protein shmotein

I’ve about had it with the current protein obsession. 

Eat half your weight in grams of protein a day. Eat protein every 90 minutes. Eat protein to lose weight. Eat protein to build muscle. Eat protein to stay full. Pack it in. Count grams.

Here, have a beef stick.
Here, eat some cottage cheese.
Here, HAVE A COW.

(Vegetarians, y’all are screwed.)

You can tell people have completely lost their everloving minds because protein is now showing up places it doesn’t belong: in brownies, poptarts, iced coffee, pretzels, water — WATER!

(So, vegetarians, maybe you aren’t screwed after all?)

Whatever happened to — I don’t know — just eating food? 

Meat is meat. 
An apple is an apple. 
Cake is cake. 
The end.

I’ve run the calculations, and even as a meat-eating human, most days I’m not even close to getting my current recommended amount of protein. To do so, I’d either have to overeat, or forgo other beloved staples like rice and bread, veggies, and ice cream — and y’all know I’m not about to give up my ice cream.

But weirder than putting protein where it doesn’t belong is the messaging. No matter the food fad — low-fat, atkins, keto, paleo, juice, 100-mile, etc — it’s always the same: “Food is salvation.” 

But we all know that’s not true, right? I mean, we all know that drinking an ice-cold Coke isn’t going to transform us into scantily-clad, sexy beach babes, and yet somehow protein in our coffee is going to turn us into the best version of ourselves?

Oh, come now.

And there’s another thing that bothers me: the idea that I must have — that I need — more. Millions of people live well with simple diets — beans and rice, ugali and greens, injera and lentils, dal and roti, hummus and pita. To say we need more protein strikes me as presumptuous or entitled. Maybe even elitist. 

If anything, what we probably need is less — less Doritos, with or without the extra protein. 

Sure, protein is important, and some people absolutely need protein-enhanced foods. Medically speaking, protein smoothies, granola bars and water can be lifesavers.

(Awhile back when I was fussing about yet another raging fad, my younger son pointed out that fads have benefits: a heightened focus on anything — be it a new diet or a social movement — allows for advancements. When the pendulum inevitably swings the other way, it leaves behind the benefits of deeper understanding and expanded world views.)

So once this current craze blows over, people who really do need protein-boosted foods are going to have so many great options.

But for the rest of us? Soon most people will (once again) be like, Yeah, protein is good — in moderation.

our traditional non-protein-enhanced Sunday supper

P.S. When I was almost done writing this post, I happened upon an excellent Fresh Air interview with Daniel Lieberman, author of Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well. In the interview, he quoted a seventh century B.C. Greek poet: The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

When being chased, Lieberman explained, foxes try all sorts of things to escape, but the hedgehog just curls into a ball. Meaning: the fox sees complexity and the hedgehog fits everything into one big (often simple) idea. So when it comes to fad diets, hedgehogs are the ones with the one-plan-fixes-all mentality, while foxes seek the nuance and complexity.

Lieberman’s plea (as I heard it): be foxy.

This same time, years previous: the second first day, jammy oat bars, on eating meat, quark, walk the walk 2020, chocolate cake, full circle, fresh nectarine galette, family extended, on love and leftovers, the quotidian (8.25.14), he got me.