We were once content to get our protein from meat, eggs and dairy. But for the past 20 years or so, high-protein diets have never really gone out of fashion and keto obsessives want to add protein wherever possible. Supermarket aisles have filled with “high-protein” versions of bread, yoghurt, shakes and cereal — even cake, crisps and beer — all priced at a premium, and helping to drive the UK’s “sports nutrition” market to an estimated £1.1 billion.
But what’s really in these products? A new Channel 4 documentary, Protein: Everything You Need to Know, highlights the rise of “protein-washing” — a marketing tactic that means many staples with high/added protein labels actually only contain marginally more protein than their regular (much cheaper) counterparts. In other cases, a high-protein label disguises otherwise ultra-processed products, laden with additives and sweeteners, used to mask the naturally bitter taste of added processed protein.
Protein is the building block of life. “Protein does much more than simply build and maintain muscle, it is present in every cell in the body,” explains Dr Jack Mosley, GP registrar and consultant on the documentary. “It is needed for growth, for repair of tissues, for transport round the body, for enzymes and hormones, even the immune system. Protein plays multiple vital roles as the body’s building materials, maintenance team, delivery service and security.”
As the most satiating of the three essential macronutrients in our diets (the others being fats and carbohydrates), protein also helps to keep us feeling full while boosting the muscle-building and fat-shredding effects of a workout and helping to preserve muscle mass and bone density as we age. No wonder so many of us have bought into the message that we need to eat more of it — and food companies have scrambled to capitalise on demand.
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“Protein is a buzz word at the minute and I, like a lot of people, assumed that if something had extra protein in it, it was healthy,” says Gemma Atkinson, the broadcaster and fitness influencer who presents the documentary.
Gemma Atkinson: “A lot of foods have the word protein on the packaging, but are loaded with sugar and chemicals”
DAVID CUMMINGS/THE SUN
Atkinson, 41, started her career as an actress before reaching the final of the 2017 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she met her fiancé and father of her two children, professional dancer Gorka Márquez, 35. Since starting strength training she has found a second career, releasing cookbooks, workout programmes and sharing her health and fitness routines with her 2.1 million Instagram followers.
As someone who trains four mornings a week in her home gym in Manchester and tracks her “macros” — she aims for 145g of protein a day to meet her fitness goals — Atkinson assumed she understood protein.
“I would go for a protein bar over some dark chocolate because I’d think, ‘It’s got protein in it.’ What I learnt from this documentary is that a lot of foods have the word protein on the packaging, but are, in fact, loaded with sugar and chemicals.”
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Examining the aisles of a London supermarket with food engineer and public health specialist Dr Yanaina Chavez-Ugalde, Atkinson was shocked to discover that, in order to be labelled “high-protein”, at least 20 per cent of a product’s calories must come from protein — a target some brands meet not by adding extra protein, but by stripping out other nutrients instead.
One “high-protein” loaf they found cost 37.5 per cent more than regular bread but offered just one extra gram of protein per 100g, while one high-protein yoghurt actually contained less protein per 100g than another that made no such claims on the label. More worryingly, Chavez-Ugalde found a “high-protein” flapjack that contained more calories and as much sugar as a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut, while a packet of protein chips contained no potato at all — just processed protein and starches.
“If you’re sold a high-protein snack and the first ingredient on the label is emulsifiers, you’re not eating a high-protein snack, you’re eating a lot of chemicals,” says Atkinson.
Besides the questionable nutritional content of supposedly high-protein products, how much protein do we actually need? Official NHS guidelines recommend the average adult should consume about 0.75g of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day, which is about 54g for women and 63g for men, according to average weights in 2021 — and according to the British Nutrition Foundation, most adults already eat more than enough.
Dr Mosley says: “As we approach midlife, if we remain fairly sedentary, then jacking up your protein intake is probably not necessary. However, a fair amount of evidence suggests that the recommended daily allowance may be too low for older adults who want to maintain or build muscle and improve their mobility, especially over the age of 65.
“As people get older, their muscles become less responsive to the anabolic (muscle-building) effect of dietary protein. This is at a time of life when our appetite typically drops and we are eating less protein. Lean body mass can be better maintained if sufficient protein is eaten alongside strength training exercises.”
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However, consuming excess protein offers no benefits — it is simply broken down by the body and excreted — and could even cause health issues. “Too much protein could become a problem when your entire diet is built around it, when it displaces other key nutrients,” says Dr Mosley. “Excessive amounts of red meat, and especially processed meats, are also linked to an increased risk of certain chronic diseases,” such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
“A balanced, protein-inclusive day of eating might look like feta and scrambled egg on a slice of wholegrain toast , a sardine, avocado and rocket salad with a chilli dressing and sprinkle of seeds for lunch,” he says. “For your evening meal, a one-pot chicken with chickpeas, garlic and thyme.”
Atkinson says she is now militant about checking the back of food labels, not just the front and mostly eats whole foods — anything that “roams or grows” — but still uses a bone broth protein shake after training if time doesn’t allow for a proper meal.
“I’m not going to stop eating it,” she says, explaining she chooses an organic brand that contains just a handful of ingredients. “There are some protein powders with 16 or 17 ingredients in, so there is a huge difference in protein shakes and protein bars, depending on what company you use.”
Dr Mosley accepts “the occasional good quality [protein] shake” is better than snacking on cakes, chocolate and crisps — but he is keen to emphasise that protein is not a magic ingredient that we should be focusing on consuming at the expense of others.
Many nutritionists, such as Professor Tim Spector, now say focusing on protein alone in our diets could lead to deficiencies in other important nutrients, especially fibre from whole foods.
According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), about 90 per cent of the population fail to eat the recommended 30g of fibre a day, increasing the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
“Everyone focuses on protein, but no one’s focused on poor little fibre and it’s because of processed foods — fibre is removed to prolong foods on the shelf,” says Atkinson.
Protein: Everything You Need to Know is on Channel 4 on Monday January 5 at 8pm