In the early 1950s, “Hi-Proteen” powder, one of the first modern protein supplements, hit the market. Initially, it tasted awful. But after its creator, Bob Hoffman, added in Hershey’s chocolate, the flavor improved. (He used a canoe paddle to stir his mixture in a giant vat.) Protein products have come a long way since then. Perhaps, they have come too far: Last weekend, at the gym, I was offered a can of lemon-flavored “protein ice tea.” The summery, yellow-striped packaging advertised 15 grams of protein per can, or about the same as what you might get from three eggs.
在1950年代初期，最早的现代蛋白质补充剂之一“ Hi-Proteen”粉末粉刷了市场。最初，它尝起来很糟糕。但是，在创造者鲍勃·霍夫曼（Bob Hoffman）添加了好时的巧克力中，风味得到了改善。（他用独木舟桨在巨大的桶中搅拌混合物。）从那以后，蛋白质产品已经走了很长一段路。也许，他们走得太远了：上周末，在健身房，我得到了一罐柠檬味的“蛋白质冰茶”。夏季，黄色条纹的包装宣传每罐15克蛋白质，或与您从三个鸡蛋中获得的蛋白质相同。
Apparently protein shakes and protein bars don’t cut it anymore. Americans are so obsessed with protein that even an Arnold Palmer comes infused with it. Perhaps protein iced tea was inevitable. Whenever something is trendy, the food industry can’t help but push things to the extreme—consider “plant-based” peanut butter (as if the spread was not already vegetarian) and gluten-free pumpkin dog biscuits. But even compared with other food trends, the protein situation has gotten out of hand. Just last week, Starbucks announced that it’s piloting a high-protein, banana-flavored cold foam. There is protein water, Kardashian-branded protein popcorn, and “macho” protein pasta sauce. If you want to get drunk while bulking up, consider a protein-fortified pale ale or a “Swoleberry” spiked protein seltzer. Nothing is safe from the protein pandemonium. Name a food, and the protein version of it probably exists.
显然，蛋白质奶昔和蛋白质棒不再切断。美国人非常着迷于蛋白质，甚至是阿诺德·帕尔默（Arnold Palmer）也注入了它。也许蛋白质冰茶是不可避免的。每当有时尚的东西时，食品行业都会不禁将事情推向极端 - 构想“基于植物性的”花生酱（好像酱汁还不是素食主义者）和无麸质的南瓜狗饼干。但是，即使与其他食物趋势相比，蛋白质的情况也变得失控了。就在上周，星巴克宣布正在驾驶高蛋白香蕉味的冷泡沫。有蛋白质水，kardashian品牌的蛋白质爆米花和“男子气概”的蛋白质面食酱。如果您想在散装时喝醉，请考虑使用蛋白质变质的淡啤酒或“ Swoleberry”尖刺蛋白质Seltzer。蛋白质pandemen虫没有任何安全。命名食物，它的蛋白质版本可能存在。
Even if you, like me, aren’t trying to maximize your protein intake, all of these products can be hard to escape. They have infiltrated every inch of the supermarket: On Monday, I went grocery shopping with the mission of finding the most ridiculous protein-enriched ingredients possible. While preparing my meal, I crunched on ranch-flavored protein tortilla chips (13 grams) and sipped from a bottle of grapefruit-flavored protein water (20 grams). Dinner began with a salad made of “OrganicGirl Protein Greens,” which feature an assortment of mixed greens including naturally protein-rich sweet-pea leaves (5 grams). My main course was chickpea protein pasta (20 grams) and salmon (40 grams). I topped it all off with a frozen peanut-butter-banana bar for dessert (another 5 grams).
即使您像我一样，也没有试图最大程度地提高蛋白质摄入量，所有这些产品也很难逃脱。他们已经渗透了超市的每一英寸：星期一，我去杂货店购物，使命是找到最荒谬的蛋白质成分。在准备饭菜的过程中，我在牧场味的蛋白质玉米饼片（13克）上脆弱，并从一瓶葡萄柚味的蛋白质水（20克）中ipped饮。晚餐始于用“有机女孩蛋白蔬菜”制成的沙拉，其中包括各种混合蔬菜，包括自然富含蛋白质的甜豆叶（5克）。我的主要过程是鹰嘴豆蛋白面食（20克）和鲑鱼（40克）。我用冷冻的花生 - 巴纳纳（Banana）酒吧（另外5克）将其全部结束。
Read: The drink Americans can’t quit
阅读：美国人不能退出的饮料
In total, I ate more than 170 grams of protein on Monday, or the equivalent of 31 medium eggs. According to the federal government’s recommendations, that’s almost four times what someone of my build and activity level needs in a day to maintain a “nutritionally adequate” diet. The official dietary guidelines suggest that a person needs at least 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight to stay healthy. That’s not all that much protein. Before my dinner experiment, I had gone through the day without thinking about my protein consumption, and had already surpassed my recommended amount by more than 30 percent. The average American adult regularly exceeds the federal recommendation.
我在周一总共吃了170克蛋白质，或者相当于31个中鸡蛋。根据联邦政府的建议，这几乎是我一天中我的建筑和活动水平中某人维持“营养充足”饮食所需的四倍。官方的饮食指南表明，一个人每磅体重至少需要0.36克蛋白质才能保持健康。那不是那么多蛋白质。在晚餐实验之前，我已经度过了一天，而没有考虑我的蛋白质消耗，并且已经超过了我的建议量超过30％。普通美国成年人经常超过联邦建议。
So why is protein showing up in iced tea? Some health experts think that the current federal recommendation is insufficient. They believe that for optimal health—to get beyond simply meeting basic nutritional needs—we should be consuming double, if not triple, the recommended amount. Some people—those who strength train, for instance—certainly benefit from increased intake. But for the average person, most experts don’t see the point in going wild with protein, as my colleague Katherine J. Wu has written.
