zlacker

>>atestu+(OP)
Of note: the US's per capita consumption of meat has increased by more than 100 pounds over the last century[1]. We now consume an immense amount of meat per person in this country. That increase is disproportionately in poultry, but we also consume more beef[2].

A demand for the average American to eat more meat would have to explain, as a baseline, why our already positive trend in meat consumption isn't yielding positive outcomes. There are potential explanations (you could argue increased processing offsets the purported benefits, for example), but those are left unstated by the website.

[1]: https://www.agweb.com/opinion/drivers-u-s-capita-meat-consum...

[2]: https://ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detai...

>>woodru+fO
I'm a weightlifter and as part of my training, I eat pretty close to about a pound of meat a day during bulk, usually about 12-14oz. This is because I need to eat about 200g of protein a day. I supplement it with protein shakes.

I find that to be a challenging amount of meat. It's a lot! And to find out that's average???

Americans eat way too much meat. Cheese, too.

>>parl_m+rP
I am not a weightlifter, I am an amateur powerlifter, and I do pretty intense resistance training for my age (54yo) and my weight (112kg) and I eat about 800g to 1kg a day of meat - duck, pork or beef. Even if I eat 1kg Wagyu beef, it would give me about 3000 calories, slightly less than 3500 calories I need to keep my muscle mass. I would happily eat even more meat but circumstances prevents me to do so.

I used to drink protein shakes, but now I am actively against these. Artificial sweeteners provoke insulin release [1] [2] that leads to type-II diabetes.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2887503/

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S10568...

>>thesz+xd1
you can get protein powder that doesn't contain artificial sweeteners. You can get protein powder that doesn't contain any sweetener. You can even buy pure protein powder without any additives at all.

>>b00ty4+Bg1
Humans are top predators. We eat more meat of various kind than any other predators, including other predators like bears.

Lions can't eat ducks or chickens. We can and do.

Why should I, as a top predator, drink a protein powder instead eating a meat of a big mammal?

>>thesz+8m1
I, okay? Next time don't make it sound like the reason you dislike protein shakes is sweeteners!

Why did you drink them before, if you appear to fundamentally object to the idea?

>>Dylan1+hn1
I did not know better that's why I drink them.

Now I know better and I don't.

>>thesz+Mt1
"know better" in what way, that applies to sweetener-free protein?

You must have always known humans were apex predators, and that was the only non-sweetener reason you listed.

>>Dylan1+bu1
I learned that humans are apex predators a couple of years ago.

Meat contains essential fats to various degrees while protein powder does not at all. Usually, protein powder ([1] as an example) is not exactly matched to the human profile of amino acids [2], that means extraneous amino acids will be converted to glucose and stored as fat.

[1] https://explosivewhey.com/blogs/fitness-nutrition/what-is-wh...

[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11291443/

Notice that ratio between leucine and methionine is 3/1 in consumption profile and is much higher in the whey protein profile. This leucine most probably will be wasted.

>>thesz+Pg2
If humans are considered apex(-ish) predators, it's because there's mostly nothing "above" us in the food chain. We aren't typical prey for any other animal, so we are at the top-ish.

It doesn't mean the diets of humans are biologically supposed to consist of huge amounts of meat.

Most apex predators are of course obligate carnivores. But humans are probably near the top because the use of weapons and tools makes us highly dangerous, so most land animals are wary of humans. Even many predators don't prey on humans for food.

(Although some large land predators do, mostly when they're desperate for food.)