Protein Skepticism
Junk food is not health food just because you add “protein” to it
The newest trend in big food is to add protein to processed foods in order to pass them off as healthy, and sell them to people who have been programmed to believe protein = health.
The first product like this that caught my attention was Kudos Protein Popcorn, who has a sponsorship with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Their slogan is: “Snacking shouldn’t have to be a guilty pleasure.” Kudos Popcorn has 23 ingredients. Feels guilty.
The second place I saw it was at my gym. Next to the pre-made protein shakes, a health hazard in their own right, is a shelf stocked with Protein Pop-Tarts and Protein Chips.
Most recently I was at CVS picking up a prescription when I saw a basket full of protein chips manufactured by Quest. I always suspected that Quest bars and Quest as a company were pure trash, and this just confirmed it. Quest “Protein Chips” have 25 listed ingredients.
It’s really regrettable that these companies have decided to latch onto the protein programming we’ve all grown up with. The idea that we need to consume copious amounts of protein (anywhere from .7 grams - 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight) in order to grow muscle, and maintain muscle mass. It’s conditioning that I’ve bought into for most of my life.
I’ve always had a pantry stocked with whey and casein protein powder. And I’ve always chosen meals rich in protein. But it’s a programming that I’ve become skeptical of recently, and have started to reject.
My skepticism started to grow the more I learned about the Blue Zones populations of people. In these parts of the world where people live the longest and most active lives free of chronic disease, where it’s common to live into your 90s while still tending to your garden, working, and socializing, there is no emphasis on protein consumption.
In fact, in these cultures, protein is the side dish, an after thought, not the focal point of any meal.
Further, protein mainly come in the form of plants, beans, legumes, fish, and fermented foods. Meat is eaten only on occasion.
I think that excess consumption is not only unnecessary, but I think the conditioning to eat more protein is a major contributor to our health epidemic.
Protein in America is often consumed in the form of red meat, which is typically processed into a hamburger, sold sandwiched between an ultra processed white bread bun, with a side of deep fried french fried dripping in vegetable oil, with a side of sugar in the form of a soda.
I think that the pursuit of more protein, attempting to hit the recommended goals mentioned before, leads to overeating, and therefore overconsumption of calories. And I think that for the majority of people consuming a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is just too much for their level of activity (inactivity). Over 60 percent of people fail to get the minimum daily amount of exercise recommended by the federal government.
Meaning that all of that protein is not being utilized to repair muscles and instead is turning to fat in people’s body’s.
It’s a shame that we’ve been programmed to consume protein in excess. And it’s beyond shameful for companies like Quest to take advantage of this conditioning just to turn a profit, knowing full well that protein in tortilla chip form, is not actually protein. And it’s disgraceful for a company like the UFC, a company that showcases some of the best athletes in the world, to accept sponsorship dollars from a company like Kudos, knowing full well that their viewers are being led to believe that their athletes consume Kudos Protein Popcorn as part of their diet.
It’s sick.