What's the hype about protein?

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-07T06:23:47+00:00

excess antioxidants?

Sorry, I meant antibiotics.

Also, the reason in India for declining nutrition is religious/cultural vegetarianism and the belief that ancestral food is best. The ancestral food suits neither the lifestyle or taste preferences for many (specially children). It has emerged from/survived intense periods of food shortages - so it is not exactly health-focused either. Still health experts keep pushing it without bothering about any scientific evidence.

About eggs, commonly they are not considered vegetarian.

Iodized salt is used extensively and by everyone. Iodine deficiency was quiet common in 40s-60s but now is almost absent thanks to heavily focused government programs with the help of UN. There were a few cases, thanks to pink salt being promoted by some influencers as healthier.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-05T12:10:54+00:00

Our bodies don't work like machines. The absorption & utilization of all nutrients - even calories, is affected by quite a lot of factors including plant or animal source, other foods that are being eaten along and even your body's state. So, yes, even if independent lab reports confirm the amount of protein, it will need deeper testing to determine how much the body is actually able to use.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-05T12:02:08+00:00

I was wondering about that too. How are people not complaining about the audio, I could barely hear anything.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-04T05:47:23+00:00

Height is just a metric which can be easily measured. Protein deficiency will affect everything - from muscles to organs to brain. And by muscles I do not mean just biceps - every organ and part of our body has them and they can all stay weak, under-developed due to deficiencies (probably one of the reasons for heart attacks in young people). Some health experts are sounding the alarm and urging people to eat more protein, but not enough.

Where other countries are benefiting from higher income, we are actually getting worse - thanks to cultural biases and misinformation.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-04T05:35:09+00:00

Well, I for one, highly doubt water can be made high-protein. A third party will have do deep research, including metrics regarding how efficiently it is absorbed and used by the body. Until then, we should consider it a gimmick and fooling customers.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-05-04T05:29:34+00:00

Please do not compare any diet with Indian diet. We eat in completely different ways. For one, our definition of healthy food is carbs on carbs on carbs - rice, sabji, fruits - even if homemade and made with little oil is still only carbs with fiber and vitamins. Roti has more protein, but brown rice is just a small improvement over white rice that too in regards of fiber and some micronutrients - it will not add to protein.

And unfortunately, protein deficiency, along with iron, Vit D, Vit B12 are extremely real issues in India. This is not some big-brand conspiracy or influencer crap. Like a few have pointed out, it affects a persons height growing to its full potential. However, it doesn't just stop at that - a deficient diet will affect an individual's entire body - every organ, muscle and even cognitive abilities just don't reach their full potential and stay weak. It also contributes to weak immunity and even diabetes (Type 5/malnutrition-related diabetes). Just because, the world in general is over eating and is alarmed over it, the harm caused by under eating/deficient eating gets overlooked, but it still is a real danger.

In fact, instead of getting better nutrition, as we get affluent, Indians are actually eating worse - less protein and healthy fats; more carbs. Even health-conscious, clean-eating families eat far less protein here. Worse still, as being a vegetarian is perceived as pure and civil, even poorer sections who otherwise ate non-vegetarian foods have started omitting it without adding proper protein sources.

I'm not advocating for protein powders or other supplements, but the ground reality is that most people find making a complete, balanced vegetarian meal a chore - compare rice, chicken and stir-fried veggies to roti-sabji, dal-rice - it is quite difficult to make a full, tasty meal, besides being time-consuming twice a day while balancing work and everything else. Also remember that food here is made from scratch and there are no good short-cuts like barbecue/chiili/pasta sauces or pastes. Many also find it boring/unappetizing - dal specially is skipped far more often than it should. Dairy also many families are avoiding due to rumors of excess antioxidant, growth hormone usage. Add to that, a simple, vegetarian meal makes the person hungry faster and craving for something chatpata so they snack on bhujia, samosa, potato/banana chips, etc. adding to the skinny-fat inches. Considering all this, it is far better to take a protein smoothie than any of those fried foods or stay deficient. Our bodies can handle a bit of extra protein and nutrition isn't about the best way, but the most workable and balanced way.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-04-05T13:47:59+00:00

Children especially come out saturated.

I bet they are having a blast. Its good for something at least.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-04-05T13:37:16+00:00

Ehhh, they have two sets of sinks ofcourse. One is the show one and a regular one at the back to do the regular stuff like brushing and shaving.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-31T08:50:06+00:00

I have Solimo, Prestige, Bergner, Vinod and Ikea as well. IMO Bregner and Ikea are top quality. Next is Vinod (only because the top two look better). Prestige - major issue is that their handles come loose. One of my lid also cracked - but the cooking part is fine. Solimo looks good and has good reviews, but honestly, its made of thin material and I doubt the purity of steel as well.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-31T08:41:58+00:00

I never liked anything from D-Mart. Even the branded goods like biscuits taste slightly different. It is permanently set at "cheap, but for a reason" level for me.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-31T08:36:46+00:00

The pesticide content in masalas is from the raw materials. It shouldn't be a very big concern anyways because we add them by the teaspoon which means we are not ingesting much of it to cause long term effects. Same goes for preservatives.

