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Protein is having a moment.
Fast food chains are rolling out a dizzying array of new protein-packed products. Starbucks introduced a latte last year that has as much protein as two quarter-pound hamburgers, while Chipotle now offers a special high-protein menu. And it’s not just fast food; grocery stores are also stocking protein-enhanced products, from breakfast waffles to cereal spin-offs.
They’re hoping to capture the attention — and dollars — of American consumers with a growing appetite for protein.
A recent International Food Information Council survey found 7 in 10 Americans say they're trying to include protein in their diets — an increase compared to previous years. And protein’s popularity doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with the Department of Agriculture, unveiled new dietary guidelines in January, urging Americans to prioritize protein at every meal. A joint statement from the two departments said the move is part of a reset in dietary guidelines to put “real food back at the center of the American diet.”
The new guidelines increased the recommended daily protein intake from 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight to 1.2 to 1.6 grams.
At a media conference announcing the changes, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said the changes are “based on science, not on dogma.”
“The old protein guidelines were to prevent starvation and withering away,” Makary said. “These new protein guidelines are designed for American kids to thrive.”
Nutrition experts across the country, though, have mixed feelings about the new emphasis on protein.
Getting enough protein
Protein, alongside carbohydrates and fats, is considered an essential nutrient — or macronutrient. Among its many uses, protein helps build, grow and repair the body.
The American diet is not lacking in protein, says Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University.
“Pretty consistently for the last few rounds of the dietary guidelines updates, Americans have been a little short on calcium, potassium, fiber and vitamin D,” Gardner said. “Protein was not and has never been in that list of things that we’re short of.”
Gardner served on an expert advisory panel for two years, reviewing the nutritional literature and offering recommendations to U.S. officials as they drafted the new nutritional guidelines.
The recommendations were not taken into account, Gardner says, because it was suggested that panel members held conflicts of interest. He, for example, had conducted prior studies funded by Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat company. A new panel, selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., later drafted its own set of recommendations for the dietary guidelines. These experts, however, have been found to have ties to the beef and dairy industries.
“So the hypocrisy there was mind-boggling that that was an excuse they used to dismiss our report,” Gardner said.
Under previous dietary guidelines, he said, Americans already consumed more than enough protein to meet their daily needs. Not only that, but Americans are among the highest per-capita meat consumers; which is why Gardner says it’s “bizarre” that the new guidelines emphasize protein intake so much.
“It comes at a very disturbing time,” Gardner said, “because anybody who's living and breathing and walks in a store to buy food has seen [that] everything seems to be marketed for having protein or adding protein to candy bars.”
Corey Geiger, a dairy economist for CoBank, a national credit lender specializing in rural infrastructure and agribusiness, has some thoughts as to why this demand is rising.
For several years, Geiger said, the protein trend has been picking up momentum on TikTok and other social media platforms. But, he added, it's more than a social media trend, it's now part of a political agenda.
"Certainly more recently, the MAHA movement has amplified what has been taking place in Americana,” Geiger said.
Geiger co-authored a study on how companies can cash in on the growing demand for protein. Brands can command a 12% price premium for products that claim to be protein-rich, the study found.
And companies are indeed taking advantage of that price premium by offering their own protein-enriched products.
Pushing consumers to reach for protein
Cleveland Clinic dietitian Julia Zumpano says it’s true that companies will take advantage of protein’s popularity to push products that promise more protein, even if people don’t need it.
But, she says, companies have done the same with other diet fads in the past, like the fat-free boom of the late 1990s. And each time one of these diet movements comes up, it’s nutritionists’ job to correct the record.
“It's concerning, but that's where we have to educate,” Zumpano said.
That education includes how to properly consume protein, which, she says, Americans may be eating more than enough of without even trying.
“Most Americans are consuming way more calories than they need to,” Zumpano said. “And generally when that occurs, and portions are so big, we're consuming enough protein.”
The new food pyramid prominently displays animal-based proteins at the top, including red meat, chicken, fish and cheese. Only one plant-based protein is pictured: beans.
Zumpano says she isn’t sure why the guidelines emphasized animal-based proteins over chickpeas and soybeans. A varied diet, she said, can include a variety of protein sources, such as tofu, beans and nuts. She mentioned the Mediterranean diet as a good example to mirror.
“It's not that they don't eat red meat, they do,” Zumpano said. “It's not that they don't eat cheese, it's not that they don't eat eggs. It's that they do it in moderation, and they do it with variety, with other [plant-based proteins] involved.”
Some experts think raising the daily recommended allowance of protein was the right move, including McMaster University Kinesiology Professor Stuart Phillips, who says the previous guidelines recommended too little protein.
But he added that the new recommendations may be an overcorrection that pushes consumers to reach for protein-enhanced products they don’t need.
“Putting [protein] on top means that they should be eaten the most and more often,” Phillips said. “That's the sort of implication of the way the pyramid is based now, and that's not necessarily a good thing.”
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
