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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Georgie.
Neil, we're talking
about protein today.
What type of protein
do you usually eat?
Well, I like all kinds
of proteins – fish, bit of chicken –
but I think I really like an egg.
An egg is my favourite kind
of protein.
Ah, I was going to say that too.
I'm a big fan of breakfast foods
and eggs are my favourite.
Well, you can't beat
a good breakfast!
Of all the main food groups,
such as carbohydrate, fat and fibre,
it's protein that seems to be most
in the news.
In shops and on social media, you'll
find all kinds of high-protein foods
being advertised, from shakes
and yoghurts to chocolate.
Here's Ruth Alexander, presenter of BBC
World Service programme The Food Chain.
Cast your eye over most aisles
in the supermarkets now
and you'll see high-protein products
in abundance:
pasta made with lentils and chickpeas
rather than wheat flour,
bread fortified with beans
and pulses.
Ruth casts her eye
over the supermarket shelves.
If you cast your eye over something,
you take a quick look at it.
What she sees are protein products
in abundance – in other words,
in large quantities.
Products which already contain
protein, like yoghurt,
are repackaged as high-protein, while
other items have extra protein added,
often in the form of beans
and pulses.
Protein is big business!
Our bodies need protein for health
and to build muscle,
but with all this focus on protein,
are we forgetting about other
important nutrients, such as fibre?
That's what we'll be discussing
in this programme,
hearing some useful new words
and phrases.
But first,
I have a question for you, Georgie.
The popularity of protein started
with bodybuilders
and people working out in gyms,
who ate extra protein to gain muscle.
Irishman Patrick Callahan is a
big name in the protein-muscle world,
but do you know who he is?
Is he: a) the owner of a company
which makes protein shakes,
b) the winner of the 2024
Mister Universe bodybuilding contest,
or c) the scientist who discovered
a new protein in outer space?
Ooh, I'm going to say
Patrick Callahan is the winner of
the 2024 Mister Universe
bodybuilding contest.
OK. We'll find out
if you're right at the end.
Marketing campaigns that promote
sales of high-protein food
are certainly working.
Sales of protein products
make around £7 billion globally.
Here's Scott Dicker from SPINS,
a market research company in Chicago,
talking with
BBC programme The Food Chain:
So, sometimes carbs are good,
sometimes they're bad for consumers.
Sometimes fat is good,
sometimes it's bad for consumers.
But protein seems to have
this continuous health halo on it.
Unlike carbs –
that's carbohydrates – and fat,
consumers don't see any downside
to eating protein.
Scott says protein has a health halo,
a marketing term which describes
perceiving a food to be healthy
based on a single feature, such as
being organic, gluten-free
or in this case high-protein,
even if its overall
nutritional value is poor.
Yes, food which used to be considered
unhealthy is now called healthy
just because a spoonful
of protein powder has been added.
So, could our modern obsession
with protein mean that we ignore
other important food groups,
like fibre?
NHS surgeon and blogger
Dr Karan Rajan thinks so
and explains
why here to Ruth Alexander,
on BBC World Service programme
The Food Chain.
And do you think we're paying
enough attention to fibre?
Historically, probably not.
I think the tide is turning,
and there's more people interested in
fibre and optimising their fibre intake
and fibermaxxing even –
it's a trend on TikTok.
What is fibermaxxing?
Fibermaxxing is, you know,
as it suggests,
similar to the protein-maxing trend,
where people are trying to maximise
their fibre intake with little hacks
or tricks or tips that they could do,
whether it's, you know, adding
certain seeds or nuts to snacks.
Many people pay more attention
to protein than fibre in their diet,
but Dr Karan thinks the tide
is turning – an idiom which means
that things are changing.
In part, this is thanks to a new trend
from America called fibermaxxing –
consuming lots of fibre by eating
fibre-rich foods and supplements
for their health benefits.
Dr Karan also gives some hacks –
good solutions or pieces of advice –
to help boost your fibre intake.
For example,
adding seeds and nuts to meals.
In fact, the healthiest diet
is probably
a balanced diet – one containing
items from all the major food groups.
But I'm still intrigued by
your question, Neil.
Isn't it time
you revealed the answer?
I asked you who
the Irishman Patrick Callahan was.
And I said he was the winner
of the Mister Universe contest.
And you were correct.
Yay!
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary
we've learned in this episode.
If you cast your eye over something,
you have a quick look at it.
If something is in abundance, there's
a lot or more than enough of it.
A health halo refers to overestimating
how healthy an item is
based on a single feature,
such as being low in calories,
gluten-free or high in protein.
The idiom, the tide is turning,
means that things are changing.
The trend fibermaxxing means people
intentionally consume lots of fibre
by eating fibre-rich foods and
supplements for their health benefits.
And finally, a hack is
a good solution or piece of advice.
Once again, our six minutes are up
but here's another hack for you –
remember you can find
worksheets, quizzes,
and loads more resources to improve
your English over on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
See you there soon,
but for now it's goodbye.
Goodbye!
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