To think a lot of recent nutrition advice seems to overlook protein?

[AlpineAnja]

To be up front, I am not a fan of the super high protein trend, and can't be bothered with fads. But I do prefer to follow a balanced diet which doesn't exclude food groups, and of course that's just my own personal opinion! We all react differently to different foods.

But I have noticed recently, after reading/podcasts and watching some video's, that a good amount of experts are suggesting reducing meat for a host of different reasons, and I can understand them all. So there's a good bit of push for us to reduce meat and replace with plant sources (legumes, beans, etc), especially from the people who run the Zoe app. Many of the experts claim to only eat fish twice per week, poultry rarely, and red meat once per month or never.

Wondering what people think of that?

I know women who menstruate need to be careful about iron, which is much less readily available in plant based foods. And older people are supposed to be mindful of getting enough protein.

I am all for working to protect the environment, and have many concerns about the appalling way animals are treated, but apart from going organic (which isn't perfect either), do people think the nutrients in a whole foods plant based diet are enough for the above groups without supplementation? Obviously vegans and veggies are still thriving!

Maybe it's just the stuff I've come across recently, but even though there is a fierce trend for high protein in general, a lot of the health messaging seems to be going the other way, or at least urging us to reduce it.

I’d agree with this, as a vegetarian who exercises a lot,

All I’m hearing is protein protein protein. I was shocked when I went to buy yoghurt recently (we normally order online) and a whole fridge was devoted to manufactured protein products! Then there are all the protein powders and bars. Which aren’t recessary for most people and can actually contain some iffy ingredients, but the marketing is making people think that they are. I’d recommend watching the Joe Wicks documentary on protein bars.

I'm in the middle of a heavy weight training cycle at the moment and have been training for years. At the moment I consume 1.5 g per kilo of body mass of protein a day (sometimes more if hungry). I manage this through consuming a mixture of complete and non-complete protein sources to make sure I am taking on all of the essential amino acids. I do not do this at the expense of a high fibre intake so eat very cleanly. I have a mixed salad of oily fish, eggs, beans and seeds every day for lunch. I have chicken maybe three times a week, tofu or tempeh (soy is a complete protein) a couple of times, red meat and liver once a week. I use a good quality protein powder to supplement my intake.

I thought the latest health influencers were pushing fibre now.

Either way, you can get plenty of protein as a veggie, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, tofu, Quorn, beans, pulses are all good sources.

I thought the latest health influencers were pushing fibre now

And about time. So much focus on protein for decades, including diets which restrict your intake of fibre. No wonder bowel cancer rates are through the roof.

This makes sense as my hair is very thin and I’ve been focussing on vit D and iron. When really it’s lifelong low protein.

This! It’s protein protein protein.

I want someone to talk about carbs!

Most of the athletic population have done a U-turn on low carbing, but still maintain a high protein diet. The difference is that they consume their carbs around their workouts, eating them strategically. This is not the same as the general population. Government guidelines re protein intake suggest the minimum in order to survive. I am cutting at the moment and consume 1.5g protein per kilo of mass which equates to 120g per day. This allows me to shed fat and maintain muscle whilst in an overlap calorie deficit. Protein also has a high thermic effect which means that around 30% of protein calories consumed will be lost once digested.

I'm an old crone now, but eat (I think) well with the odd treat thrown in. I don't eat much meat at all, rarely in fact, unless someone else cooks it for me!

I have protein powder with my porridge every morning, eat tinned tuna, salmon, cheese, eggs. Don't eat (or like...) chips and roast spuds, but I love mash with lashings of butter. Few veg, never did, lots of fruit though. Plenty of wholemeal (home made mostly) soda bread and butter.

I think the forgotten element in much nutrition advice is adequate intake of fibre. It cleans the gut and helps get rid of toxins (I'd imagine!). So I use milled chia and flax together with a mix of crushed (in batches and frozen) avocado, kiwi, mixed berries (+ protein powder) at breakfast. I do 16/8 and have done for years now.

I have a cream cake and a scone with cream and jam occasionally if I feel like it and good dark choc.

I don't dwell on anything food wise. But I kind of know what works for me. I've stayed the same weight for over 5 years now despite treats and over indulgence in UPF now and then. Bloods all good so far despite lack of veg. And no, I refuse to eat veg, not eating something that has to be forced down my neck Ugh.

I am vegetarian, dieting and track everything I eat on nutracheck.

I get my daily protein quota easily through my diet even with a lower daily calorie allowance and often exceed it so there really is no need for meat, fish or poultry to be eaten as protein at all.

I get sick of fashions in foods too. Protein is the latest thing. Not that long ago it was fibre. I can’t wait till it’s sugar!

No, there is a complete over focus on protein.

The "protein" versions of everything tend to be absolute UPF shite. Also very often they are hardly (if at all) higher in protein than a far less processed standard version! I did some comparisons in Lidl a while ago, they had "high protein" 5 bean chilli sachets that were more expensive, contained less protein, and had more UPF ingredients than the standard sachet of "tomatoey lentils" on the shelf above...

The trend for 2026 is “fibre maxing”.

