The impacts of partial replacement of red and processed meat with legumes or cereals on protein and amino acid intakes: a modelling study in the Finnish adult population

Figures & data

Table 1. Background characteristics, mean daily food consumption and nutrient intake in the FinDiet 2017 Survey by gender and age.

	Men (n = 780)			Women (n = 875)
	18–64 years (n = 576)	65–74 years (n = 204)		18–64 years (n = 628)	65–74 years (n = 247)
	Mean	Mean	P value^c	Mean	Mean	P value^c
Age (years)	42.1	69.2	–	41.5	69.2	–
Body weight (kg)	86.1^a	88.0^a	NS	72.6	74.9	NS
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	27.1	28.7	<0.0001	26.9	28.7	<0.0001
Red and processed meat (g)	119^a	96.6^a	0.020	59.3	54.4	NS
Legumes (g)	13.4	7.1	0.027^b	14.0	9.4	<0.0001^b
Cereals (g)	152^a	138^a	0.013	113	104	0.036
Energy (MJ)	9.8^a	8.0^a	<0.0001	7.5	6.6	<0.0001
Fat (E%)	39.0^a	36.7	<0.0001	38.0	36.7	NS
Saturated fat (E%)	15.2^a	14.4	0.017	14.4	14.0	NS
Monounsaturated fat (E%)	14.8	13.4	<0.0001	14.5	13.7	0.0059
Carbohydrate (E%)	40.8^a	44.0	<0.0001	42.2	43.4	NS
Fibre (g/MJ)	2.4^a	2.9^a	<0.0001	2.8	3.1	<0.0001
Protein (E%)	18.2^a	17.0	<0.0001	17.5	17.3	NS
Animal source (% of total protein)	70.1^a	66.5	<0.0001	67.4	67.1	NS
Plant source (% of total protein)	29.8^a	33.3	<0.0001	32.3	32.8	NS
Protein (g/kg body weight (BW))	1.2^a	0.89	<0.0001	1.1	0.91	<0.0001
Histidine (mg/kg BW)	37.3^a	26.9	<0.0001	32.4	27.4	<0.0001
Isoleucine (mg/kg BW)	50.7^a	35.7	<0.0001	44.7	37.4	<0.0001
Leucine (mg/kg BW)	93.7^a	66.2	<0.0001	82.9	69.4	<0.0001
Lysine (mg/kg BW)	82.3^a	57.7	<0.0001	71.4	60.2	<0.0001
Methionine + cysteine (mg/kg BW)	43.1^a	31.4	<0.0001	38.3	32.3	<0.0001
Phenylalanine + tyrosine (mg/kg BW)	95.2^a	68.1	<0.0001	85.5	71.8	<0.0001
Threonine (mg/kg BW)	44.3^a	31.5	<0.0001	39.2	33.0	<0.0001
Tryptophan (mg/kg BW)	15.9^a	11.5	<0.0001	14.3	12.0	<0.0001
Valine (mg/kg BW)	60.0^a	42.8	<0.0001	53.7	45.1	<0.0001
Total indispensable amino acids (mg/kg BW)	522^a	372	<0.0001	463	389	<0.0001

^cDifference between age groups tested by linear regression.

NS, not significant.

^aDifferent from women of the same age group (p < 0.05), tested by linear regression.

^bDue to low proportion of legume users (<50%), difference in proportion of users between age and gender groups tested by logistic regression. No differences between men and women of the same age group were observed (p > 0.05).

Table 2. Mean daily food consumption and nutrient intake in Finnish men (n = 576) aged 18–64 years in the reference diet (FinDiet 2017) and the scenarios in which red and processed meat were partially replaced with legumes or cereals^a.

