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Wait, are there people out there that consume absurd amounts of protein for "health" reasons without doing any exercise? Do they seriously think they have a pr

Wait, are there people out there that consume absurd amounts of protein for "health" reasons without doing any exercise? Do they seriously think they have a protein deficiency?

maxxxxx 8y ago
Yes! I have seen this a lot in the US. Some overweight guy/gal will proclaim "I need some protein right now" (no idea on what this determination is based on) or ask me (vegetarian) "where do you get your protein?".
- ravenstine 8y ago
  I've seen cereal boxes that say "good source of protein", and I feel like the sports bars section has a new brand of protein cookie or brownie every time I walk by it. Like yeah, you'll get diabeetus, but you'll have your protein!
  - eeZah7Ux 8y ago
    *diabetes
    - rtisdale 8y ago
      woosh http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/diabeetus http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/diabeetus
- kieckerjan 8y ago
  Is it me or are Americans are more protein-minded than Europeans? Americans talking about health and food will often bring up protein in the first sentence, whereas a European (at least here in the Netherlands) more often will talk about fats, antioxidants, fibers. Protein is almost an afterthought. This is pure anecdotal evidence of course.
freeflight 8y ago
I think it's a new fad, tons of this "protein food" is popping up everywhere, even at gas stations. Often marketed in the same way as energy drinks are marketed "You do hard work, you need the proteins." And because nearly everybody thinks of themselves as "doing hard work", even in an office, people buy the stuff like an "all-in-one meal" solution. As somebody who works in medical nutrition I'm kinda sour about this, for years I've been telling people at work that this will be a big thing soon and we'd be in exactly the right place, with exactly the kind of experience, to get in early on this. Like most of my ideas it was deemed too far-fetched and so we did nothing, now the stuff is popping up everywhere, sold by companies with no real background in nutrition, kinda similar to Soylent.
- vidarh 8y ago
  Part of the problem is indeed that people don't understand that if you work in an office you should almost certainly think of yourself as sedentary even if you spend a huge chunk of your spare time on physical activities, as most people seem to exclude those 8hours + commute when they picture who they are in terms of activity. So people plug in their numbers in online calculators and mark themselves as "active" and get numbers out that often make no sense for their actual activity levels.
- arghwhat 8y ago
  I always found Soylent funny, as my mom had been consuming a similar local product for the past 20 years. Only superficial difference to Soylent was that this product was intentionally low on calories, but otherwise a full meal replacement. Being an entrepreneur is hard, though. It's a huge gamble, so it's hard to pull people in.
corpMaverick 8y ago
Well protein is more filling and you may actually consume less total calories that way. Just guessing.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  Too much protein just makes you fat. There is nothing good about it.
  - Semirhage 8y ago
    Too much of any food makes you fat, it’s right there in the label “too much” after all. The issue is to what degree you can use protein and fiber to suppress appetite, not whether it’s possible to overeat protein (it definitely is).
- jschwartzi 8y ago
  If you combine it with insoluble and soluble fiber it's very filling. Guess what the macros are for beans and legumes?
- ravenstine 8y ago
  That's true, but it's also a balancing act since after a certain point the body converts protein into glucose. I remember how, after years of eating high-carb low-fat foods, I discovered how satiating protein-rich meal could be. Well, that and one high in fat. No longer did I feel the constant craving, but at the same time it became easy to go "woohoo!" and eat way more protein than was necessary. I'm sure years from now doctors will ask me what the hell I was doing when they find my kidneys have been wrecked.
AFNobody 8y ago
Just look at alot of paleo diets....they try to replace the carb calories with fat/protein. The reality is most people should be eating large amounts of vegetables (not starchy ones like corn), meat once a day, some fruit, some milk products. If people _really_ wanted to be healthy they'd be eating things like riced broccoli with a vegetarian curry with low fat content for lunch/dinner. (i.e. Vindaloo with beans) For breakfast, have some yogurt, meat, carbs.
- ravenstine 8y ago
  Paleo is a little overzealous IMO, as I don't think there's really a problem with some dairy, some rice, and fruit here and there. All of the foods you mentioned are better than a typical high carb, high sugar diet. I think the main value of any diet, whether it's paleo, Atkins, South Beach, etc., is that they are low sugar. It's really sugar, in my experience, that is a major contributor to keeping people overweight and hooked on unhealthy food. However, I would encourage you to do some research and test your assumption that people shouldn't eat much fat(which seems to be what you're implying).
  - AFNobody 8y ago
    I wasn't discouraging milk products, sorry. I'm not really a pure "Paleo" type. I get all my fat from whole milk, the one-a-day meat dish, cheese, yogurt, and oil/butter I use to cook stuff with. One curry + vegetable dish, for instance, is like 25% of your expected fat consumption. I eat less fat and sugar than a normal American but I still have a couple ounces of fat with every meal. I probably eat about 80% of the recommended about of fat. To me, the thing most fail to notice is how much fat they add to their cooking.
Uberphallus 8y ago
The advantage of protein is that you can build tissue, and also turn it into glucose/fat. You can't build protein out of carbs or fat though. In case of doubt, more protein is the safe option. But I agree more often than not there's no actual doubt.
- arghwhat 8y ago
  Well, if you're unable to produce all the protein needed for all ongoing tissue building, you have a deficiency. Anything more than that will just be metabolized. And, well, you're very unlikely to be under that limit.

