Protein

[Polishdude20]

“We know that at puberty, boys will acquire more muscle mass, and females will end up with more fat mass,”

And yet you recommend the teenage male eats less protein? You know that will result in LOWER muscle mass. For fucks sake.

[tabotto]

As a guy living "somewhere in the northeast" this all sounds a bit disappointing. The NYT article also concludes with exactly these words

“To me, protein is a nonissue,” Professor Nestle said. “You can’t talk about protein in isolation from everything else people eat.”

so please let's provide context not just rants. While we could certainly debate about the kidney issues (which are all led to believe they are impossible, although in reality I have not read any of the studies that claim or suggest there could be any effects, and how severe or likely these may be) how about we consider this one context:

Teenage boy is lazy, does not exercise at all and generally eats a poor diet. However has ambitions to have muscle and just consumes protein supplements at 30$/lb. Is he going to get jacked just by sitting on his whey protein tub??

So maybe it is not that far fetched that we could all be more tolerant of other ideas or maybe just more tolerant that the same idea can be expressed differently. A good journalist writes an article for everybody, not just a bunch of folks somewhere in the south....

[Mark Rippetoe]

I am less persuaded by Rip’s contention that this piece is reflects a conscious mindset on the part of the Times editors to promulgate leftist dogma with the ultimate goal of turning our boys into girlie-men. If that is the case, why did the Times publish, on February 7, 2018 a piece by columnist Gretchen Reynolds entitled “Lift Weights, Eat More Protein, Especially If You’re Over 40”?

And what did she say about how much protein and what kind of lifting?

As a guy living "somewhere in the northeast" this all sounds a bit disappointing. The NYT article also concludes with exactly these words

“To me, protein is a nonissue,” Professor Nestle said. “You can’t talk about protein in isolation from everything else people eat.” so please let's provide context not just rants.

Yes, let's. Which NYT article? Not the one I referenced in my piece, which was about the supposedly harmful effects of protein ingestion, and ends with "Oh, and while you’re at it, guys, be careful of the protein powders. By and large, extra protein is not what you need."

While we could certainly debate about the kidney issues (which are all led to believe they are impossible, although in reality I have not read any of the studies that claim or suggest there could be any effects, and how severe or likely these may be) how about we consider this one context:

This is a rather difficult sentence. Perhaps you could clarify.

Teenage boy is lazy, does not exercise at all and generally eats a poor diet. However has ambitions to have muscle and just consumes protein supplements at 30$/lb. Is he going to get jacked just by sitting on his whey protein tub??

Obviously not. But that was not the point of the article.

So maybe it is not that far fetched that we could all be more tolerant of other ideas or maybe just more tolerant that the same idea can be expressed differently. A good journalist writes an article for everybody, not just a bunch of folks somewhere in the south....

Maybe we could be more precise about what those ideas are. Texas is not in "the south." And I am not a journalist, thank god.

[Keith Burnett]

Rip’s critique of the article seems spot-on; but its flaws did not go unnoticed by readers at the time the original piece was published. Take a look at the readers’ comments, most of which are quite skeptical of the claims made in the article.

I am less persuaded by Rip’s contention that this piece is reflects a conscious mindset on the part of the Times editors to promulgate leftist dogma with the ultimate goal of turning our boys into girlie-men. If that is the case, why did the Times publish, on February 7, 2018 a piece by columnist Gretchen Reynolds entitled “Lift Weights, Eat More Protein, Especially If You’re Over 40”?

The NYT promotes leftist dogma with both hands tied behind its back. No specific effort necessary. And accordance with Orwell.....who wrote (in 1984)that the left can make contradictory statements and believe in them both......in this case no need for protein for growing children......but eat more protein if of over 40

[Philip DiDomenico]

I'm brand new to the Starting Strength program and therefore to this forum, and I'd like to ask you all to kindly afford me a moment to preface my first post with my heartfelt thanks to Rip for his generosity, commitment, and tenacity in the face of rampant idiocy sharing his expert guidance and spreading his no-nonsense inspiration, which I consider to be an extraordinary contribution to our physical and mental health and overall well-being. I truly admire few people on this f*cked-up earth, but you're one of them, Rip. I'm such an enthusiastic advocate because SS is turning my life around dramatically at age 56, and I'm very grateful. I also want to express my thanks to all the members of the board for their valuable participation, without which it wouldn't exist.

With all that out of the way (I'm reminded of a quote from Reservoir Dogs), some time ago, I watched the below documentary which I believe is relevant to this discussion in that it makes an excellent, thorough, entirely science-based argument in favor of meat-eating and against vegetarianism, citing recent irrefutable archeological evidence in support of the (already largely established) theory that humans evolved eating lots of meat, evolved to their advanced level precisely because they ate lots of meat, are built to eat meat, desperately need to eat meat, and that everything was fine with our health (besides, of course, early death from getting eaten by saber-toothed tigers and crushed by wooly mammoths on the hunt and whatnot) until we started farming and eating grains and dairy instead of meat, after which we started getting the modern diseases that afflict us to this day. I found the film very interesting and informative and it provides good ammunition to counter those ubiquitous, self-righteous, smug, misguided, increasingly annoying vegetarians. Thanks for the article, Rip.

The Perfect Human Diet (2012) - IMDb

[tompaynter]

Rip’s critique of the article seems spot-on; but its flaws did not go unnoticed by readers at the time the original piece was published. Take a look at the readers’ comments, most of which are quite skeptical of the claims made in the article.

I am less persuaded by Rip’s contention that this piece is reflects a conscious mindset on the part of the Times editors to promulgate leftist dogma with the ultimate goal of turning our boys into girlie-men. If that is the case, why did the Times publish, on February 7, 2018 a piece by columnist Gretchen Reynolds entitled “Lift Weights, Eat More Protein, Especially If You’re Over 40”?

I remember that article. It was illustrated with a photo of a guy jogging with 2lb dumbbells.

[Eric Schexnayder]

I remember that article. It was illustrated with a photo of a guy jogging with 2lb dumbbells.

I saw that guy round the corner by my house this morning. I meant to offer him a glass of milk, but I was busy squatting.

[TommyGun]

Just reread this and I am laughing. Where to start: 1. Since i am in Boston, I loved the "somewhere in the northeast" phrases. Can't argue with it nor van I disagree with it. 2) Since I have 13 year old twins, a boy and girl, I suggest a parent would be just as qualified as a Harvard PhD to write this article. Except the parent would have real world experience about the topic. (Sorry Stef, forgive the PhD sarcasm.)

i run my own controlled experiments on this topic every single day. Both the teenage boy and teenage girl benefit from eating a lot of my steak tips. And I mean a lot of steak, served with my wife's veggies. Problem solved.

[david strecker]

The "GOOBERNET" wants to eradicate meat from the diet due to special interests groups such as vegans. A few years ago, I was a member of the county farm bureau board. For those who do now know what farm bureau is basically a lobby group that represents farmers in DC. This position gave insight into farm policy and protections towards the ag industry. Anyways, the sneaky special interests group had inserted dietary guidelines into the defense budget in the form of "no meat Wednesday". This measure would have reduced how much "meat" the DOD is buying to feed the force. Luckily, this guideline failed during the committee review of the defense budget. This was circa 2016 timeframe. Not sure where it stands now as I have left farming along with farm bureau membership, however I am willing to bet that the special interests are still trying to do this crap.