or sneaky sugars. Let's take a look at the 4 plant-based links fighting for the title of healthiest breakfast link!

LIGHTLIFE

MEATLESS FARMS

YVES VEGGIE

BEYOND MEAT

RoUnD 1

CALORIES

LIGHTLIFE - 3 Links / 85 g = 220 Calories
YVES - 3 Links / 75 g = 105 Calories
MEATLESS - 3 Links / 71 g = 170 Calories
BEYOND - 3 Links / 88 g = 195 Calories

WINNER - YVES!

Kind of a landslide win here y'all in terms of coming in at the lowest amount of calories. The Yves variety gives you 105 calories for a serving of 3 links, keeping it nice and low if you're pairing it with some other reputably caloric breakfast items.  The other 3 options were all comparatively close in terms of calories, indicating you'd be making a good choice regardless of which of these options you picked up.

RoUnD 2

FAT

LIGHTLIFE - 15 g of Fat / 20% DV
YVES - 2.25 g of Fat / 3.5% DV
MEATLESS - 11 g of Fat / 15% DV
BEYOND -  13.5 g of Fat / 17% DV

WINNER - YVES!

The Yves links are an incredibly healthy choice in terms of fats because breakfast often comes paired with fattier options like eggs, cheese, potatoes, pancakes, or waffles. Keeping things low with the sausages allows for more leeway for the other options on the plate. All of the other competitors were relatively close again but when you start creeping up to 15% or more of your day's worth of fat in one portion of one of your meals in the day, you're risking climbing over your daily allowance. The Yves links are the smartest choice. 

RoUnD 3

FIBER

LIGHTLIFE - 3 g / 12%
YVES - 1.5 g / 6%
MEATLESS - 1 g / 4%
BEYOND - 3 g / 12%

WINNER - It's a Tie! LIGHTLIFE & BEYOND

We all know how important fiber is in our diets and making smart choices will help us achieve our daily intake of fiber required. Both the Lightlife & Beyond links provided 12% of your daily intake of fiber per serving which when compared to the fat and calories, is a reasonable balance. Unfortunately, the Meatless Farms & Yves links just didn't provide enough fiber to compete.

RoUnD 4

SODIUM

LIGHTLIFE - 410 mg / 18%
YVES - 675 mg / 28%
MEATLESS - 360 mg / 16%
​BEYOND - 360 mg / 16%

WINNER - It's a Tie! MEATLESS FARMS & BEYOND

Too much sodium leads to a slew of health issues which is why we have to watch how much we're taking in, especially in one sitting. Both the Meatless Farms & Beyond links came in the lowest at 360 mg of sodium per serving which equates to about 16% of your daily allowance. Unfortunately, I would steer clear of the Yves links if I was watching my sodium because 3 little links provides over a quarter of your sodium for the day in one go. That's kind of a nightmare.

RoUnD 5

PROTEIN

LIGHTLIFE - 16 g
YVES - 15 g
MEATLESS - 20 g
BEYOND - 12 g

WINNER - MEATLESS FARMS 

There is no denying that the Meatless Farms links provided the most protein per serving out of all of the other links. The Beyond links were the lowest on the totem pole with only 12g of protein per serving. The Meatless Farms links are certainly shattering that myth that plant-based folks lack protein, that's for sure.

WINNER

..........
.........
........
.......
......
.....
....
...
..
.

It's a Tie

We've got a 3 way tie as none of the plant based links etched ahead. Meatless Farms, Yves, and Beyond Meat all took 3 wins in the competition while the Lightlife variety only took 1. What does this tell us? It tells us that each of these products can offer us what we need in varying degrees, but that we must be smart with what else we are pairing them with to keep our plate as nutritionally balanced as possible. Look for the products that provide the most fiber / protein as opposed to those lowest in fat or calories to really get the most nutritional value out of your plate.

HAPPY VEG

Information and product photos taken respectively from;
lightlife.com
yvesveggie.ca
meatlessfarms.com
beyondmeat.com