Wait, are there people out there that consume absurd amounts of protein for "health" reasons without doing any exercise? Do they seriously think they have a protein deficiency?

maxxxxx 8y ago

Yes! I have seen this a lot in the US. Some overweight guy/gal will proclaim "I need some protein right now" (no idea on what this determination is based on) or ask me (vegetarian) "where do you get your protein?".

ravenstine 8y ago
I've seen cereal boxes that say "good source of protein", and I feel like the sports bars section has a new brand of protein cookie or brownie every time I walk by it. Like yeah, you'll get diabeetus, but you'll have your protein!
- eeZah7Ux 8y ago
  *diabetes
  - rtisdale 8y ago
    woosh http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/diabeetus http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/diabeetus
kieckerjan 8y ago
Is it me or are Americans are more protein-minded than Europeans? Americans talking about health and food will often bring up protein in the first sentence, whereas a European (at least here in the Netherlands) more often will talk about fats, antioxidants, fibers. Protein is almost an afterthought. This is pure anecdotal evidence of course.

freeflight 8y ago

I think it's a new fad, tons of this "protein food" is popping up everywhere, even at gas stations. Often marketed in the same way as energy drinks are marketed "You do hard work, you need the proteins." And because nearly everybody thinks of themselves as "doing hard work", even in an office, people buy the stuff like an "all-in-one meal" solution. As somebody who works in medical nutrition I'm kinda sour about this, for years I've been telling people at work that this will be a big thing soon and we'd be in exactly the right place, with exactly the kind of experience, to get in early on this. Like most of my ideas it was deemed too far-fetched and so we did nothing, now the stuff is popping up everywhere, sold by companies with no real background in nutrition, kinda similar to Soylent.

vidarh 8y ago
Part of the problem is indeed that people don't understand that if you work in an office you should almost certainly think of yourself as sedentary even if you spend a huge chunk of your spare time on physical activities, as most people seem to exclude those 8hours + commute when they picture who they are in terms of activity. So people plug in their numbers in online calculators and mark themselves as "active" and get numbers out that often make no sense for their actual activity levels.
arghwhat 8y ago
I always found Soylent funny, as my mom had been consuming a similar local product for the past 20 years. Only superficial difference to Soylent was that this product was intentionally low on calories, but otherwise a full meal replacement. Being an entrepreneur is hard, though. It's a huge gamble, so it's hard to pull people in.

corpMaverick 8y ago

Well protein is more filling and you may actually consume less total calories that way. Just guessing.

maxxxxx 8y ago
Too much protein just makes you fat. There is nothing good about it.
- Semirhage 8y ago
  Too much of any food makes you fat, it’s right there in the label “too much” after all. The issue is to what degree you can use protein and fiber to suppress appetite, not whether it’s possible to overeat protein (it definitely is).
jschwartzi 8y ago
If you combine it with insoluble and soluble fiber it's very filling. Guess what the macros are for beans and legumes?
ravenstine 8y ago
That's true, but it's also a balancing act since after a certain point the body converts protein into glucose. I remember how, after years of eating high-carb low-fat foods, I discovered how satiating protein-rich meal could be. Well, that and one high in fat. No longer did I feel the constant craving, but at the same time it became easy to go "woohoo!" and eat way more protein than was necessary. I'm sure years from now doctors will ask me what the hell I was doing when they find my kidneys have been wrecked.

AFNobody 8y ago

Just look at alot of paleo diets....they try to replace the carb calories with fat/protein. The reality is most people should be eating large amounts of vegetables (not starchy ones like corn), meat once a day, some fruit, some milk products. If people _really_ wanted to be healthy they'd be eating things like riced broccoli with a vegetarian curry with low fat content for lunch/dinner. (i.e. Vindaloo with beans) For breakfast, have some yogurt, meat, carbs.

ravenstine 8y ago
Paleo is a little overzealous IMO, as I don't think there's really a problem with some dairy, some rice, and fruit here and there. All of the foods you mentioned are better than a typical high carb, high sugar diet. I think the main value of any diet, whether it's paleo, Atkins, South Beach, etc., is that they are low sugar. It's really sugar, in my experience, that is a major contributor to keeping people overweight and hooked on unhealthy food. However, I would encourage you to do some research and test your assumption that people shouldn't eat much fat(which seems to be what you're implying).
- AFNobody 8y ago
  I wasn't discouraging milk products, sorry. I'm not really a pure "Paleo" type. I get all my fat from whole milk, the one-a-day meat dish, cheese, yogurt, and oil/butter I use to cook stuff with. One curry + vegetable dish, for instance, is like 25% of your expected fat consumption. I eat less fat and sugar than a normal American but I still have a couple ounces of fat with every meal. I probably eat about 80% of the recommended about of fat. To me, the thing most fail to notice is how much fat they add to their cooking.

Uberphallus 8y ago

The advantage of protein is that you can build tissue, and also turn it into glucose/fat. You can't build protein out of carbs or fat though. In case of doubt, more protein is the safe option. But I agree more often than not there's no actual doubt.

arghwhat 8y ago
Well, if you're unable to produce all the protein needed for all ongoing tissue building, you have a deficiency. Anything more than that will just be metabolized. And, well, you're very unlikely to be under that limit.