	Level	Reference diet		Legume scenario		Cereal scenario		Combination scenario
		Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
Red and processed meat (g)^b	70	119	111–127	58.9^c	56.9–61.0	58.9^c	56.9–61.0	58.9^c	56.9–61.0
	30			27.7^c	27.0–28.4	27.7^c	27.0–28.4	27.7^c	27.0–28.4
Legumes (g)^d	70	13.4	9.6–17.1	69.3^c	61.2–77.5	13.4	9.6–17.1	41.3^c	35.9–46.8
	30			98.6^c	89.8–107	13.4	9.6–17.1	56.0^c	50.3–61.7
Cereals (g)^e	70	152	144–161	152	144–161	186^c	176–196	169	160–178
	30			152	144–161	203^c	193–213	178^c	169–187
Energy (MJ)	70	9.8	9.5–10.1	9.5	9.1–9.8	9.7	9.4–10.0	9.6	9.3–9.9
	30			9.3	9.0–9.6	9.7	9.4–10.0	9.5	9.2–9.8
Protein (E%)	70	18.2	17.9–18.6	17.7	17.4–18.1	17.0^c	16.7–17.4	17.4^c	17.0–17.7
	30			17.4^c	17.0–17.7	16.3^c	16.0–16.7	16.8^c	16.5–17.2
Protein (g)	70	102	98.3–107	95.9	91.9–99.8	94.8	90.9–98.7	95.3	91.4–99.2
	30			92.2^c	88.4–96.1	90.6^c	86.8–94.4	91.4^c	87.6–95.3
Protein (g/kg BW)	70	1.2	1.2–1.3	1.1	1.1–1.2	1.1	1.1–1.2	1.1	1.1–1.2
	30			1.1^c	1.05–1.15	1.1^c	1.0–1.1	1.1^c	1.0–1.1
Histidine (mg/kg BW)	70	37.3	35.7–38.9	33.5^c	32.1–34.9	33.1^c	31.7–34.5	33.3^c	31.9–34.7
	30			31.4^c	30.0–32.7	30.8^c	29.5–32.2	31.1^c	29.7–32.4
Isoleucine (mg/kg BW)	70	50.7	48.4–52.9	47.2	45.1–49.4	46.3	44.2–48.5	46.8	44.6–48.9
	30			45.3^c	43.2–47.4	44.0^c	41.8–46.1	44.6^c	42.5–46.7
Leucine (mg/kg BW)	70	93.7	89.5–97.9	87.6	83.7–91.6	86.4	82.5–90.4	87.0	83.1–91.0
	30			84.2^c	80.3–88.1	82.4^c	78.5–86.3	83.3^c	79.4–87.2
Lysine (mg/kg BW)	70	82.3	78.6–86.1	74.8^c	71.4–78.3	74.1^c	70.7–77.6	74.5^c	71.1–77.9
	30			70.7^c	67.3–74.0	69.6^c	66.3–72.9	70.1^c	66.8–73.5
Methionine + cysteine (mg/kg BW)	70	43.1	41.2–45.0	39.3^c	37.5–41.0	39.8	38.0–41.5	39.5	37.7–41.3
	30			37.1^c	35.4–38.9	37.9^c	36.2–39.6	37.5^c	35.8–39.2
Phenylalanine + tyrosine (mg/kg BW)	70	95.2	91.1–99.4	90.2	86.3–94.1	89.7	85.8–93.7	90.0	86.0–93.9
	30			87.4	83.5–91.3	86.7^c	82.8–90.5	87.0^c	83.2–90.9
Threonine (mg/kg BW)	70	44.3	42.3–46.3	41.3	39.4–43.2	40.4	38.6–42.3	40.9	39.0–42.8
	30			39.7^c	37.8–41.5	38.3^c	36.5–40.1	39.0^c	37.1–40.8
Tryptophan (mg/kg BW)	70	15.9	15.2–16.6	14.8	14.2–15.5	14.7	14.1–15.4	14.8	14.1–15.4
	30			14.2^c	13.6–14.9	14.0^c	13.4–14.7	14.1^c	13.5–14.8
Valine (mg/kg BW)	70	60.0	57.4–62.6	56.4	54.0–58.9	55.8	53.4–58.3	56.1	53.7–58.6
	30			54.5^c	52.0–56.9	53.5^c	51.1–56.0	54.0^c	51.6–56.4
Total indispensable amino acids (mg/kg BW)	70	522	499–546	485	464–507	480	459–502	483	461–504
	30			464^c	443–486	457^c	436–478	461^c	440–482

^aIn the replacement scenarios, the amount of red and processed meat exceeding 70 g/day or 30 g/day was replaced with the same amount (g) of legume, cereal or the combination (legume 50%, cereal 50%) aggregate while keeping the consumption of other foods unchanged.

^bRed meat included beef, pork, lamb, game and offal and processed meat included sausages and cold cuts.

^cDifferent from the reference diet based on non-overlapping 95% confidence interval (CI) around the mean [21,39].

^dLegumes included all forms fresh legumes (green peas or green beans), pulses (dry beans, chickpeas, lentils), soya products and legume-based plant-protein products.

