internet term for maximising protein intake<\/a> \u2013 has left the gym and hit the mainstream. Social media is now full of videos claiming that squeezing protein into as many meals and snacks as possible will help with growing muscle and shedding fat.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe cultural trend dovetails with the mood in Washington. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d through the promotion of whole foods.<\/p>\n
New US federal dietary guidelines endorsed by Kennedy recommend 1.2 grams to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, up from the previous recommended baseline of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic are also accelerating protein demand. The drugs cause a loss of appetite, leading to less food intake and more weight loss.<\/p>\n
Roger Fielding, a Tufts University nutrition professor, said roughly two-thirds of weight loss on these drugs comes from fat, while the other third comes from muscle and other lean mass. That makes consuming protein a priority for many GLP-1 users in order to ensure that they preserve their muscle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How are companies responding?<\/p>\n
The food industry is creating new products to capitalise on the protein craze as consumers prove willing to pay a premium for high-protein foods. Packaged-food companies such as PepsiCo and General Mills are adding protein-enhanced varieties of their top sellers, including Doritos and Cheerios.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coca-Cola\u2019s Fairlife milk brand is another prominent example. The company says its filtered milk increases the protein and calcium content while reducing sugar and eliminating lactose. Despite prices that can be more than three times those of regular milk, Fairlife has become one of Coca-Cola\u2019s fastest-growing brands.<\/p>\n
Restaurants are also capitalising: Coffee shops including Starbucks and Dunkin\u2019 now offer protein cold foam, and chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sweetgreen have expanded their menus to add new high-protein options.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why is whey protein in short supply?<\/p>\n
Whey is a liquid that is separated from milk curds during cheesemaking. It was once considered a secondary product that was mainly used in sports nutrition, infant formula and livestock feed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But whey has a greater density of protein by weight than almost any other source of protein, and demand has soared, causing the supply to dry up. Whey protein concentrate prices have soared to about US$12.50 (S$16) to US$13 per pound as of July 9, up from about US$9 in March. Companies are increasingly forced to find other sources of protein to incorporate into their products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Complicating efforts to increase availability is the fact that whey is exclusively produced as a byproduct of cheese \u2013 it cannot be made on its own. But while whey demand has grown dramatically, cheese has not experienced the same trajectory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the alternatives is milk protein isolate, which is more processed and cheaper. But that alternative has also surged in price as demand outpaces production.<\/p>\n
US dairy processors are investing more than US$11 billion in manufacturing capacity across 19 states to satisfy consumer demand for protein products between 2025 and 2028, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.<\/p>\n
What do nutrition experts say about \u2018proteinmaxxing\u2019?<\/p>\n
For the majority of people, higher protein intake is not inherently dangerous. However, experts say that consuming more protein than the body needs will not trigger continuous muscle growth, as some online influencers suggest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The body does not store protein the way it stores excess fat. Once protein needs are met, the amino acids are broken down and converted into carbohydrates, which then turn into fat, particularly if overall calorie intake exceeds the body\u2019s needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the Mayo Clinic, protein should account for 10 per cent to 35 per cent of a person\u2019s calories per day. More active and older people need a higher proportion of protein.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While food companies are racing to add protein to anything they can, nutritionists say that what most Americans really need more of is fibre, which supports digestive health and helps regulate blood sugar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How is the protein craze evolving?<\/p>\n
Kevin Ryan, chief executive officer of Malachite Strategy and Research, a market research firm, said consumers increasingly want a \u201cfirst name\u201d attached to their protein: chicken protein, egg white protein or collagen protein, for example. That is because recognisable sources give the impression that a product is less processed and healthier.<\/p>\n
Brands like IQBAR, which sells snack bars and mushroom coffee, and Wilde, which makes protein chips from chicken and cheese, are catering to consumers\u2019 growing preference for packaged foods made with familiar ingredients.<\/p>\n
But Christopher Gardner, a nutrition scientist at Stanford University, said that the focus on the type of protein in a processed food item can be misleading from a nutritional standpoint. Once protein is digested, it is broken down into amino acids.<\/p>\n
The body does not distinguish whether it came from chicken, whey, tofu or chickpeas. He said that the source of the protein is secondary to what accompanies it, emphasising the importance of whole-food pairings that include fibre.\u00a0BLOOMBERG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to peak protein.\u00a0 There have never been so many ways to get it: Grocery shelves are filling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84],"class_list":["post-821105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}