Protein the making of a nutritional superstar Samantha King and Gavin Weedon

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Samantha, 1970- Author.

Weedon, Gavin, 1984- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Proteins.

Proteins in human nutrition.

Nutrition.

protein.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Durham Duke University Press 2026

Summary:

"In recent years, protein has been touted as not just an essential nutrient, but as the solution to a range of health and longevity concerns. However, the miraculous powers of protein have not yet been conclusively proven by science, and the farming and manufacture involved in creating nutritional protein imparts a hefty ecological footprint. In Protein, Samantha King and Gavin Weedon explore the contradictory ascension of protein, tracking the rise of the nutrient through fitness-obsessed Western culture and into the much larger web within which protein is produced, marketed, and distributed as a global commodity. Mixing insights from biochemists, exercise physiologists, and agricultural scientists with a sociological approach to food, King and Weedon examine key episodes in the history of protein to show how protein has been implicated in the formation of the modern-and "healthy" - Western subject. In do so, King and Weedon upend assumptions about contemporary dietary discourse, ideal body projects, and the global food system by showing how protein is deployed in ways that strengthen some bodies and environments at the expense of others"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Introduction : protein - a solution in search of a problem

What is protein and why does it matter? Mystery and magnetism from molecules to meat

The great protein fiasco, then and now : nutrition, development, and the trouble with growth

From gutter to gold : a political ecology of the protein powder industry

A poverty of flesh? Sarcopenia, aging, and the economization of protein deficiency

Protein in the muscular manosphere : supplementation, self-optimization, and microfascism in men’s fitness culture

Epilogue : between meat protectionism and alt-protein futurism

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Duke University Press, viewed March 2, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version King, Samantha, 1970- Protein

ISBN:

9781478061694

1478061693

9781478094654

1478094656

OCLC:

1570616103

Access Restriction:

Some versions Open access versions available from some providers open access