8 ms·

Protein mania: the rich world’s new diet obsession

45 points by camtarn 8y ago

simonsarris 8y ago
> if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough. This is the paradox of our new protein obsession. This is off to a very bad start. Enough is not the same as optimal. Some of us strive for more than enough.
- icebraining 8y ago
  What's the difference between enough and optimal in this context? What results would each level produce?
  - simonsarris 8y ago
    If someone is working out regularly but not over the top strenuously, but feels sore the next day every time, the first course is to increase protein.
    - tallanvor 8y ago
      This is, quite simply, horrible advice. If you are strength training regularly and slowly increasing the weights you are using, mild muscle soreness should be expected. If the soreness is bothering them, there are several options that are known to help - stretching, additional warmup or cool down exercises, ice, heat, or massage. The signs that could suggest a protein deficiency are decreasing muscle mass, weakness, and/or swelling, but even then you would suggest a trip to the doctor, not simply to increase protein intake.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - icebraining 8y ago
      I'm not sure how does that answer my question. Is that enough or optimal? And what is the other?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  More is not always better. It seems quite common among gym-bros to believe that because such and such study says olympic athletes do better on 160g of protein per day than 60g/day that means they should eat at least 250g/day. But from what I can tell, studies vary quite wildly on the base level of protein necessary for adequate health, let alone the usefulness of additional protein.
FBISurveillance 8y ago
As someone who does sports professionally, I highly recommend talking to dietitian and doing specialized medical examination before doing any diets or taking food supplements. Just consuming more protein does not mean "weight loss" or "more muscles" because extra protein will be converted to glucose thanks to gluconeogenesis and then some of it will convert to fat. Too much protein could also lead to kidney/liver issues as well as atherosclerosis or other health conditions. When you work out regularly or semi-professionally you will grow muscle mass that will lead to weight loss: workout -> more muscle mass -> more energy consumption -> weight loss. Last but not least, not all protein created equal: you also have to balance animal and plant protein. There're also slow and fast digested proteins (casein/whey). As they say, do not try this at home and talk to your doctor.
- sawmurai 8y ago
  There is actually no scientific proof for the claim that too much protein can harm the kidneys or liver. The science that created that myth was badly flawed. Edit: see https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein-be-bad-for-you/ https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein-be... for a nice write up including sources
  - Nasrudith 8y ago
    That is trivially untrue just from cats - as obligate carnivores they have "overclocked" kidneys such that they can drink sea water and gain hydration. This serves them regardless of fresh water availability due to their need to break down so much protein for calories and will quickly suffer ammonia poisoning if given they lack sufficient argine while digesting a meal. And yet the kidneys are still a common thing to start failing in old age and call for a lower protein diet to counteract. Again in an obligate carnivore with less intestinal length. It is true that we aren't obligate carnivores but the underlying mechanism for damage exists regardless of how well it is countered.
    - sawmurai 8y ago
      Maybe ... but that still does not mean that science proofed a high protein diet is bad for the kidneys of healthy humans.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
ianai 8y ago
How can the protein obsession be called new when I remember it being all the rage in the early 2000s? I’ve been hearing constantly about Atkins like diets since that time.
- robertAngst 8y ago
  I consider myself pretty normal(although I do lift weights), and I have meat protein with every meal. Protein Per Dollar, you can get chicken breast at 50g/$, making it very affordable. That is the 'obsession' being discussed. If you have lived in Europe, you know how absurd this sounds.
- TheBeardKing 8y ago
  Because it's a fairly recent thing that every freakin thing has to be labeled with protein in big letters on the box now. Cereal, waffles, whatever you can think of comes in these high protein versions, or just more visibly advertises the protein which has always existed in it. Low carb started popularly as an Atkins thing exclusively, now there tons of variants of low carb diets.
hirundo 8y ago