^eCereals included barley, oat, rice, rye, wheat, starch, other cereals and cereal-based plant-protein products excluding cereal-based drinks.

Table 3. Mean daily food consumption and nutrient intake in Finnish men (n = 204) aged 65–74 years in the reference diet (FinDiet 2017) and the scenarios in which red and processed meat were partially replaced with legumes or cereals^a.

	Level	Reference diet		Legume scenario		Cereal scenario		Combination scenario
		Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
Red and processed meat (g)^b	70	96.6	84.3–109	57.3^c	54.0–60.6	57.3^c	54.0–60.6	57.3^c	54.0–60.6
	30			28.3^c	27.3–29.2	28.3^c	27.3–29.2	28.3^c	27.3–29.2
Legumes (g)^d	70	7.1	4.9–9.4	44.0^c	33.4–54.6	7.1	4.9–9.4	25.6^c	19.8–31.3
	30			71.3^c	59.5–83.0	7.1	4.9–9.4	39.2^c	32.9–45.5
Cereals (g)^e	70	138	130–146	138	130–146	160^c	150–170	149	141–158
	30			138	130–146	176^c	165–187	157^c	148–166
Energy (MJ)	70	8.0	7.6–8.3	7.8	7.5–8.1	8.0	7.6–8.3	7.9	7.6–8.2
	30			7.7	7.3–8.0	8.0	7.6–8.3	7.8	7.5–8.1
Protein (E%)	70	17.0	16.4–17.5	16.6	16.1–17.1	16.1	15.6–16.6	16.4	15.9–16.8
	30			16.2	15.8–16.7	15.3^c	14.8–15.8	15.8^c	15.3–16.2
Protein (g)	70	76.1	72.6–79.6	72.6	69.5–75.7	71.9	68.9–75.0	72.3	69.2–75.4
	30			69.7	66.7–72.7	68.4^c	65.5–71.3	69.0^c	66.1–72.0
Protein (g/kg BW)	70	0.89	0.84–0.94	0.85	0.81–0.89	0.84	0.80–0.88	0.85	0.80–0.89
	30			0.82	0.77–0.86	0.80^c	0.76–0.84	0.81	0.77–0.85
Histidine (mg/kg BW)	70	26.9	25.4–28.5	24.7	23.5–26.0	24.5	23.3–25.7	24.6	23.4–25.8
	30			22.9^c	21.8–24.0	22.5^c	21.4–23.6	22.7^c	21.6–23.8
Isoleucine (mg/kg BW)	70	35.7	33.8–37.6	33.8	32.1–35.5	33.2	31.6–34.8	33.5	31.9–35.2
	30			32.2^c	30.6–33.8	31.2^c	29.6–32.7	31.7^c	30.1–33.2
Leucine (mg/kg BW)	70	66.2	62.7–69.7	62.8	59.7–65.9	62.0	59.0–65.0	62.4	59.3–65.4
	30			59.9	56.9–62.9	58.5^c	55.6–61.4	59.2^c	56.3–62.2
Lysine (mg/kg BW)	70	57.7	54.4–61.0	53.4	50.7–56.2	53.0	50.3–55.7	53.2	50.5–55.9
	30			49.9^c	47.3–52.5	49.1^c	46.5–51.6	49.5^c	46.9–52.1
Methionine + cysteine (mg/kg BW)	70	31.4	29.7–33.1	29.2	27.7–30.6	29.5	28.0–31.0	29.3	27.9–30.8
	30			27.4^c	26.0–28.7	27.9^c	26.5–29.3	27.6^c	26.3–29.0
Phenylalanine + tyrosine (mg/kg BW)	70	68.1	64.7–71.6	65.5	62.2–68.7	65.1	62.0–68.3	65.3	62.1–68.5
	30			63.1	60.0–66.3	62.6	59.5–65.7	62.8	59.7–66.0
Threonine (mg/kg BW)	70	31.5	29.7–33.2	29.8	28.3–31.3	29.2	27.7–30.7	29.5	28.0–31.0
	30			28.4	26.9–29.8	27.4^c	26.0–28.7	27.9^c	26.4–29.3
Tryptophan (mg/kg BW)	70	11.5	10.9–12.1	10.9	10.3–11.4	10.8	10.3–11.3	10.8	10.3–11.4
	30			10.4	9.8–10.9	10.2^c	9.7–10.7	10.3^c	9.8–10.8
Valine (mg/kg BW)	70	42.8	40.6–45.0	40.9	38.9–42.9	40.5	38.5–42.4	40.7	38.7–42.7
	30			39.2	37.3–41.2	38.5^c	36.6–40.4	38.9	36.9–40.8
Total indispensable amino acids (mg/kg BW)	70	372	352–392	351	334–368	348	331–365	349	332–367
	30			333^c	317–350	328^c	312–344	331^c	314-347

