Walking around the supermarket the other day I noticed how prominent the word ‘protein’ is right now.
It has become the food word of the moment.
Things that were once just breakfast cereals now announce (in large letters on their box) that they are ‘protein’ breakfast cereals.
And every second packet or bottled product in the supermarket now seems to be proclaiming its ‘protein’ content.
At one level I understand this—I am largely persuaded that the current push for a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates is probably a good thing.
And it’s certainly caught on in a big way!
But what are ‘proteins’ and where does the word come from?
As for what these ‘proteins’ are, I can get no closer than saying they are long-chain biological molecules that the body needs to grow and maintain good health, and that they are (say the dictionaries) found in meat, milk and eggs.
Although the dictionaries look a bit out of date there—since in my local supermarket proteins seem to turn up in just about every food product!
As for the word, ‘protein’—it is derived from the Greek word πρώτειος (proteios), meaning ‘primary’, ‘in the lead’, or "standing in front.’
The name was chosen by a Swedish chemist Jon Jacob Berzelius in 1834 (based on the work of his colleague, a Dutch chemist with another impossible name—Gerhardus Johannes Mulder).
Only a few years later, in 1844, the word ‘protein’ appeared for the first time in English (in a dictionary of medical science published that year).
And now ‘protein’ has become the fad food word and has taken over the shelves of our supermarkets.
(Let’s see if this is permanent, or just another fad that fades!)
Tonight I will join Peta Credlin on News24 for 'Words Matter.'
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