[This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies. Please check back later for the full article.]
Proteins held a special position in 19th-century nutritional debates: “Discovered” in the mid-1800s, they were thought to be the source of muscle energy and seemed to offer solutions to many of the problems and challenges of the industrial age. Meat, in particular, was praised by doctors and nutrition experts as a protein-rich food that could help to combat malnutrition, shape more efficient human bodies, and enhance industrial and military performance—serving not only the needs of the individual but also the interests of the nation state. Meat consumption was also associated with normative concepts of masculinity and “civilization” and was frequently cited as a reason—and justification—for colonialism. In this new equation, meat equaled proteins equaled strength. This attitude slowly started to change in the early 1900s: A growing number of nutrition experts joined early critics—vegetarians and nutrition reformers—in advocating the use of more “efficient” protein and energy sources, while excessive meat consumption increasingly came to be identified as a risk factor for disease. Nevertheless, today we can see many of the 19th-century preoccupations with proteins, meat, “civilization,” and masculinity lingering or re-emerging in dietary trends like the “paleo diet,” protein-enriched “functional foods,” or books written by vegan bodybuilders. Transcending nutritional debates, these phenomena are symptomatic of broader attitudes toward eating, health, society, and the human body.