^aIn the replacement scenarios, the amount of red and processed meat exceeding 70 g/day or 30 g/day was replaced with the same amount (g) of legume, cereal or the combination (legume 50%, cereal 50%) aggregate while keeping the consumption of other foods unchanged.

^bRed meat included beef, pork, lamb, game and offal and processed meat included sausages and cold cuts.

^cDifferent from the reference diet based on non-overlapping 95% confidence interval (CI) around the mean [21,39].

^dLegumes included all forms fresh legumes (green peas or green beans), pulses (dry beans, chickpeas, lentils), soya products and legume-based plant-protein products.

^eCereals included barley, oat, rice, rye, wheat, starch, other cereals and cereal-based plant-protein products excluding cereal-based drinks.

Table 4. Mean daily food consumption and nutrient intake in Finnish women (n = 628) aged 18–64 years in the reference diet (FinDiet 2017) and the scenarios in which red and processed meat were partially replaced with legumes or cereals^a.

	Level	Reference diet		Legume scenario		Cereal scenario		Combination scenario
		Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
Red and processed meat (g)^b	70	59.3	55.0–63.6	44.1^c	41.7–46.6	44.1^c	41.7–46.6	44.1^c	41.7–46.6
	30			23.8^c	22.7–24.8	23.8^c	22.7–24.8	23.8^c	22.7–24.8
Legumes (g)^d	70	14.0	10.9–17.2	28.2^c	25.1–31.4	14.0	10.9–17.2	21.1^c	18.2–24.1
	30			47.3^c	43.9–50.8	14.0	10.9–17.2	30.7^c	27.9–33.5
Cereals (g)^e	70	113	108–117	113	108–117	121	117–126	117	113–122
	30			113	108–117	133^c	128–138	123^c	118–128
Energy (MJ)	70	7.5	7.4–7.7	7.5	7.3–7.6	7.5	7.3–7.7	7.5	7.3–7.7
	30			7.3	7.2–7.5	7.5	7.3–7.7	7.4	7.2–7.6
Protein (E%)	70	17.5	17.2–17.8	17.3	17.0–17.6	17.1	16.8–17.4	17.2	16.9–17.5
	30			17.0	16.7–17.3	16.5^c	16.2–16.8	16.8^c	16.5–17.1
Protein (g)	70	75.2	73.3–77.2	73.7	71.8–75.5	73.4	71.6–75.3	73.6	71.7–75.4
	30			71.3^c	69.5–73.1	70.7^c	68.9–72.5	71.0^c	69.2–72.8
Protein (g/kg BW)	70	1.1	1.0–1.1	1.1	1.0–1.1	1.1	1.0–1.1	1.1	1.0–1.1
	30			1.0	0.99–1.1	1.0	0.98–1.1	1.0	0.99–1.1
Histidine (mg/kg BW)	70	32.4	31.2–33.6	31.3	30.2–32.4	31.2	30.1–32.3	31.2	30.1–32.4
	30			29.6^c	28.5–30.7	29.4^c	28.3–30.4	29.5^c	28.4–30.6
Isoleucine (mg/kg BW)	70	44.7	43.1–46.3	43.8	42.2–45.3	43.5	41.9–45.0	43.6	42.1–45.2
	30			42.3	40.7–43.8	41.6	40.1–43.1	41.9	40.4–43.4
Leucine (mg/kg BW)	70	82.9	80.0–85.9	81.2	78.4–84.1	80.8	78.0–83.7	81.0	78.2–83.9
	30			78.6	75.8–81.3	77.7	74.9–80.5	78.1	75.4–80.9
Lysine (mg/kg BW)	70	71.4	68.8–74.0	69.3	66.7–71.8	69.0	66.5–71.6	69.2	66.6–71.7
	30			66.0^c	63.6–68.4	65.5^c	63.1–67.9	65.8^c	63.3–68.2
Methionine + cysteine (mg/kg BW)	70	38.3	36.9–39.6	37.1	35.9–38.4	37.3	36.0–38.6	37.2	35.9–38.5
	30			35.5^c	34.3–36.7	35.9	34.6–37.1	35.7^c	34.4–36.9
Phenylalanine + tyrosine (mg/kg BW)	70	85.5	82.5–88.5	84.1	81.2–87.0	84.0	81.0–86.9	84.0	81.1–87.0
	30			81.9	79.1–84.8	81.6	78.7–84.4	81.8	78.9–84.6
Threonine (mg/kg BW)	70	39.2	37.8–40.6	38.4	37.0–39.8	38.1	36.8–39.5	38.3	36.9–39.6
	30			37.1	35.8–38.4	36.5^c	35.2–37.8	36.8	35.5–38.1
Tryptophan (mg/kg BW)	70	14.3	13.8–14.8	14.0	13.5–14.5	14.0	13.5–14.5	14.0	13.5–14.5
	30			13.5	13.1–14.0	13.5	13.0–13.9	13.5	13.0–14.0
Valine (mg/kg BW)	70	53.7	51.8–55.6	52.7	50.9–54.6	52.5	50.7–54.4	52.6	50.8–54.5
	30			51.2	49.4–53.0	50.8	49.0–52.5	51.0	49.2–52.8
Total indispensable amino acids (mg/kg BW)	70	463	446–479	452	436–468	450	435–466	451	435–467
	30			436	420–451	432	417–448	434	419–449

