No one eats enough protein. It keeps you sated, and also helps retain and grow muscle if you exercise. For a country everyone calls fat, everyone SHOULD be having more of it.
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
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Some things are true simultaneously here:
- "Standard American diet" is very bad
- The protein recommendations coming out of health/fitness circles have been largely overblown, and are related to a fairly recent new marketing push
The problem with the SAD isn't necessarily a lack of protein, although cutting out a lot of garbage food and replacing it with healthier food would in many cases increase protein intake (but not necessarily by * that *much)
The reason you're noticing it is because of marketing propaganda. Anyone who sells a product that contains protein wants to highlight that aspect to take advantage of the public mindset who believes protein is an essential part of our diets. And the reason we even believe protein is an essential part of our diet is also because of marketing, even though it might be the case that protein actually is an essential component. The majority of the public would not know this unless they learned of it through the media. Read Propaganda by Edward Bernays. It talks about where this approach began at the beginning of the 20th century.
Marketing told us fat is evil. Carbs are evil. The news has told us Fiber will literally cause us to shit our brains out until we die.
What exactly is left except protein?
Two main things
One is that GLP-1 drugs work really well in curbing appetite to cause weight loss. However, part of that weight loss is muscle mass and that is causing some people on it to be concerned. A way of mitigating that is to eat more protein relative to your diet. The restaurant industry is trying to appeal to these new customers by creating high protein and small portion dishes.
Two is that there are more people who aren't on these drugs focusing on fitness, specifically lifting and muscle mass. To that that physique, you need to eat a lot of protein relative to the rest of your diet. So restaurants are trying to sell to these people as well.
Reminder: 1 in 8 American's are on GLP-1 Drugs...
Definitely think the GLP-1s are probably the biggest contributer here
people basically listening to influencers about how you need to goto the gym to be considered someone who fits in with society and eating all the protein versions of whatever food you eat.
Is it the usa or is it the big grocery conglomerates? In Canada it's protein this and protein that. The protein marketing machine is in full force. What say you Europeans?
I have a friend in food marketing in the UK, he moved to a new role as head of Protein at the start of the year. The machine is in full force here too.
I buy PROTEIN-packed twinkies to grow humongous MUSCLES so my mom knows that I have SEX with many ladies and I want everyone to rest assured that I am a big HETEROSEXUAL man in my Thunderfalconcougarbird
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Ozempic. People on it can't handle sugars and carbs as well.
I think this is the correct answer. A shocking amount of people are on these weight loss drugs. When you are on these medications, you're given guidelines for a high protein diet. Because these drugs make you lose weight pretty fast. I know several people taking these medications and it's buy everything high protein because the drugs make you not want to eat at all so you need as much protein as possible when you do.
Because the weight loss comes from muscle first, so Ozempic users MUST eat high protein & lift weights to build/maintain muscle or else their body composition turns into jelly. Ask me how I know 😜
I hope that you're becoming swole as hell and not turning into jelly in that case.
Yes, pretty much every female at my wife's work is on it. I still worry that in 10 years we'll find out there's some horrible side effect from extended use. I could stand to lose a few myself, but I don't want to touch the stuff for that reason and the muscle loss mentioned. I lift weights and don't want to lose any of the gains I've made over the last 3 years. If I wanna get lean, I'll just have to adjust my diet the old fashioned way to a shitload of brown rice, boiled chicken and broccoli.
Maybe you missed the pendulum swung back hard after the body positivity fad of "healthy at any size" and people yelling about how calories are a lie. this all went down about 3 yrs ago.
Then after the resulting mass of influencer death from heart failures in as young as mid twenties to early thirties we are swung back on the fitness side of things again with a new ferocity involving protien and glp1 now.
this all went down about three years ago
Around the same time GLP-1s entered the scene. Could be a coincidence, but it seems to me that people in general (including people who are themselves obese) are less accepting of bodies now that GLP-1s are available.
A lot of the current health craze is related to the effects and aftermath of the covid pandemic.
Also I believe that the more people lose control of their lives and feel like society is in a downward spiral, the more they will try to hold on in the few ways that remain. What is one of those few ways: their own personal health and fitness. Not to mention that the gym is one of the only high profile "social"/shared spaces that remain, that are not just about shopping.
People who support psychopaths like lizzo or dank moss no doubt.
Considering everyone is in their own echo chamber, I'd say it's pretty easy to miss things.
well if that were true you wouldnt have noticed the protien ..
this was in rl a lot too. Just like the protein. there were clothing lines and crap all built around plus size models. Ads all over the place about 'size doesnt matter' but yet attacking thin people. They were all up in everyone's face calling anyone who counted calories to have an eating disorder. Calling down the medical field for being in on a conspiracy with diets and health. being offended over plane seats being too small. Some people outright refusing to walk anywhere and shamelessly hogging wheelchairs away from people with disabilities in airports.
it was a very weird time. not that now doesnt have it's bizarreness..
I noticed that during the big egg "crisis" where eggs went up to the price we normally pay in the UK. Turns out they were gobbling them up like fucking Gaston for "protein". I get through maybe half a dozen in a particularly eggy week...
No mention of fibre though. Their arses must be split asunder.
I'm sure some people are chugging eggs for protein but it isn't the norm and that is not at all what led to eggs being more expensive in the US. It was bird flu outbreaks combined with new regulations in some states coming into effect. In my state everything now has to be "cage free" which came into effect right around the whole egg price spike, but from what I can tell the price spike was mostly due to bird flu
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Not just America, that protein marketing fad is aimed at gym bro idiots worldwide.
as a vegan I get asked constantly where I get my protein from.
Legumes, probably. Thats what drove my daughter out of veganism when she tried it. She can't stand that stuff.
While I'm definitely not vegan, legumes have a good place in my food plan.
Is it vegetables?
Beans, legumes, peanut butter, soy milk, cashew milk, rice milk, oat milk, edamame, vegan protein powder, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, oats, peas, nutritional yeast, satan.
We actually just had another fitness epidemic here similar to the 90s but slightly more gym related than outdoor related. Protein powder was HUGE on tiktok shop and fairly big in stores. I happen to be a target of the powder supplement as a medical issue caused me to start my journey in losing over 100lbs in less than a year. I was having overnight oats with extra protein everyday. I have some left but now that I've lost the weight and kept most of the muscle, I'm back on whole foods only, especially for protein.
Edit: if you look it up, theres's a lot written about the "fitness influencer to right wing pipeline"
There was a fitness epidemic in the 90s?!
Aerobics and running were big in the late 70s to early 80s, but the 90s was about being big and soft. The clothes were oversized. Waists were high. Centerfolds had big boobs and wide waists.
The 90s was obsessed with "lite", i.e. cutting fats -- especially saturated fats -- out of foods, and with lowering cholesterol. Oh, and fiber. I don't recall any fitness craze, though.
You're absolutely right about the right-wing machismo trend. Manly men eat lots of meat and maximize protein. Just look how manly I am with my steak, nevermind how I waddled in from my lifted pickup.
I was just a kid but I guess I just mean that people were more active outdoors. I used to see skateboarders and bmx people everywhere, baseball fields being used quite often, parents riding bikes on trails, families camping, that kinda stuff. I lived in Northern Virginia right near the Potomac River where the population was fairly dense so maybe that skewed my view of the world a bit.
This might need confirming so take it with a grain of salt
I heard because GLP-1 treatments got super cheap in US lately everyone is getting slimmer. So slimming doesn’t seem as a luxury anymore. And because meat quality went down massively and expensive - protein is the new luxury and “bulking up” is the new trend rather than slimming.
Typical American market manipulation.
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