0 comments
With a utilitarian focus on what food can do for us rather than how it tastes, coupled with a growing aversion to the humble doggy bag, have we forgotten what it means to appreciate the things that contribute to our wellbeing and keep us alive?
A stroll through the aisles of most supermarkets these days presents a blaze of similarly shaped fonts, all advertising one key nutrient in our groceries: protein.
Whether it’s added to your breakfast cereal or in the makeup of your meat alternative, protein is continuing to take precedence over flavour on our shelves and in our pantries.
Amongst the reasons for this is Gen Z’s obsession with the gym, one of the only places in society these days where, if we lift enough and eat right, we’re guaranteed to see positive results. But the ongoing plight for protein can also be linked with the decline in veganism in recent years.
The vegan diet sees withering yogis criticised for an overabundance of empathy married with concerns about various nutritional deficiencies. However, such worries about veganism seem to come predominantly from those not adopting it and others who are apparently unaware of the nutritional makeup of plants.
As with most of our basic needs, including sleep, the necessity of a balanced diet has failed to escape the clutches of capitalist marketisation. Protein, the only macronutrient which contains nitrogen and enables our growth and tissue repair, certainly plays a part in this.
That is to say, there’s a good chance that, as Bee Wilson wrote for the Guardian back in 2019, if you’re worried you’re not getting enough protein, you probably are.
@madelinemary__ Replying to @themarissa STOP THE PROTEIN!!! #protein #proteinshake #workingout #gain #plantbased #foodismedicine #foodisfuel #healing #healingtiktok #chronicillnessawareness #chronicillness
Of course, that won’t stop companies from slapping a label on a bag of powder and calling it an essential item for anyone who engages in regular physical exercise.
This is despite the fact that many of us, including ancient Greek athletes – those seen as the archetypal figures of athleticism and strength – seemed to have been managing fine without it prior to the rise of bodybuilding and strength training in the 1950s.
What’s more, our obsession with protein as a dissociated victual rather than one of many components of a healthy balanced diet speaks to western society’s obsession with diet culture and corresponding thinness.
This view continues to damage our relationship with food and with our bodies, exemplified, for instance, in the proliferation of ‘#thinspo’ accounts (“banned” in 2012) disguised as ‘fitspiration’ on Instagram, as protein remains the last macronutrient standing once we’ve cut out delicious things like fat and carbohydrates.
View this post on Instagram
