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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Protein summary
Samantha King, Gavin Weedon
The Making of a Nutritional Superstar
23 mins
Brief summary
Protein delves into the cultural, historical, and scientific significance of protein in modern society. It examines how protein shapes global food systems, health perspectives, and our understanding of nutrition while challenging conventional dietary beliefs.
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Protein
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The truth about protein
When you hear the word “protein,” you probably think of the scoop of powder you put in your post-workout shake, or perhaps a chunk of steak or tofu. But what actually is protein?
The word “protein” was coined in 1838 by the Dutch chemist Gerardus Johannes Mulder, from the Greek proteios, meaning “primary.” Mulder believed he’d identified a single foundational substance at the heart of life and nutrition.
His German rival, Justus von Liebig, disagreed. Liebig shared Mulder’s belief that protein was primary. But he argued that it wasn’t one stable molecule. Instead, it was a broad class of related substances.
In a sense, both were right. Protein is indeed fundamental to life – the human body requires nine amino acids it can only get from food. But “protein” isn’t one thing. It’s a vast and variable family of substances made from chains of amino acids. Proteins help give cells their structure, move substances around, send signals, speed up chemical reactions, and much more.
Yet much of protein’s nature remains mysterious. Scientists have identified some 200 million proteins in nature, but fewer than 200,000 have had their structures fully mapped. About 40 percent of the proteins encoded by the human genome still have unknown functions.
So how did this shape-shifting class of molecules become the star of the nutritional show? The answer leads back to Liebig. His studies led him to conclude that protein, especially from meat, was the only truly essential nutrient, with fats and carbohydrates playing only a supporting role.
Though his theory was ultimately proven wrong, the idea stuck – helped along by Liebig’s role as an entrepreneur and a propagandist. He founded what some consider the world’s first global food company: a beef extract operation. Though the extract contained almost no actual protein, it was marketed as a tonic for soldiers and a solution to the nutritional needs of Europe’s industrial working class. Liebig’s ideas were also deeply entangled with the racial and colonial politics of his time. High animal protein intake was framed as a marker of strength and superiority – and used to justify the expansion of colonial agriculture and the pathologizing of non-meat-eating cultures. The gap between scientific reality and nutritional messaging was there from the start.
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What is Protein about?
Protein (2026) argues that protein’s assent to cultural dominance has less to do with genuine dietary science and more to do with how it’s been harnessed by commercial, scientific, and social forces. Tracing protein’s history from nineteenth-century biochemistry to the present, it reveals how the nutrient has been recruited to serve agendas ranging from colonial development schemes and industrial food production to fitness culture and anti-aging medicine.
Who should read Protein?
- Fitness enthusiasts and gym-goers who consume protein supplements
- Nutritionists and dietitians
- Anyone interested in what we eat and why
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