Why is everyone going mad for protein?

Recently an article popped up in my news feed from UK Vogue magazine - Exactly how Em the nutritionist eats 100g of protein a day.

The article featured a classy photo of an egg atop a bowl of rice and Emily, the author, promised a simple approach which would allow you to feel properly satisfied without overthinking it.  What followed was a daily menu containing a bewildering amount of high protein foods, omelettes made with extra egg whites thrown in, yogurt dressings, calamari snack pots as well as collagen hot-chocolate (whatever that is). 

I’m probably not the target audience for this kind of aspirational blog but aside from the collagen matchas and prawn meatballs, one key point was troubling me most -  according to most doctors and UK national health guidelines, the recommended daily amount of protein for average weight women is around 45g per day. So why is Em the nutritionist eating more than double that amount?

Protein is essential

Protein, says the article, plays a central role in how full we feel, our mood regulation, skin health and immune function. This is all true. Protein is essential to us, the building block of life, critical in cell replacement and growth.  But that still didn’t explain why Em needs to over consume?

Em the nutritionist’s protein-rich diet reflects a health trend that has reached peak status in Europe and North America. We have become obsessed with protein and the idea that we need more of it than we would get from eating an average balanced diet.

Protein is now packed into thousands of products across our supermarket shelves. You can buy bread, cereal, milk, snack bars, pasta, hot drinks, even meat labelled as ‘high protein’. And that’s before you get to all the protein powders sold in health shops. Protein has become the king of the macronutrients. 

In part, this is because diet fads over the past decade have bigged-up protein as fat and carbohydrates have lost favour. The Keto diet, for example, is famously low in carbs and high in protein-rich foods. Foods rich in protein are said to keep you feeling fuller longer and don’t trigger insulin spikes as refined carbs do. 

Then came the fitness gurus, promoting protein shakes as a way to enhance muscle development. Social media has accelerated these trends, with many boys and young men now working out and chugging protein shakes.

The rise of male influencers, promoting ideals of hyper-masculinity, cross over into this space as a particularly concerning influence. 

But women are not immune from the trend either, as we can see from Vogue magazine’s focus. Protein won’t just give you big muscles, it can also make your skin better, your hair glossier, your mood lighter and, of course (if you read between the lines) your waist smaller.

When promoting a perfect physique, all roads seem to point to a diet high in protein. 

One of the beneficiaries of this has been the dairy industry. A common ingredient added to products like protein bars and shakes is whey, usually a waste product from cheese making.  Whilst whey has been added to many UPFs for years, as well as animal feed, the trend for high protein foods and powders has given it an additional, hugely profitable use.

Now it can be incorporated into even more ultra-processed foods, in higher quantities and sold with a health halo - an absolute marketing coup for Big Dairy. 

The cost of the protein obsession

But this craze for protein may come at a cost. Whilst wellness gurus might want to emphasise the benefits of protein, there may be downsides for our health, depending on how we consume it.

For example, products marketed as nutritious or healthy, like protein snack bars are often ultra-processed, and whilst some use artificial sweeteners, others are packed full of sugar and are highly calorific.  

Eating more meat is of course an obvious route to consuming more protein but this brings risks of diet related diseases, especially the consumption of red and processed meat. By focussing in on the apparent benefits of one macronutrient, there’s a risk that we decrease diversity in our diets.

It’s of increasing concern to expert nutritionists and doctors that people are eating way less fibre than is needed to stay healthy. The UK’s latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey found that only 4% of adults are consuming the recommended daily amounts of fibre.

So where meat is favoured over complex carbohydrates and wholefoods like vegetables and legumes, we may be adding to that problem. 

Protein and the environment

And then there’s the planet.  Environmental scientists and others are clear that reduction of how much meat, dairy and seafood we eat in Europe and North America is essential if we’re to stay within the planet’s safer limits for climate change and nature protection.

In high-meat consuming regions, like Europe, we on average over consume protein by about 50% much of which is from meat and dairy, exacerbating the problem. The planetary health diet, developed by the Eat Lancet Commission as an illustration of how we can eat well whilst keeping ourselves and our planet healthy, recommends on average 60g of protein a day, around 60% of which should be from plant based sources.

To get to that, we need to first reduce the overall amount of protein we eat as well as substituting some animal based foods for plant-based protein like nuts, legumes and meat alternatives. Luckily for my namesake, Em from Vogue, this can be done fairly simply and without the need for collagen hot chocolates or protein-boosted omelettes. 

‍