Protein is everywhere—praised as a muscle builder, a weight-loss miracle, an anti-aging elixir, and the catch-all solution for everything from exercise recovery to global malnutrition. In Protein, Samantha King and Gavin Weedon argue that protein’s rise to nutritional superstardom has less to do with human dietary needs and more to do with how its indeterminate, adhesive qualities are marshalled towards commerce, scientific, and social imperatives. Tracing its path from nineteenth-century biochemistry to the status it enjoys today, they expose how protein has been marketed as a cure for global hunger, repackaged as an eco-friendly meat alternative, and wielded as a symbol of masculinity in the fitness industry. From whey waste in industrial farming to longevity drugs for aging bodies, Protein unpacks the myths behind the macronutrient and challenges what we think we know about food, health, and the forces that shape our diets.

Samantha King is Professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Studies at Queen’s University and the author of Messy Eating and Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Gavin Weedon is Associate Professor of Sociology of Sport, Health and the Body at Nottingham Trent University.

Acknowledgments  vii
Introduction. Protein: A Solution in Search of a Problem  1
1. What is Protein and Why Does It Matter? Mystery and Magnetism from Molecules to Meat  23
2. The Great Protein Fiasco, Then and Now  53
3. From Gutter to Gold: A Political Ecology of the Protein Powder Industry  79
4. A Poverty of Flesh? Sarcopenia, Aging, and the Economization of Protein Deficiency  101
5. Protein in the Muscular Manosphere: Supplementation, Self-Optimization, and Micofascism in Men’s Fitness Culture  127
Epilogue. Between Meat Protectionism and Alt-Protein Futurism  149
Notes  161
Bibliography  177
Index