那么，为什么蛋白质出现在冰茶中？一些健康专家认为，当前的联邦建议不足。他们认为，为了获得最佳健康 - 超越简单地满足基本营养需求 - 我们应该消耗两倍（如果不是三倍），建议的金额。有些人 - 例如，强力训练的人肯定会受益于增加的摄入量。但是对于普通人而言，正如我的同事凯瑟琳·J·吴（Katherine J.
Read: Should we all be eating like the Rock?
阅读：我们都应该像岩石一样吃东西吗？
What makes protein so appealing is that it has been offered as an answer for lots of people’s dietary goals. Want to build muscle? Eat protein. Want to feel fuller for longer? Eat protein. Want to lose weight? Eat protein. The nutrient can indeed help with all of those, but sometimes, the claims turn absurd. Cargill, the food giant, recently suggested that protein might help solve broken marriages: “Protein helps individuals become better parents, partners and employees,” the company wrote in a report this spring. In other words, protein has become synonymous with “healthy.” The message seems to be resonating: Last year, 71 percent of American adults said they were trying to consume more of it.
使蛋白质如此吸引人的原因是，它已被作为许多人的饮食目标的答案。想锻炼肌肉吗？吃蛋白质。想要更长的时间吗？吃蛋白质。想减肥吗？吃蛋白质。营养素确实可以帮助所有这些，但是有时，主张会变得荒谬。食品巨头嘉吉（Cargill）最近建议蛋白质可能有助于解决婚姻破裂的问题：“蛋白质可以帮助个人成为更好的父母，伴侣和员工，”该公司在今年春季的一份报告中写道。换句话说，蛋白质已成为“健康”的代名词。该信息似乎引起了共鸣：去年，有71％的美国成年人表示他们试图消费更多。
For food companies, adding protein to virtually everything is an easy way to make their products more alluring. No Starbucks executive is going to suggest a new line of “fat enhanced” cold foam or iced tea with extra carbs. But extra protein—sure. And that’s how we end up in a world of protein mania. The protein shake has given way to protein coffees and protein matchas and protein energy drinks and protein sodas. The protein bar has similarly descended into madness: Last week, Hershey’s announced a “Double Chocolate flavored protein bar” that looks like its normal chocolate bar (Hoffman would be proud). For the purists, there’s the recently launched David bar, named after Michelangelo’s, which bills itself as “the most effective portable protein on this planet.” You can eat protein-fortified vanilla glazed donuts for breakfast, top your double cheeseburger with protein-laced ketchup, and finish the day with protein powder mixed with melatonin that promises a good night’s sleep.
对于食品公司而言，将蛋白质添加到几乎所有内容上都是使其产品更具吸引力的简便方法。没有星巴克高管会建议一系列新的“增强脂肪”冷泡沫或冰茶和额外的碳水化合物。但是额外的蛋白质 -这就是我们最终进入蛋白质狂热的方式。蛋白质奶昔已取代了蛋白质咖啡，蛋白质抹茶，蛋白质能量饮料和蛋白质苏打水。蛋白质棒类似地陷入了疯狂：上周，好时宣布了一个“双巧克力调味蛋白棒”，看起来像普通的巧克力棒（霍夫曼会很自豪）。对于纯粹主义者来说，最近发射的David Bar，以Michelangelo的名字命名，该律师是“这个星球上最有效的便携式蛋白质”。您可以吃早餐的蛋白质结合香草釉甜甜圈，再加上双重奶酪番茄酱，并用蛋白质粉与绿色褪黑激素混合结束一天，这有望睡个好觉。
If you’re suspicious of these products, it’s for good reason. Shoppers might think that certain foods are healthier now that they have a protein label slapped on them. Some of the new products are truly good for you—but eating a ton of protein-packed candy (or even just lots of red meat) comes with health risks that could offset whatever dubious benefit all that added protein might provide. A Snickers bar with 20 grams of protein is still a Snickers bar.
如果您怀疑这些产品，那是有充分理由的。购物者可能会认为某些食物在上面贴有蛋白质标签，因此某些食物更健康。一些新产品对您来说确实有益 - 但是吃大量蛋白质包装的糖果（甚至只有很多红肉）会带来健康风险，可以抵消所有可疑的益处。一块杀手杆20克蛋白质仍然是一个怪异的棒。
By the time I finished my protein dinner, I was starting to feel bloated. Still, I wasn’t quite done. I cued up the trailer for Protein, a film that debuted in U.K. cinemas last weekend. The movie tells the story of “a gym-obsessed serial killer” who “murders and eats a local drug dealer” for—what else?—protein. I took a bite of a protein-packed double-chocolate cookie and hit “Play.”
当我吃完蛋白质晚餐时，我开始感到肿。不过，我还没有完成。我提出了蛋白质的预告片，这部电影上周末在英国电影院首次亮相。这部电影讲述了“一个痴迷于体育馆的连环杀手”的故事，他“谋杀并吃了当地的毒贩”，以否则？我咬了一口蛋白质包装的双巧克力饼干，然后命中了“ Play”。