I tried eating a meat-only diet for a few months, and have mostly continued with some veg added. What I've found is that this is the most satiating diet I've ever tried after five decades of trying. I've also done a lot of high fat paleo, so I'm sure that for me the satiating element is the protein. I've also been a raw vegan and about everything else in between. Protein fills me up and makes me stop eating far faster than the other macro nutrients. So I'm not worried about getting too much. Unlike with say low quality carbs, high quality proteins are self limiting. My body just tells me no more! If I want to know if I'm genuinely hungry I just ask myself if I want some meat. If not, I'm not. IMHO, after a lifetime of mostly failed experimentation, (for those of us who can afford it) putting high quality high protein foods at the center of your diet is the most effective way to control and reverse obesity.
- stef25 8y ago
  I think the satiating element is the fat rather than the protein, no?
  - hirundo 8y ago
    I've performed that experiment repeatedly ad nauseum. For me the protein makes me push the plate away faster than the fat and leaves me not hungry for longer.
  - graeme 8y ago
    Protein is considered to be the most satiating. This review article calls it "fairly well established" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224414002386 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092422441...
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
      However, like carbohydrates, protein does trigger ghrelin response whereas fats do not. At least in my case, a high-protein diet did nothing for my cravings.
- 8y ago
cameronh90 8y ago
"if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough." This is not strictly true for every diet. If you consume a plant based diet and don't eat meat substitutes, you can quite easily come in below the recommended protein level. In my case, eating a calorie restricted vegan diet to lose weight, consuming sufficient proteins to meet the 0.8g/kg baseline while maintaining a caloric deficit requires daily planning. It's by no means impossible, but you do have to think about it. Also seitan is your friend.
- ianai 8y ago
  I love seitan, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily healthy. A lot has to be removed from wheat gluten. Probably soy/tempeh are better for being Whole Foods
stef25 8y ago
Very recently there was an article in the NYT about the benefits of eating protein, and more so than the recommended amount, if you're trying to increase strength (something that's != body building). It benefits everyone, esp at older age. A review of studies showed a clear advantage of high protein diet.
speeder 8y ago
"if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough." I wonder where that author got that from... last I checked whenever I don't eat enough protein my hair and nails get brittle and fall, my skin gets dry, and I get random muscle pain... I had those issues for years and years of my life, and tried everything, only after I went to a almost zero carb diet (that at the time I didn't even knew it had a name, it was just something random I tried after trying everything else) that those issues went away... and as soon I eat "recommended" level of protein instead of eatingn "too much", the problems return.
- sandstrom 8y ago
  I respect your anecdote, but there are many other factors that could be in play here (for example vitamins that you get along with whatever protein source you use). If you'd like to suggest that everyone is eating too little protein, you should setup a double-blind study with a few hundred participants.
  - tallanvor 8y ago
    From my understanding, if I were a doctor I'd want to check on the person's B vitamin levels, particularly biotin. There are metabolic disorders that affect the body's ability to absorb biotin, and it could be that there's something off with the intestinal bacteria that normally produce the bulk of our needed biotin.
rafaelvasco 8y ago
It's amazing how easily people are alienated. I'm immune to this protein fad. As I still have a working rational mind. But people are obsessed with protein. Dozens of eggs. Whey protein. Chicken, chicken etc. It's appalling.
- robertAngst 8y ago
  Post an average day of eating, someone(or I) will calculate your protein/day.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
  Its because nutrition science reporting is actually even worse than other science reporting. Every day I can pull up an article that contradicts the article making the rounds the day prior, it's awful. So people do what people do: believe whatever it is they want to. People like bacon, so they convince themselves that high-protein high-fat diets are a panacea for the worlds ills, and the bad reporting lends fuel to the fire.
growlist 8y ago
Reassuring I suppose to see the Grauniad sticking to its current narrative: poor people good, women good, feelings good; rationality bad, Westerners bad, masculinity bad, self-improvement bad, meat bad, science bad, progress bad. Apart from that I hope anyone here would agree the article seems long on assertion and short on references. The one thing I would agree with is that diet should be considered holistically, but then many that are consuming protein supplements also put great effort into their diet i.e. the fitness obsessed. It is possible to have a balanced diet and still bang down a protein shake after a workout.. I eat one or two protein bars a day. Whilst they aren't cheap, they stop me snacking on chocolate/biscuits (fruit just doesn't do it for me) and contain only a couple of grams of sugar per bar, with the remainder being polyols, which give me the sweet hit I crave without mountains of horrible destructive sugar. Am I really expected to replace that with a bowl of kidney beans? Yum.
