Every food commercial, advertisement, and packaging in the US is currently protein obsessed. I just bought 3 burritos, and the most noticeable thing on the entire package is its protein content. TV commercials about waffles are advertising that they have X amount of protein per serving. The products in my jobsite’s vending machine have protein all over every package.
Did America have a protein thing recently?
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Lmfao at this whole thread of nonsense answers.
It’s not a weird obsession.
If you want to be muscular, then you need to eat a lot of protein.
If you want to be muscular and have a low body fat percentage, then you need to eat a lot of protein, and eat a lot of protein / calorie you eat.
If you’re old and want to slow down how quickly your muscles waste away to maintain your physical health, you need to eat a lot of protein.
And protein is generally one of the more expensive parts of food, so companies constantly try and cut back and replace it with carbs and sugar instead… All leading to people seeking out food with high protein content
It’s a weird obsession because people are trying to eat significantly more than they need.
People misunderstood grams per kilogram and just switched it to grams per pound without actually converting units
It’s the fad of the day (decade).
If you look closely, you might start seeing “high in fiber!” creeping in. You know how the last ten years there were articles about how Americans don’t eat enough fiber? Well, now fiber is the new selling point…
We’re idiots
Because you can slap on a ‘30g protein’ label on junk food and charge double for it
Macho culture -> bulking-> protein
Congratulations, you’ve discovered the nature of advertising.
A while back during the gluten-free craze my laundry detergent proudly had “gluten-free” on the packaging.
EDIT: I learned it’s possible for plant-based detergents to have contact with gluten, so for those with zero tolerance it can be a concern.
From Celiac.org
Do I have to use special gluten-free soaps, shampoos and lotions if I have celiac disease? Can gluten be absorbed through the skin?
No. Gluten cannot be absorbed through your scalp or skin. It must be ingested to affect those with Celiac disease.
https://celiac.org/2016/05/20/9-questions-about-celiac-disease-answered/
I drink my laundry detergent so this is important for me.
GMO free water is my favourite
I would very much like to know if that’s true. Removing every pollutant from water isn’t easy.
My dog shampoo proudly states that it has not been tested on captive animals… so I’m left wondering if they’ve tested it on free animals, or if I should think twice about using it on my dogs.
I always thought this meant “this specific product was not tested on animals but the research it is based on maybe probably involved animal testing.” Like there’s some foundational knowledge that forms the basis of “how to make a shampoo”, and that knowledge may be gotten through some unethical means.
I just had a great mental picture of some scientists chasing down and tackling a wild dog to try and shampoo it.
Animal testing typically involves injecting chemicals or rubbing directly into purpose-made abrasions or the eyes of animals. It is MUCH more brutal than it sounds.
Im sure they washed dogs with the final formula.
Animal testing typically involves injecting chemicals or rubbing directly into purpose-made abrasions or the eyes of animals
Man…why are we like this…
Animal testing doesn’t even guarantee that it’ll react the same way in/on humans. We have so many other options and yet we continue cruel practices because tradition. Ugh.
Or they’re taking the approach of software companies nowadays: don’t test, just make the users test in production
So while it sounds insane for detergent to label itself gluten-free, for people with severe gluten sensitivity toiletries, cosmetics, and other non-consumable items can still cause them symptoms with exposure, or so I’ve been told by someone I know with gluten intolerance. Whether this is an exaggerated concern or not, there is demand (albeit small) for such products.
I stand corrected.
The detergent I used was supposed to be eco-friendly so its target audience might be looking at plant-based cleaners.
my laundry detergent proudly had “gluten-free” on the packaging.
I wonder if this has anything to do with Tide Pods and tiktok… Lmao
Nutritionism sells more food. If you really want to be radicalized go read Michael Polan’s In Defense of Food
GLP-1, Ozempic or weightloss drugs.
heres a youtube video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4y3r5vyac8
havent watched it. this discussion just popped up in another forum a few hours ago.
probably something about the lower calories intake while still getting enough proteins or smth like that.
It’s this, the weightloss drugs. Protein AND fiber products are being pushed everywhere.
Fiber atleast you cant get too much of, and the majority of people don’t get enough to begin with.
For sure! Especially millennials - there’s way too many of us dying from colon cancer these days.
Im guessing it also has something to do with all the noise around lowered testosterone in men lately. Protein dude bro think
As a vegan, it’s annoying. This obsession makes everyone concerned “where I get my protein.”
But no one seems to track their fiber, sodium, iron, riboflavin, etc. and would be miffed if I constantly asked people about it.
Wouldn’t you get most of the other nutrients fairly easily as long as you eat a varied diet? Accounting proteins/carbs/fats (and their sub-category types) seems harder
Its not because of obsession, it’s because it’s literally the starting point for nutrition knowledge, and it’s the most obvious thing that would be lacking in a vegan diet. When people think substantial protein they think meat first and dairy and eggs second.
Beans. The answer to all of the above is beans.
“Oh, I’m good on protein intake. Thank you. But now that you mention it: I have been wondering how to bring up my concern for your possible riboflavin deficiency…”
Fiber was the latest crazy a long time ago.
Remember Colon Blow? https://youtu.be/Ku42Iszh9KM
i assumed it was the popularity of gym culture moving into every day life
I also think this is it. I have a couple of friends that buy these kind of products, and they are also the only gym goers I know. So for my tiny sample it’s an absolute one to one correlation.
Aside from people working out protein isn’t really going to make a difference.
Interesting question and answers here. The GLP1 stuff makes sense.
They don’t tell you about the bioavailability of the proteins though. Waffles or plants among others don’t get utilized by the body as well as protein from meat or whey.
It’s not entirely pseudoscience. I imagine a lot of people don’t normally get the recommended 1.2g per kg per day https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/
Just to note 1.2g per kg per day is a highly contested number. To my knowledge, the usual recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of most countries sits at around 0.8. As it says in that link, this was the RDA in the US, too, before the Trump bros recently increased it.
And the RDA covers the needs of 97.5% of the population. So, per definition, most people need less than that.
At the same time, with an average Western diet, you can easily get 1.5g per kg bodyweight per day. There’s cases where folks can’t deal with excess protein due to a kidney failure, and actually getting them to not eat excess protein can be quite the challenge.Source for that second block is this podcast/video where a nutrition professor is interviewed: https://zoe.com/learn/podcast-should-i-eat-more-protein
That seems high per https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-you-getting-too-much-protein
Which quotes 0.8 g/kg
A lot of people have gone on GLP-1’s recently. You’re advised to eat a lot of protein when you go on those.
The US secretary of health, RFK Jr., pushes an uptake in protein as part of his “MAHA” - “Make America Healthy Again” - messaging. See example tote bags for an event here.
It’s the reason you can buy protein poptarts.
It’s got what plants crave
