I often wonder which I find more annoying… People for buying into ‘crap’, or big companies for making ‘crap’ look ‘good’, thus, making people buy into ‘crap’.

It’s common that people who train like a bit of coffee, not everyone does but generically across the board there are these days, many ‘Caffeinds’ out there. Myself included.

Personally, I like a good quality coffee, because I like the taste. Many like the way it makes them feel, or the way it allows them to perform certain tasks whether its heavy workloads deep into the night, or harsh training sessions where you’re aiming to push your body that little bit more, for every Caffeind out there, it has its place and is a staple item for consumption in their day to day.

I was made aware today of a ‘High Protein’ instant coffee. News to me, and full of intrigue I read the back of the jar and discovered that it was high in protein, as they said it is. Boasting 23g of protein per 100g (which is conveniently the entire jar, black) its not something you can hide, and I get why one might want to brag but… THEY DO NOTHING TO TELL THE CONSUMER TO SAY ‘Very High’ in Carbohydrates. It’s a common thing that reoccurs with me where companies use the latest buzz words to hook you in and make the sell, and the target audience surprise surprise are simply not doing the things they need to be in the first place for this latest greatest product to actually have any effect. The horrifying thing is wherever you look on the internet there is very little to suggest what the amounts are for ‘high in’. It’s not even widely known that something ‘Low in fat’ MUST, BY LAW contain less than 3g of fat per 100g of product so how are people going to know what the figure is where something becomes ‘High in’ actually is? We know a whey protein shake as a rule usually gives you a 25g or protein whack, for a 30g scoop… They don’t try to push it on the consumer with ‘High in protein’, because we’d expect it to be. The very same way we’d expect a bus to sell bus tickets, and not Oxo Cubes (other stocks are available).

Where will this stop? Will it ever actually stop, or will the world just keep coming up with its own trends, and come up with nonentity products that have no effect on someones health and wellbeing. Ironically the company pushes the product as a ‘Oh yes Derek your daily coffee, but healthier because it has more protein in it’ has done nothing but pee me off (coffee is a diuretic, ya know) since this morning. It’s almost like saying vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking. Maybe a protein vape will be next? Perhaps its just me that’s missing a trick training countless hours to boost my immune system, my metabolism, promote a positive body composition and a healthy mindset. The truth is these products affect me quite a lot and its because deep down, I don’t like to see people being had, repeatedly. All this gimmicky bullshit has got to stop. If you fancy the pint in the pub after your walk, go for it. It doesn’t have to be laced with protein (Rhymes with blue frog do one), if you want that bit of chocolate, or a bun, or a cake just have it and enjoy it for what it is, and stop trying to make everything into stuff that it doesn’t need to be. This whole ‘Low in, lower in, reduced, no added’ ‘crap’ culture we’ve become is just too confusing to get by in!

Strip things back, keep it simple. Simple sells. If you want to be healthier, changing the coffee you drink, and only that is not going to work, just like switching to vapes if you’re a smoker, still isn’t healthy! Us Body Planners know that things are difficult where nutrition is concerned and that’s why we’re here to help people like you to wake up and smell the really good coffee, instead of being convinced into doing it all the ‘crap way’!

I know you’re all interested (probably not) but a good quality cafetière coffee, made up simply of hot water, and ground beans comes to about 15kcals per cup, it only starts getting ‘crap’ when you start adding in the ‘good’ (which we know is secretly ‘crap’) stuff. A latte of the same size is close on to 300kcals with real (not ‘crap’ skimmed) milk, so if you really are calorie counting… COUNT ALL OF THEM!

With all that now said, the biggest problem for me is the mentality these products bring along with it. For instance, why should one invest in a quality ingredient or supplement when this cheap coffee ‘does the same’. Well, the first and probably only rule you need to know where protein is concerned, is protein is not cheap for us to buy. Whether it comes as a cut of tuna, a slab of fillet steak, or a chicken breast protein is almost certainly going to be the most expensive part of any snack or meal. We’ve said it before many times, good food, good nourishment is not expensive, ‘Crap’ stuff is cheap, and the big companies can sell it to lots and lots of people purely because of that.