- TheBeardKing 8y ago
  You can go ahead and count on any interesting study the Guardian references it's not going to cite a source for. It's a real shame considering I usually enjoy their articles for their often unique coverage and just amount of depth to make me want to read more, but no links are to be found. Also, I find almonds and pistacchios somewhat filling, as well as oatmeal bars. If I need more protein during the day, I bring a casein shake to work with half skim milk/water. They'll hold off hunger for a while as well, much better than whey.
  - growlist 8y ago
    Casein is more expensive than whey though, right? I love nuts and oats. My usual breakfast is porridge with banana and pecans - takes about 6 minutes to make with microwaving the porridge, and gets some good stuff in me first thing. Love nuts to snack on as well, but my sweet cravings just never go away no matter what I eat. It's annoying. At least polyols seem a reasonable substitute. Cue the 'polyols give you cancer' articles in 3,2..
    - TheBeardKing 8y ago
koolhead17 8y ago
No one talks about the side affects of eating meat. :)
- virtuallynathan 8y ago
  What are the side effects of eating meat?
  - vidanay 8y ago
    Meat sweats. Fogo de Chao....mmmmmmm
Synaesthesia 8y ago
I was looking at a traditional Portuguese recipe book and (besides the sweets!) it’s steiking how protein rich their food is. If it doesn’t have fish, chicken or meat, it’s got beans, vegetables, lupins etc
anjc 8y ago
What's the problem with being aware? It's difficult to accidentally eat the minimum requirements for protein, without overeating carbs/fats.
robertAngst 8y ago
I've been studying the metric Protein Per Dollar for the last 3 years. Some conclusions(feel free to google or check my profile for the link, didnt want to self promote)- >Lentils and Beans are the highest Protein Per Dollar items, (~100g/$), Flour technically is among this as well >Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around 50g protein/$. Some pork(around 2$/lb is competitive) >Eggs, ground beef, and tilapia are closer to 30g protein per dollar After that, protein gets expensive. >20g protein per dollar is pretty good for fast food, try the dollar menu. Most protein powder is crazy overpriced. I found Myprotein Impact and Cytosport are 60-50g protein per dollar. We eat for 20$/week per person, and we both lift heavy weights. As mentioned, I have these studies on my website if anyone is interested http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/ http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/
- underyx 8y ago
  > Most protein powder is crazy overpriced. I found Myprotein Impact and Cytosport are 60-50g protein per dollar. But according to your numbers, that's better than eggs, chicken breast, milk, pork, eggs, ground beef, and tilapia.
  - TheBeardKing 8y ago
    The point is most are overpriced, but Myprotein is reasonable, and it's the only site I buy from, 6 months worth at a time. You can easily spend twice that on other brands at grocery stores or GNC.
- twic 8y ago
  > Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around 50g protein/$. This might be about the feed conversion ratio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio US chickens need 1.6 g of feed per g of mass; cows, pigs, and sheep don't get much better than 4 g of feed per g of mass.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
captainbland 8y ago
It's probably worth remembering that high-protein diets (remembering that western diets tend to already be quite high-protein to begin with) are a risk factor for kidney stones. Generally I'm predisposed to being quite skeptical of fad diets with extreme elements like focusing on one macro nutrient group almost to the exclusion of others.
el_don_almighty 8y ago
what food groups is your body designed to process? https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet Whenever the vegan/protein fight begins, I always wonder if the vegan has considered their body design and chemical composition. What enzymes are best supported by their natural internal chemistry? How does this affect the internal biome that breaks down the food they eat and how their body uses the results? Speaking as an old-fashiioned O+, the more ribeye's I eat, the better I feel, but my body craves the fast acting sugars that are so destructive to my endocrine system.
healstack 8y ago
We in the first world are overcomplicating eating. This leads to food obsession and disordered eating overall. Restrictive diets as such are more of problem than a solution as they again create unhealthy food focus. Diet industry is an extremely powerful entity as you can see even in the comments here, where every single person has been deeply influenced by contradictory data. We should focus much more on experiences of living, how our bodies feel when we consume foods overall and looking to balance out natural sources of foods with modern sources without losing quality of life.

