Ranting about wellness, fear of fruit sugar, and protein everything in digital trends
Source: I’m a gym rat with chronic health issues
The most annoying wellness scam to me rn is protein everything. Fiber everything is fine. This is actually good that people are demanding their food have less fiber stripped away from it in processing. Protein, however, is really aggravating.
You do not NEED excess protein if you are not training and/or lifting. In fact, it can even be bad for your kidneys. Eat a few eggs, some cheese, have some beans, maybe a protein bar for a snack for a little longer lasting satiety, have a protein shake every now and then, but you really truly do not need those damn protein Doritos. Average adult needs roughly 45-55 grams of protein per day. If you have adhd or some other condition where extra protein is helpful, aim for like 20g with every meal.
Even athletes in the US wildly overestimate how much they need, and consume more than our body can make use of at one time (although to my knowledge the data is not 100% on what that limit is for optimized muscle growth). We tend to think 1 gram per 1 pound of bodyweight, but this is a very loose translation of 1.2-2 grams per KILOGRAM of bodyweight. To make my protein goal to build muscle, I actually need about 100-105 grams per day, taking a middle of the road estimate. Many people in the US would tell me to consume 150-200 grams per day. This is just such an overload on the body and digestive system for essentially no additional benefit. Even taking the 2g per kg number, I’d still need less than 150 per day.
It frustrates me how quickly people latch onto these trends, without any consideration for their activity level and lifestyle and how sometimes, wellness trends have the opposite effect and you harm if your lifestyle doesn’t encourage it. I have adhd, I am also in the top 10% of the population for fitness, I have started consuming omega fatty acid supplements because I don’t get enough from my diet to support my brain and body needs for my lifestyle (just not a big fan of salmon tbh…) and I also supplement protein because good lord it’s way too expensive to get all of it from cooking. I also take an electrolyte supplement recommended by my cardiologist. I have friends who have gotten kidney stones in their 20s because they fell for the “your body needs electrolytes” marketing and started drinking liquid IV every single day. Liquid IV is meant for when you’re losing a LOT of electrolytes via sweating (training or just being outside in the heat for prolonged periods).
Worry about your electrolyte levels and fiber intake (from all the diff types of fiber, not just one. Yes garlic is fiber so go crazy.)
Consume healthy fats, stop listening to people who tell you that fruit is bad because of sugar, your brain is made of fat and runs on sugar. Go eat that entire mezze platter queen your brain needs the olive oil and carbs.