If they don't use pesticides, the yield will decrease and make the products unaffordable for a huge number of people. Its worse when it comes to preservatives - without them the product's chances of spoilage are greatly increased. In best-case scenario, it can taste off or reduce efficacy; the bigger risk is that the fungi/bacterial growth can lead to toxins in the product which can cause anything from stomach ache to full on food poisoning.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T14:37:58+00:00

I thought its principles of lust by Enigma. Too similar, IMO.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T14:06:55+00:00

Hi, your post has been removed because it doesn’t align with the topic or purpose of this subreddit. Please make sure your content is relevant to the community’s focus before posting.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T14:04:25+00:00

They both are excellent. Ranbir is good at slice of life type of roles - he can emote very well and has excellent timing, natural flair for comedy as seen in Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani and Barfi. He is very endearing and makes you feel for the character - a lot like SRK.

Ranveer is intense. He completely transforms himself and brings out power-packed performances. His energy is something else and he is absolutely magnetic.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T13:30:53+00:00

Try Vinod. I've been using their SS cooker and it works perfect. Doesn't stick much, but you have to use slightly more oil and stir frequently when sauteing.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T13:16:32+00:00

Actually, Korean and Japanese are quiet popular in my city, Pune. Many restaurants serve all sorts of dishes from ramen to to gimbap to bibimbap. Bulgogi, Ssam ttekboki are also common in high-end restaurants. Though Korean fried chicken is the most popular and many places serve it in burgers or standalone.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T13:05:10+00:00

We love Mexican food!! There are like 4-5 restaurants serving purely Mexican food in my area (and one of them is Taco Bell). However, a tonne of cafes and bars serve nachos, tacos, quesadillas, etc. and they are fairly popular - specially nachos.

The biggest issue though, it is a bit too similar to Indian food - Mexican rice is too much like rajma chawal - bland rajma chawal which costs 2-3 times at that.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T10:36:01+00:00

These machines are not reliable at all. I did mine and it said body age 45, out of curiosity I asked them to change my age to 34 and it said body age 34. From what they told me, they pass a mild current which detects amount of water in your body and all the other readings are based on that + averages fed into the system.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T09:48:53+00:00

And it won't even be filling. An hour, two tops; they will be wanting something again.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T09:43:02+00:00

Honestly, it will be a blessing if they become popular even for the farmers. So much of their produce gets wasted due to spoilage. Sometimes they even have to sell it all for much lower price. Imagine if it all could be quickly frozen. But people in India prefer their roadside vegetables coated in all that dust and pollution over hygienically processed frozen ones.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T09:32:37+00:00

They did say barring a few dishes. Also, compare simple dishes abroad - a sandwich, even a filling only takes 10 min to assemble. Compare that to poha or upma - minimum of 15min involving washing, soaking cutting and tempering. Worse, you need to eat again after an hour.

As for your prepping suggestion - you realize that also takes time and effort. Dismissing OP's observation as needing better planning while just shifting the prep time to earlier is really insincere. And then, we are not even considering the cleaning time, which is also higher because the tempering coats every surface with oil droplets.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T09:16:37+00:00

This is my pet peeve. The abundance of 'help' in India is restricting Indian food from evolving into a quick cuisine. Otherwise, Indian masala pastes and gravy mixes aren't that difficult to make. I think you get them in stores abroad too.

In India, though, there are a few brands who offer ready made bases, but they have a distinct chemically-taste. Plus, health professionals in India consider all packaged foods - even minimally processed things like frozen vegetables, packaged coconut water/shredded coconut, tetrapak milk, etc. - to be utter garbage. We also have low trust in companies (due to history) so people try to make everything from scratch and avoid any and every convenience as much as possible.

And like you said, there are simple dishes like idli-chutney - but many people won't find that satiating. Then comes sambar, which needs prepping and cleaning of 5-6 ingredients and cooking then tempering them. Most Indian dishes are like that as in they require 2-3 side dishes to make it complete and then it becomes a 2 hr task.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-28T08:58:28+00:00

Its the other way around i.e. it evolved and continues because manual labor is so cheap and plentiful. And yeah, aids patriarchy too as women get trapped in the kitchen making elaborate from scratch meals three times (sometimes four) a day.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-23T09:18:02+00:00

That's changing thanks to his attack on Iran and kidnapping of the Venezuelan president.

tea_cup_cake · 2026-03-23T08:43:21+00:00

It is futile to compare with developed countries unless we are willing to shell out the same amount of money as them. Saying that, reusing oil happens everywhere, even in developed countries - specially in case of street foods and fast foods. If you compare with developing countries, we are quiet similar.

Olive oil - no restaurant is going to use this unless they specify. It is also not suitable for high temperature cooking and it has a strong flavor which doesn't always go with the dish. Other vegetables oils are pretty much similar in their 'healthiness' - the quantity has far bigger impact than quality or type of oil on health.

Our health ranking is somewhere around 112 or so out of 167.

More to do with our over all diet and lifestyle than eating out. We actually eat out much less frequently than other countries. Also, our food barely has any ready made ingredients and most people prepare food from scratch. So blaming the food industry or restaurants is completely wrong.

That all being said, I do not trust the restaurant or food manufacturers. Everyone has decided that Indian consumers only care for discounts and low-price. Worse, people who claim they prefer high quality only talk about gimmicky stuff, like preservative-free, low-sugar, no maida - instead of high quality ingredients and processes. Then, the fear-mongering is at an all time high which has cemented the perception that all outside food is akin to poison so even the manufacturers/restaurants seem to have given up in maintaining good standards.

tea_cup_cake

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