45 points by camtarn 8y ago

> if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough. This is the paradox of our new protein obsession. This is off to a very bad start. Enough is not the same as optimal. Some of us strive for more than enough.

icebraining 8y ago
What's the difference between enough and optimal in this context? What results would each level produce?
- simonsarris 8y ago
  If someone is working out regularly but not over the top strenuously, but feels sore the next day every time, the first course is to increase protein.
  - tallanvor 8y ago
    This is, quite simply, horrible advice. If you are strength training regularly and slowly increasing the weights you are using, mild muscle soreness should be expected. If the soreness is bothering them, there are several options that are known to help - stretching, additional warmup or cool down exercises, ice, heat, or massage. The signs that could suggest a protein deficiency are decreasing muscle mass, weakness, and/or swelling, but even then you would suggest a trip to the doctor, not simply to increase protein intake.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - icebraining 8y ago
    I'm not sure how does that answer my question. Is that enough or optimal? And what is the other?
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
More is not always better. It seems quite common among gym-bros to believe that because such and such study says olympic athletes do better on 160g of protein per day than 60g/day that means they should eat at least 250g/day. But from what I can tell, studies vary quite wildly on the base level of protein necessary for adequate health, let alone the usefulness of additional protein.

FBISurveillance 8y ago

As someone who does sports professionally, I highly recommend talking to dietitian and doing specialized medical examination before doing any diets or taking food supplements. Just consuming more protein does not mean "weight loss" or "more muscles" because extra protein will be converted to glucose thanks to gluconeogenesis and then some of it will convert to fat. Too much protein could also lead to kidney/liver issues as well as atherosclerosis or other health conditions. When you work out regularly or semi-professionally you will grow muscle mass that will lead to weight loss: workout -> more muscle mass -> more energy consumption -> weight loss. Last but not least, not all protein created equal: you also have to balance animal and plant protein. There're also slow and fast digested proteins (casein/whey). As they say, do not try this at home and talk to your doctor.

sawmurai 8y ago
There is actually no scientific proof for the claim that too much protein can harm the kidneys or liver. The science that created that myth was badly flawed. Edit: see https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein-be-bad-for-you/ https://examine.com/nutrition/can-eating-too-much-protein-be... for a nice write up including sources
- Nasrudith 8y ago
  That is trivially untrue just from cats - as obligate carnivores they have "overclocked" kidneys such that they can drink sea water and gain hydration. This serves them regardless of fresh water availability due to their need to break down so much protein for calories and will quickly suffer ammonia poisoning if given they lack sufficient argine while digesting a meal. And yet the kidneys are still a common thing to start failing in old age and call for a lower protein diet to counteract. Again in an obligate carnivore with less intestinal length. It is true that we aren't obligate carnivores but the underlying mechanism for damage exists regardless of how well it is countered.
  - sawmurai 8y ago
    Maybe ... but that still does not mean that science proofed a high protein diet is bad for the kidneys of healthy humans.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

ianai 8y ago

How can the protein obsession be called new when I remember it being all the rage in the early 2000s? I’ve been hearing constantly about Atkins like diets since that time.

robertAngst 8y ago
I consider myself pretty normal(although I do lift weights), and I have meat protein with every meal. Protein Per Dollar, you can get chicken breast at 50g/$, making it very affordable. That is the 'obsession' being discussed. If you have lived in Europe, you know how absurd this sounds.
TheBeardKing 8y ago
Because it's a fairly recent thing that every freakin thing has to be labeled with protein in big letters on the box now. Cereal, waffles, whatever you can think of comes in these high protein versions, or just more visibly advertises the protein which has always existed in it. Low carb started popularly as an Atkins thing exclusively, now there tons of variants of low carb diets.

hirundo 8y ago

I tried eating a meat-only diet for a few months, and have mostly continued with some veg added. What I've found is that this is the most satiating diet I've ever tried after five decades of trying. I've also done a lot of high fat paleo, so I'm sure that for me the satiating element is the protein. I've also been a raw vegan and about everything else in between. Protein fills me up and makes me stop eating far faster than the other macro nutrients. So I'm not worried about getting too much. Unlike with say low quality carbs, high quality proteins are self limiting. My body just tells me no more! If I want to know if I'm genuinely hungry I just ask myself if I want some meat. If not, I'm not. IMHO, after a lifetime of mostly failed experimentation, (for those of us who can afford it) putting high quality high protein foods at the center of your diet is the most effective way to control and reverse obesity.

