hey Reader,
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I was at my in-laws’ place last weekend and made myself a quick breakfast — rice cakes, banana, peanut butter. Nothing fancy, just what was there.

My father-in-law walks in, sees my plate, and goes: "Excellent breakfast. I've been eating a lot of peanut butter lately too. Great source of protein."

He said it with such confidence. And the funny thing is — he’s someone who genuinely cares about his health and pays attention to what he eats.

Which made me realize something: this isn’t about people being careless with nutrition. It’s about how confusing food marketing has become. For years the food industry has been quietly slapping the word “protein” on everything.

Here's a simple test I use with all my clients: take the grams of protein in one serving and multiply by 10. If that number is equal to or greater than the total calories, it's a real protein source. If not, it's something else dressed up as protein.

A tablespoon of peanut butter? 3g × 10 = 30. Calories: 100. That's a healthy fat source — a great one, but fat nonetheless. Most South Asian staples we grew up eating fall into the same trap. Daal, lentils, roti — genuinely good and nutritious food, but they're not doing the protein heavy lifting we think they are.

This is exactly why so many women I work with are eating "healthy" and still not seeing results. Nobody ever actually explained this to them clearly.

If you want to know what your protein picture actually looks like, hit reply and just say "protein" — I'll take it from there.
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Much love,
Sanjana