^aIn the replacement scenarios, the amount of red and processed meat exceeding 70 g/day or 30 g/day was replaced with the same amount (g) of legume, cereal or the combination (legume 50%, cereal 50%) aggregate while keeping the consumption of other foods unchanged.

^bRed meat included beef, pork, lamb, game and offal and processed meat included sausages and cold cuts.

^cDifferent from the reference diet based on non-overlapping 95% confidence interval (CI) around the mean [21,39].

^dLegumes included all forms fresh legumes (green peas or green beans), pulses (dry beans, chickpeas, lentils), soya products and legume-based plant-protein products.

^eCereals included barley, oat, rice, rye, wheat, starch, other cereals and cereal-based plant-protein products excluding cereal-based drinks.

Table 5. Mean daily food consumption and nutrient intake in Finnish women (n = 247) aged 65–74 years in the reference diet (FinDiet 2017) and the scenarios in which red and processed meat were partially replaced with legumes or cereals^a.

	Level	Reference diet		Legume scenario		Cereal scenario		Combination scenario
		Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
Red and processed meat (g)^b	70	54.4	48.9–59.9	43.5^c	40.3–46.6	43.5^c	40.3–46.6	43.5^c	40.3–46.6
	30			24.3^c	23.0–25.5	24.3^c	23.0–25.5	24.3^c	23.0–25.5
Legumes (g)^d	70	9.4	6.3–12.5	19.7^c	15.2–24.1	9.4	6.3–12.5	14.5	11.1–18.0
	30			37.7^c	32.2–43.2	9.4	6.3–12.5	23.5^c	19.7–27.4
Cereals (g)^e	70	104	97.0–111	104	97.0–111	110	103–117	107	100–114
	30			104	97.0–111	121^c	113–128	112	105–120
Energy (MJ)	70	6.6	6.4–6.9	6.6	6.3–6.8	6.6	6.4–6.9	6.6	6.4–6.8
	30			6.5	6.2–6.7	6.6	6.4–6.9	6.6	6.3–6.8
Protein (E%)	70	17.3	16.7–18.0	17.2	16.6–17.9	17.0	16.4–17.7	17.1	16.5–17.8
	30			16.8	16.2–17.5	16.3	15.7–17.0	16.6	15.9–17.2
Protein (g)	70	65.7	63.2–68.2	64.7	62.3–67.1	64.5	62.1–66.9	64.6	62.2–67.0
	30			62.4	60.0–64.8	61.9	59.5–64.3	62.1	59.7–64.6
Protein (g/kg BW)	70	0.91	0.87–0.96	0.90	0.86–0.95	0.90	0.85–0.94	0.90	0.85–0.95
	30			0.87	0.82–0.92	0.86	0.82–0.91	0.87	0.82–0.91
Histidine (mg/kg BW)	70	27.4	26.0–28.9	26.7	25.3–28.1	26.6	25.2–28.0	26.7	25.3–28.0
	30			25.1	23.7–26.4	24.9	23.5–26.2	25.0	23.6–26.3
Isoleucine (mg/kg BW)	70	37.4	35.4–39.4	36.7	34.8–38.7	36.5	34.6–38.5	36.6	34.7–38.6
	30			35.3	33.3–37.2	34.8	32.8–36.7	35.0	33.1–37.0
Leucine (mg/kg BW)	70	69.4	65.8–73.1	68.3	64.7–71.9	68.0	64.4–71.7	68.2	64.5–71.8
	30			65.8	62.1–69.4	65.0	61.4–68.6	65.4	61.8–69.0
Lysine (mg/kg BW)	70	60.2	56.9–63.4	58.7	55.6–61.9	58.6	55.4–61.7	58.7	55.5–61.8
	30			55.7	52.5–58.8	55.2	52.1–58.4	55.4	52.3–58.6
Methionine + cysteine (mg/kg BW)	70	32.3	30.7–33.9	31.6	29.9–33.2	31.7	30.1–33.3	31.6	30.0–33.2
	30			30.0	28.4–31.6	30.3	28.7–31.9	30.2	28.6–31.8
Phenylalanine + tyrosine (mg/kg BW)	70	71.8	68.0–75.7	70.9	67.1–74.7	70.8	67.0–74.6	70.8	67.0–74.6
	30			68.8	65.0–72.6	68.5	64.7–72.3	68.6	64.9–72.4
