4 ms·

This is like what happens with milk fat. I was surprised to see whole milk cost more, and I found out that it's because the fat skimmed off is used for other pr

This is like what happens with milk fat. I was surprised to see whole milk cost more, and I found out that it's because the fat skimmed off is used for other products.

dyauspitr 2y ago
Same with yogurt. Whey protein isolate goes for $11/lb, which is ridiculous pricing as a side note.
- globular-toast 2y ago
  Yoghurt doesn't generally produce whey. Cheese does. Whey protein used to be the cheapest form of protein by a long way because it was just a byproduct that doesn't taste good and most people have no need for. But we are now in an age where regular people buy stuff with the word "protein" slapped on it, for some reason.
  - jajko 2y ago
    Most people in this world don't eat enough protein (cca 65g daily for average human IIRC) and way too many carbs, hence a lot of civilization diseases. Or ratio protein : carbs (ideally complex) : fats (ideally unsaturated) is bad long term. But its true that not healthy food that has some additional protein mixed in ain't magically healthy.
    - littlestymaar 2y ago
      > don't eat enough protein (cca 65g daily for average human IIRC) and way too many carbs, hence a lot of civilization diseases We as a specie haven't eaten as many protein as today since the invention of agriculture millennia ago, so idk what you mean by “civilization diseases” but if you mean diabetes and such, then it's clearly wrong. We're currently eating too much and too much sugar though.
      - ephbit 2y ago
        There's apparently scientific studies that show how animals as well as humans tend to continue eating until they've satisfied a mostly fixed daily need for protein, mostly regardless of _what kind_ of food they're eating. Now if people choose a diet low in protein/calories ratio, they'll have a tendency to ingest more calories than people who eat protein rich diets. Try eating eating 300 g of cheese/meat/tofu in one meal, it'll be difficult. Eating 300 g of chips/fries is something many people can absolutely do, if the chips aren't too salty. One significant difference between our modern western lives and the lives of people tens to hundreds of years ago is IMO that people back then quite automatically used up all the carb calories of their comparably protein diluted diet because life required much more physical activity and came with less home heating than today. Today, most people will just not expend much of the caloric energy of carb rich diets and thus develop metabolic diseases and such. A carb rich diet is usually fine as long as you expend the energy via physical activity.
        littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Try eating eating 300 g of cheese/meat/tofu in one meal, it'll be difficult. Eating 300 g of chips/fries is something many people can absolutely do I don't know where you get the idea that eating 300g of meat is difficult … > A carb rich diet is usually fine as long as you expend the energy via physical activity. Any balanced diet is fine if you ingest no more energy than you spend, which is exactly what I said: people today are eating too much.
        ephbit 2y ago
        > .. don't know where you get the idea that eating 300g of meat is difficult. You're right, 300 g of meat isn't much of a challenge. The more appropriate comparison would be between 300 g of chips and an equal amount of calories in some protein rich food like meat. That should be much more challenging. > .. people today are eating too much. Yeah, the important question is: why are they eating too much? I assume that a lot of it is unintentional. Overeating mostly happens because people aren't aware of a few simple mechanisms or are misunderstanding them, not because the world is hard. Mechanisms which they could quite easily use to overeat less or avoid it altogether, instead of falling prey to them. Just telling people that they're eating to much doesn't help in any way. People need to know why and how they can quite easily change it.
  - cnity 2y ago
    The reason is because whey protein has some huge advantages for modern consumers. It stores for long periods, can conveniently be added to smoothies, and has an incredibly high protein content. When people are for example weightlifting this is a massive boon for reaching macro targets.
    - globular-toast 2y ago
      People into bodybuilding have been using whey protein for decades. There's not that many extra people into bodybuilding now to account for the extra demand.
      - some_random 2y ago
        There are orders of magnitude more people exercising at gyms with the specific goal of achieving some kind of desired body type, even if they aren't bodybuilders per se.
      - JamesSwift 2y ago
        Theres definitely a much larger population who cares about 'macros' now vs just those specifically in the bodybuilding space. A very high percentage of people that workout regularly in any capacity supplement their protein. Whey protein is generally the most economical way of doing that.
  - some_random 2y ago
    Wow I sure wonder why people might want to supplement their intake of vital macro nutrients in a world where they do not get enough from a typical diet.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

