Dear Dad,
Former Chief Justice of the United States, Warren Burger, referred to the individual right to bear arms interpretation of the second amendment as “the greatest piece of fraud, I repeat fraud, on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”1
He was wrong.
Before reading further, please answer this:
Unless you give great weight to Burger’s qualifier, “in my life-time,” (Burger died in 1995), his analysis was wrong. Nothing to do with his take on the “right to bear arms” which I won’t get into here, but everything to do with what he proposed as the “greatest fraud,” perpetuated by “special interest groups.”
I propose the greatest fraud carried out on the American public is the protein craze.
When I arrived at Syracuse University as a freshman to play football I weighed 208 lbs. and could bench press 225 lbs. 7 times. Four years later, in Arizona, when I stepped on the scale in front of a handful of NFL scouts I weighed 250 lbs. and bench pressed 225 lbs. 23 times. For four years I had a protein drink immediately after waking, another one after working out, and another one before bed. I grew bigger and stronger.
When I started law school I had plans of maintaining football form and keeping my name in the NFL scouting circles, but my strength deteriorated. My protein intake was still off the charts, but I had less than half the time to lift heavy weights. My circumstances changed and so did my life. All for the better. Onward.
Let’s discuss protein, why it’s necessary, how it was commandeered by “special interests,” and what to do about it.
Dietary protein is necessary for many body functions; most notably to build and repair muscle cells. When I was a football player I needed to grow bigger and stronger to survive on a field with competitors nearing 300 lbs. who ran faster and were stronger than me. Weights had to be lifted and a lot of protein consumed to promote the growth and repair that my lifestyle demanded.
Today, I eat incomparably less protein. I am lighter, strong enough to complete daily activities plus hobbies, and a normal size for my body frame. My need to grow and repair is much less in a courtroom versus a football field. Everyone’s body is constantly making new cells and repairing itself with subtle fluctuation based on external demands. Protein consumption must be adequate to support those needs; but excess should not be considered good, let alone healthy.
Protein has been captured by clever food and supplement companies alike and promoted to every-day American’s as the key to shredded muscles and a healthy body weight under the guise of linking protein to strong people. A whole supplement industry was birthed on protein powders, drinks, and other high protein concoctions. Walking down the aisles of the grocery store there are now high protein breads, cookies, and other ridiculous snack products. Which in reality are just simple empty carbohydrates fortified with powdered protein, but what the “American Public doesn’t know is what makes them the American Public,” and the American public is now bamboozled to equate “protein” to “health food.” Average Americans are trained to connect dietary protein to health and strength with little focus on everything else necessary to becoming healthy and strong. In reality, there are 3 types of people who need to focus on protein consumption beyond the adequacy of a balanced diet in the way that the American public has been trained: (growing) children, pregnant women (growing another human), and serious athletes (growing muscle). Which category are you?
So how much protein should you eat and does excess matter?
Protein should be consumed for adequacy not excessiveness. Each person has a baseline protein need to grow and repair their cells. On the conservative side, 10% of calories consumed should be from protein for this purpose. Additional protein should be consumed based on your lifestyle demands. The government’s recommended daily intake of protein is between 10-30% of calories. This is quite a large window with the upper bound suited only for those who fit into one of the above special categories. Food, supplement, and drug companies would prefer that everyone consume protein at or above the upper recommended limit. However, consuming excessive levels of protein (beyond your personal needs) should not be considered healthy; regardless of whether it fits into a short term weight loss scheme. So go ahead and pass on the “high protein” breakfast cereal.
Protein is not a good source of energy and wants to be used for growth. If you’re not in a stage of life where you are growing, or wanting to grow by making physical demands on your body like resistance training, the excess protein you consume is still looking to promote growth—body mass growth or cellular growth. Is it your goal to be bigger? How about promoting excessive cellular growth?
Let’s ask the rats…
“Foci [cellular precursors to tumors] developed only when the rats met or exceeded the amount of dietary protein (12%) needed to satisfy their body growth rate. That is, when the animals met and surpassed their requirements for protein, disease onset began.”2
Is this significant? Well, the protein required for growth and cell repairs in rats and humans is remarkably similar.
Is eating protein important? Absolutely. But don’t obsess over it. Eat real food and you’ll eat enough protein.
“The story of protein is part science, part culture, and a good dose of mythology.”3
And everyone loves a good bed time story.
With Love,
JSR