Threonine (mg/kg BW)	70	33.0	31.3–34.8	32.5	30.7–34.2	32.3	30.5–34.0	32.4	30.6–34.1
	30			31.2	29.5–32.9	30.7	28.9–32.4	30.9	29.2–32.7
Tryptophan (mg/kg BW)	70	12.0	11.4–12.6	11.8	11.2–12.4	11.8	11.2–12.4	11.8	11.2–12.4
	30			11.3	10.7–12.0	11.3	10.7–11.9	11.3	10.7–11.9
Valine (mg/kg BW)	70	45.1	42.7–47.5	44.4	42.1–46.8	44.3	42.0–46.6	44.4	42.0–46.7
	30			42.9	40.6–45.3	42.6	40.2–44.9	42.8	40.4–45.1
Total indispensable amino acids (mg/kg BW)	70	389	368–409	382	362–402	381	361–401	381	361–401
	30			366	346–386	363	343–383	365	345–385

^aIn the replacement scenarios, the amount of red and processed meat exceeding 70 g/day or 30 g/day was replaced with the same amount (g) of legume, cereal or the combination (legume 50%, cereal 50%) aggregate while keeping the consumption of other foods unchanged.

^bRed meat included beef, pork, lamb, game and offal and processed meat included sausages and cold cuts.

^cDifferent from the reference diet based on non-overlapping 95% confidence interval (CI) around the mean [21,39].

^dLegumes included all forms fresh legumes (green peas or green beans), pulses (dry beans, chickpeas, lentils), soya products and legume-based plant-protein products.

^eCereals included barley, oat, rice, rye, wheat, starch, other cereals and cereal-based plant-protein products excluding cereal-based drinks.

Figure 1. Usual intake distributions for protein (A) and total indispensable amino acids (B) in Finnish men aged 18–64 years (upper panel) and Finnish men aged 65–74 years (lower panel) in the National FinDiet 2017 Survey (reference) and two scenarios in which the consumption of red and processed meat is limited to no more than 70 g/day (scenario 70 g, corresponding to the Finnish nutrition recommendation maximum 500 g/week [6]) or to no more than 30 g/day (scenario 30 g, corresponding to the EAT-Lancet recommendation maximum 200 g/week [4]). In the scenarios, for each subject, the amount exceeding the limit was replaced by the same amount of legumes.

Figure 2. Usual intake distributions for protein (A) and total indispensable amino acids (B) in Finnish women aged 18–64 years (upper panel) and Finnish women aged 65–74 years (lower panel) in the National FinDiet 2017 Survey (reference) and two scenarios in which the consumption of red and processed meat is limited to no more than 70 g/day (scenario 70 g, corresponding to the Finnish nutrition recommendation maximum 500 g/week [6]) or to no more than 30 g/day (scenario 30 g, corresponding to the EAT-Lancet recommendation maximum 200 g/week [4]). In the scenarios, for each subject, the amount exceeding the limit was replaced by the same amount of legumes.

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Data availability statement

The data of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) are openly available to other researchers for research purposes on a contractual basis.