![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Protein Problem
Oct. 31st, 2024 09:38 amIs it just me that's deeply suspicious of the motives behind the way foods are now sold with an emphasis on how much protein they contain?
My impression was that most everyday foods contains quite a lot of the stuff, and most people will only need a boost if they're on a fairly strict diet. And in a lot of cases the protein has been added into food that already contains fat, and since digestion breaks down unwanted proteins and uses them to make fats you're essentially adding more fat, which really isn't something most people need. Meanwhile the variety of foods which are low on protein and fats, such as low-fat yogurt desserts, is being reduced in favour of high-protein substitutes in many supermarkets. You can still get them, but they're often bland lowest common denominator versions.
I think a lot of this is marketing, capitalizing on a perception that protein is automatically good for you that seems to be more wishful thinking than hard science, and charging premium prices for foods that may be less healthy than the originals. There are exceptions, I suppose, but you really need to read the labels carefully to spot them.
Is this a global phenomenon, or only happening in the UK? And can anyone point me at any regulations or government guidelines that are involved in this? I know that it started around the same time that labelling of foods containing fats got stricter, is it just a way to sneak tasty ingredients that cause fatness into the diet without the food getting labelled as containing excess fat?
My impression was that most everyday foods contains quite a lot of the stuff, and most people will only need a boost if they're on a fairly strict diet. And in a lot of cases the protein has been added into food that already contains fat, and since digestion breaks down unwanted proteins and uses them to make fats you're essentially adding more fat, which really isn't something most people need. Meanwhile the variety of foods which are low on protein and fats, such as low-fat yogurt desserts, is being reduced in favour of high-protein substitutes in many supermarkets. You can still get them, but they're often bland lowest common denominator versions.
I think a lot of this is marketing, capitalizing on a perception that protein is automatically good for you that seems to be more wishful thinking than hard science, and charging premium prices for foods that may be less healthy than the originals. There are exceptions, I suppose, but you really need to read the labels carefully to spot them.
Is this a global phenomenon, or only happening in the UK? And can anyone point me at any regulations or government guidelines that are involved in this? I know that it started around the same time that labelling of foods containing fats got stricter, is it just a way to sneak tasty ingredients that cause fatness into the diet without the food getting labelled as containing excess fat?