Fibre is obviously important. But the trend annoys me because it’s quite transparently a way for food companies to increase profits on cheap ingredients like beans and pulses.

Lots of salads in the supermarkets are now bean / chickpea based which, whilst delicious and healthy, could do with a protein element. The margins on bean based meals which cost the same as protein based ones will be significantly higher.

I’ve been veggie since my early teens, whilst I like cheese and consume yogurts/kefir plus the odd egg, most of my proteins are plant based, as in pulses, nuts and seeds, tofu, tempeh, combined with wholewheat cereals.

in my youth I practised a sport at a high level, never noticed a lack of energy compared to omnivores.

i’ve never lacked iron - in pregnancy it was the meat eaters who consumed little veg who had very low levels, one even ended up in hospital. My levels were fine.

i’ve recently been weight training and bulked up fairly easily, despite no change in my diet. My hair is still thick and my nails strong, so clearly no deficiency there and I’m on the cusp of 60.

So in conclusion you don’t need meat to meet your protein and iron needs, you just need to eat well, a little bit of everything and avoid processed shite. So many people latch on to fads without looking at the rest of their diet. And it’s usually the people with poor diets who feel the need to criticise vegetarians and vegans.

Influencers again, and marketing.

The obvious things are obvious, adequate (not tons of) vitamins, iron, protein, carbs, fibre, water. Few need an influencer to tell them this.

I was vegetarian from birth to age 16. From 16 onwards I’ve been vegan so about 30 years.

The only thing I’ve ever supplemented is B12.

I have never struggled to get enough protein. When I first went vegan, I made sure I was getting enough of everything, but now I’m so used to it that I don’t think about it. I eat lots of beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts, seeds, fruit, veg.

I took part in a study back in my home country about vegan diets and nutrition and all my levels were good. I also have an annual health check when I go back home which includes things like omega 3 and I’ve always been fine.

There does seem to be a protein obsession at the moment. I think if you eat enough of a good variety of foods, you’re fine.

A lot of people seem to eat a lot of crap which is the biggest issue. It’s difficult to understand many people who do that when we know the potential consequences.

I get frequent mocking for being vegetarian from meat eaters who happily eat McDonalds and Dominos crap weekly if not more often.
It’s almost funny.

My OP really was about the health experts and conflicting info.

I appreciate everyone sharing their diet, but that's not what I was pointing to

I do agree that the excessive protein grift market is baffling.

You asked whether people think the nutrients in a whole foods plant based diet are enough for the above groups without supplementation? People are going to tell you what they eat and if they felt ok whilst eating it due to you asking that question. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think for a long long time there has been too much emphasis put on protein, but really we need to be putting this energy into fibre consumption.

Plant proteins are perfectly acceptable as long as you have grains in your diet as well. Beans on toast, to take an obvious example, are a complete protein.

We don't need more protein, we need healthier and more sustainable sources of protein. Add in fibre, and pulses are pretty much a dream solution. They also improve the soil.

(I really love pulses)

I think that there’s still a lot of emphasis on protein and not much on fibre.
The daily recommended amount of fibre for an adult is 25-30g. Apparently the majority of adults in this country get around 12g.
I try to get a sufficient amount of both.

No I am not talking about cutting carbs. I am talking about eating them!

I have only put on weight twice in my life. Both times was when I wasn’t eating carbs.

Carbs are essential in weight loss imo and no one talks about it.

I sometimes wonder what the heck we did and how we coped, knew, or decided what to eat before the internet
My sister ran marathons, trained horses, cycled around Europe and climbed every mountain she could fly or get a train to back in the 1990's and now one wonders how she managed it at all without protein goalzzz.

We just got on with it.
Now there isn't one single discussion space left online where everyone isn't fighting, snarking and competing with each other over their way of eating. It's bizarre.

I'm happy with how I eat to be honest, and feel good, but the micromanaging of this stuff online is pretty freaky. It is leaking into real life, ei, my BIL, nephew, various colleagues, even my 80 yr old aunt is blithering on about tracking every morsel they eat.

At least it seems to be aimed at being healthy now, even if it gets obsessive and muddled. Even before the internet, there were plenty of faddy diets and they seemed to focus on just getting women to be thin or thinner. No mention of getting enough nutrients, just how to lose weight, even if it was living off cabbage soup.

I do agree with you that there is so much great info for healthy eating, not to mention delicious recipes, I think the internet food space is largely pretty toxic. From MN to Reddit to all social spaces.

I think there's far more anxiety and potential orthorexia around now as a result of that. There are millions, potentially, following influencers with no credentials, allowing them to dictate exactly what they eat, in what order, and in what quantity. It's like we have submitted to become helpless, requiring our diet to be micromanaged by someone else, rather than a simple education about nutrition and trusting our own intuition and body's messages.

It's also rare that any food topic doesn't blow up into an argument about ethics, severe exclusion diets, and a growing distrust of doctors/science.

In one community where the subject was previously an exciting space for biologists to chat about the microbiome, the past few years saw it almost entirely overtaken by misinformation, grifting supplement pushers and the worried well.

Most nutritional advice or discussion generally devolves into spats over seed oils, carbohydrates and UPF.