Bro, Enough with the Protein. You're Just Making Expensive Pee | The Walrus

"Case in point: the non-fat yogurt episode from season five. The entire segment, which aired in 1993, hinges on the idea that this kind of food is a disastrous dietary choice and consuming it will make you "fat" (lots of weight gags throughout). The fat-is-evil theme is taken as a truism. As Jerry exclaims to a neighbour in the final scene (spoiler alert!), the yogurt actually had fat in it! "It's not good for you!" Cue laugh track."

"Fast forward to 2025. Fat, according to hype merchants, is good! It's healthy! There is the ketogenic diet (lots of fat). The Atkins diet (a fat bomb). The carnivore diet (bursting with fat, cuz meat!). Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current United States Department of Health and Human Services secretary, wants full-fat dairy in schools across America. And he wants to change dietary guidelines to encourage people to eat more saturated fats. Bring on the full-fat yogurt!"

"The current obsession taken up by the vast and growing Wellness Industrial Complex can be summarized in one word: protein. It is everywhere. Protein popcorn. Protein breakfast cereal. Protein ice cream. Protein potato chips. Protein candy bars. Starbucks is offering protein-infused lattes. There is an ever-expanding assortment of protein powders and supplements. And, the 1990s Jerry Seinfeld would be happy to hear, protein yogurt. Protein stacked on top of protein. This protein blitzkrieg has been felt. Consumers are responding. Marketing has won."

Rewatching Seinfeld highlights how comedic premises about diet and body weight aged poorly. The non-fat yogurt episode treats fat as inherently evil and links non-fat choices to weight with gags and a punchline that the yogurt contained fat. By 2025 dietary fashions have flipped: high-fat approaches like ketogenic, Atkins, and carnivore diets are promoted as healthy, and policymakers advocate full-fat dairy and relaxed saturated-fat guidance. Nutritional fads repeatedly become cultural truism and then reverse. The dominant contemporary craze centers on protein, with protein-enhanced snacks, beverages, powders, and yogurts proliferating as marketing drives consumer demand.

Read at The Walrus