This is like what happens with milk fat. I was surprised to see whole milk cost more, and I found out that it's because the fat skimmed off is used for other products.

dyauspitr 2y ago

Same with yogurt. Whey protein isolate goes for $11/lb, which is ridiculous pricing as a side note.

globular-toast 2y ago
Yoghurt doesn't generally produce whey. Cheese does. Whey protein used to be the cheapest form of protein by a long way because it was just a byproduct that doesn't taste good and most people have no need for. But we are now in an age where regular people buy stuff with the word "protein" slapped on it, for some reason.
- jajko 2y ago
  Most people in this world don't eat enough protein (cca 65g daily for average human IIRC) and way too many carbs, hence a lot of civilization diseases. Or ratio protein : carbs (ideally complex) : fats (ideally unsaturated) is bad long term. But its true that not healthy food that has some additional protein mixed in ain't magically healthy.
  - littlestymaar 2y ago
    > don't eat enough protein (cca 65g daily for average human IIRC) and way too many carbs, hence a lot of civilization diseases We as a specie haven't eaten as many protein as today since the invention of agriculture millennia ago, so idk what you mean by “civilization diseases” but if you mean diabetes and such, then it's clearly wrong. We're currently eating too much and too much sugar though.
    - ephbit 2y ago
      There's apparently scientific studies that show how animals as well as humans tend to continue eating until they've satisfied a mostly fixed daily need for protein, mostly regardless of _what kind_ of food they're eating. Now if people choose a diet low in protein/calories ratio, they'll have a tendency to ingest more calories than people who eat protein rich diets. Try eating eating 300 g of cheese/meat/tofu in one meal, it'll be difficult. Eating 300 g of chips/fries is something many people can absolutely do, if the chips aren't too salty. One significant difference between our modern western lives and the lives of people tens to hundreds of years ago is IMO that people back then quite automatically used up all the carb calories of their comparably protein diluted diet because life required much more physical activity and came with less home heating than today. Today, most people will just not expend much of the caloric energy of carb rich diets and thus develop metabolic diseases and such. A carb rich diet is usually fine as long as you expend the energy via physical activity.
      - littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Try eating eating 300 g of cheese/meat/tofu in one meal, it'll be difficult. Eating 300 g of chips/fries is something many people can absolutely do I don't know where you get the idea that eating 300g of meat is difficult … > A carb rich diet is usually fine as long as you expend the energy via physical activity. Any balanced diet is fine if you ingest no more energy than you spend, which is exactly what I said: people today are eating too much.
        ephbit 2y ago
        > .. don't know where you get the idea that eating 300g of meat is difficult. You're right, 300 g of meat isn't much of a challenge. The more appropriate comparison would be between 300 g of chips and an equal amount of calories in some protein rich food like meat. That should be much more challenging. > .. people today are eating too much. Yeah, the important question is: why are they eating too much? I assume that a lot of it is unintentional. Overeating mostly happens because people aren't aware of a few simple mechanisms or are misunderstanding them, not because the world is hard. Mechanisms which they could quite easily use to overeat less or avoid it altogether, instead of falling prey to them. Just telling people that they're eating to much doesn't help in any way. People need to know why and how they can quite easily change it.
- cnity 2y ago
  The reason is because whey protein has some huge advantages for modern consumers. It stores for long periods, can conveniently be added to smoothies, and has an incredibly high protein content. When people are for example weightlifting this is a massive boon for reaching macro targets.
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    People into bodybuilding have been using whey protein for decades. There's not that many extra people into bodybuilding now to account for the extra demand.
    - some_random 2y ago
      There are orders of magnitude more people exercising at gyms with the specific goal of achieving some kind of desired body type, even if they aren't bodybuilders per se.
    - JamesSwift 2y ago
      Theres definitely a much larger population who cares about 'macros' now vs just those specifically in the bodybuilding space. A very high percentage of people that workout regularly in any capacity supplement their protein. Whey protein is generally the most economical way of doing that.
- some_random 2y ago
  Wow I sure wonder why people might want to supplement their intake of vital macro nutrients in a world where they do not get enough from a typical diet.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]