stef25 8y ago
I think the satiating element is the fat rather than the protein, no?
- hirundo 8y ago
  I've performed that experiment repeatedly ad nauseum. For me the protein makes me push the plate away faster than the fat and leaves me not hungry for longer.
- graeme 8y ago
  Protein is considered to be the most satiating. This review article calls it "fairly well established" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224414002386 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092422441...
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    However, like carbohydrates, protein does trigger ghrelin response whereas fats do not. At least in my case, a high-protein diet did nothing for my cravings.
8y ago

cameronh90 8y ago

"if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough." This is not strictly true for every diet. If you consume a plant based diet and don't eat meat substitutes, you can quite easily come in below the recommended protein level. In my case, eating a calorie restricted vegan diet to lose weight, consuming sufficient proteins to meet the 0.8g/kg baseline while maintaining a caloric deficit requires daily planning. It's by no means impossible, but you do have to think about it. Also seitan is your friend.

ianai 8y ago
I love seitan, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily healthy. A lot has to be removed from wheat gluten. Probably soy/tempeh are better for being Whole Foods

stef25 8y ago

Very recently there was an article in the NYT about the benefits of eating protein, and more so than the recommended amount, if you're trying to increase strength (something that's != body building). It benefits everyone, esp at older age. A review of studies showed a clear advantage of high protein diet.

speeder 8y ago

"if you are worrying about the amount of protein in your diet, then you are almost certainly eating more than enough." I wonder where that author got that from... last I checked whenever I don't eat enough protein my hair and nails get brittle and fall, my skin gets dry, and I get random muscle pain... I had those issues for years and years of my life, and tried everything, only after I went to a almost zero carb diet (that at the time I didn't even knew it had a name, it was just something random I tried after trying everything else) that those issues went away... and as soon I eat "recommended" level of protein instead of eatingn "too much", the problems return.

sandstrom 8y ago
I respect your anecdote, but there are many other factors that could be in play here (for example vitamins that you get along with whatever protein source you use). If you'd like to suggest that everyone is eating too little protein, you should setup a double-blind study with a few hundred participants.
- tallanvor 8y ago
  From my understanding, if I were a doctor I'd want to check on the person's B vitamin levels, particularly biotin. There are metabolic disorders that affect the body's ability to absorb biotin, and it could be that there's something off with the intestinal bacteria that normally produce the bulk of our needed biotin.

rafaelvasco 8y ago

It's amazing how easily people are alienated. I'm immune to this protein fad. As I still have a working rational mind. But people are obsessed with protein. Dozens of eggs. Whey protein. Chicken, chicken etc. It's appalling.

robertAngst 8y ago
Post an average day of eating, someone(or I) will calculate your protein/day.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
Its because nutrition science reporting is actually even worse than other science reporting. Every day I can pull up an article that contradicts the article making the rounds the day prior, it's awful. So people do what people do: believe whatever it is they want to. People like bacon, so they convince themselves that high-protein high-fat diets are a panacea for the worlds ills, and the bad reporting lends fuel to the fire.

growlist 8y ago

Reassuring I suppose to see the Grauniad sticking to its current narrative: poor people good, women good, feelings good; rationality bad, Westerners bad, masculinity bad, self-improvement bad, meat bad, science bad, progress bad. Apart from that I hope anyone here would agree the article seems long on assertion and short on references. The one thing I would agree with is that diet should be considered holistically, but then many that are consuming protein supplements also put great effort into their diet i.e. the fitness obsessed. It is possible to have a balanced diet and still bang down a protein shake after a workout.. I eat one or two protein bars a day. Whilst they aren't cheap, they stop me snacking on chocolate/biscuits (fruit just doesn't do it for me) and contain only a couple of grams of sugar per bar, with the remainder being polyols, which give me the sweet hit I crave without mountains of horrible destructive sugar. Am I really expected to replace that with a bowl of kidney beans? Yum.

