The DU Lounge

even pasta - I've recently seen a new variation of various pastas that are protein enhanced. And that cow's milk is making a comeback since it has more protein than plant-based milk (soy and oat and so on). Many other foods too are advertising protein enhancements.

I think the article was in a very recent Consumers Reports, but might have been in one of the AARP magazines. Anyway they concluded that people eating a healthy diet get plenty of protein.

I thought WTF! I think I eat a healthy diet, but I'm working on cutting back on meat. For some time I've maintained a targeted 4 oz of meat a day average (that's a "quarter pounder" -- just one all day), so that I get enough protein to maintain strength (I'm elderly), but don't torture more meat-producing animals than necessary with horrible lives. I'm at the point where I'm ready to cut back to 3 oz meat a day, but I'm wondering how far down can I cut? I read somewhere else that someone my age (old) and male and size should get 83g (IIRC) of protein a day. That's a lot.

4 oz of chicken is about 29g protein (boneless skinless chicken breasts are 7.31g protein per oz, for example), leaving about 54g protein remaining to be gotten from other foods each day. Shoot - a lot of other good sources of protein, are tortured animal products (eggs, milk, cheese), and I'd like to cut back on those too.

(I substitute fish for some of my meat "quota" - 9 oz drained tuna, and 26 oz salmon per month)

How many damn beans do I have to eat a day?

Anyway, a worthless article "anyone eating a healthy diet gets enough"

Oh, I have been consuming whey protein powder (about 25g protein per day), thinking it's a plant product. Until recently, I looked it up - it's an animal product, sigh. There are varieties that claim to be "grass fed" that I'll have to look into, that can't be as bad as regular dairy cows that don't have anywhere near enough room to even just turn around... their whole lives.

The article did point out that what we should really be focused on is getting enough fiber -- 90% or some such large percent of the U.S. population are getting less than the recommended amount. I do buy whole-grain versions of pasta and bread, beans, prunes...