TheBeardKing 8y ago
You can go ahead and count on any interesting study the Guardian references it's not going to cite a source for. It's a real shame considering I usually enjoy their articles for their often unique coverage and just amount of depth to make me want to read more, but no links are to be found. Also, I find almonds and pistacchios somewhat filling, as well as oatmeal bars. If I need more protein during the day, I bring a casein shake to work with half skim milk/water. They'll hold off hunger for a while as well, much better than whey.
- growlist 8y ago
  Casein is more expensive than whey though, right? I love nuts and oats. My usual breakfast is porridge with banana and pecans - takes about 6 minutes to make with microwaving the porridge, and gets some good stuff in me first thing. Love nuts to snack on as well, but my sweet cravings just never go away no matter what I eat. It's annoying. At least polyols seem a reasonable substitute. Cue the 'polyols give you cancer' articles in 3,2..
  - TheBeardKing 8y ago

koolhead17 8y ago

No one talks about the side affects of eating meat. :)

virtuallynathan 8y ago
What are the side effects of eating meat?
- vidanay 8y ago
  Meat sweats. Fogo de Chao....mmmmmmm

Synaesthesia 8y ago

I was looking at a traditional Portuguese recipe book and (besides the sweets!) it’s steiking how protein rich their food is. If it doesn’t have fish, chicken or meat, it’s got beans, vegetables, lupins etc

anjc 8y ago

What's the problem with being aware? It's difficult to accidentally eat the minimum requirements for protein, without overeating carbs/fats.

robertAngst 8y ago

I've been studying the metric Protein Per Dollar for the last 3 years. Some conclusions(feel free to google or check my profile for the link, didnt want to self promote)- >Lentils and Beans are the highest Protein Per Dollar items, (~100g/$), Flour technically is among this as well >Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around 50g protein/$. Some pork(around 2$/lb is competitive) >Eggs, ground beef, and tilapia are closer to 30g protein per dollar After that, protein gets expensive. >20g protein per dollar is pretty good for fast food, try the dollar menu. Most protein powder is crazy overpriced. I found Myprotein Impact and Cytosport are 60-50g protein per dollar. We eat for 20$/week per person, and we both lift heavy weights. As mentioned, I have these studies on my website if anyone is interested http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/ http://efficiencyiseverything.com/food/

underyx 8y ago
> Most protein powder is crazy overpriced. I found Myprotein Impact and Cytosport are 60-50g protein per dollar. But according to your numbers, that's better than eggs, chicken breast, milk, pork, eggs, ground beef, and tilapia.
- TheBeardKing 8y ago
  The point is most are overpriced, but Myprotein is reasonable, and it's the only site I buy from, 6 months worth at a time. You can easily spend twice that on other brands at grocery stores or GNC.
twic 8y ago
> Chicken Breast and Milk(likely because its government subsidized) are around 50g protein/$. This might be about the feed conversion ratio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio US chickens need 1.6 g of feed per g of mass; cows, pigs, and sheep don't get much better than 4 g of feed per g of mass.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

captainbland 8y ago

It's probably worth remembering that high-protein diets (remembering that western diets tend to already be quite high-protein to begin with) are a risk factor for kidney stones. Generally I'm predisposed to being quite skeptical of fad diets with extreme elements like focusing on one macro nutrient group almost to the exclusion of others.

el_don_almighty 8y ago

what food groups is your body designed to process? https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet Whenever the vegan/protein fight begins, I always wonder if the vegan has considered their body design and chemical composition. What enzymes are best supported by their natural internal chemistry? How does this affect the internal biome that breaks down the food they eat and how their body uses the results? Speaking as an old-fashiioned O+, the more ribeye's I eat, the better I feel, but my body craves the fast acting sugars that are so destructive to my endocrine system.

healstack 8y ago

We in the first world are overcomplicating eating. This leads to food obsession and disordered eating overall. Restrictive diets as such are more of problem than a solution as they again create unhealthy food focus. Diet industry is an extremely powerful entity as you can see even in the comments here, where every single person has been deeply influenced by contradictory data. We should focus much more on experiences of living, how our bodies feel when we consume foods overall and looking to balance out natural sources of foods with modern sources without losing quality of life.