{"id":871389,"date":"2026-10-05T08:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871389\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T08:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:44:09","slug":"why-are-protein-products-taking-over-the-shelves-are-we-not-getting-enough-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/871389\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are protein products taking over the shelves? Are we not getting enough? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A visit to an Irish supermarket in recent years shows a clear trend. Protein wraps. Protein ice cream. Protein yoghurts. High-protein cheese. The list goes on. But does the Irish public really need all of this protein-enriched food?<\/p>\n

What is protein?<\/p>\n

Protein is one of the main nutrients in food, alongside carbohydrates and fats.<\/p>\n

The nutrient builds and supports damaged muscles, organs, skin, hair and nails using smaller units called amino acids. <\/p>\n

Why has there been an increase in foods labelled as having protein?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s driven by a number of trends, according to nutritionists and dietitians, but social media is a big factor. <\/p>\n

Online fitness and wellness influencers consistently tout protein as being an excellent tool in fat loss. <\/p>\n

They maintain that higher-protein foods keep people feeling fuller for longer, reducing snacking and enabling people to more easily stay within their calorie deficit.<\/p>\n

How much protein should we be consuming?<\/p>\n

That largely depends on your activity level, age and weight.<\/p>\n

The recommended daily intake for the population in general is 0.8g of protein per kilogramme of body weight, so somebody weighing 60kg would need 48g. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Protein: Are we eating enough of it? And is \u2018high protein\u2019 branding just a fad?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Those who do a lot of exercise or strength training would have higher protein requirements.<\/p>\n

In a set of updated scientific recommendations for food-based dietary guidelines for older adults published in 2021, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland<\/a> said healthy older adults should consume a more protein-dense diet than the general adult population. <\/p>\n

It recommended that older adults at risk of frailty, sarcopenia and undernutrition eat a minimum of 1\u20131.2g of protein per kilogramme of body weight each day to preserve muscle mass. <\/p>\n

Are we eating enough?<\/p>\n

Research would suggest yes. The National Adult Nutrition Survey II, published in 2024, found Irish adults got 18 per cent of their total energy from protein.<\/p>\n

And this is a worldwide phenomenon. The US is also witnessing this explosion in protein products, but a government report found nearly 90 percent of Americans have enough protein in their diets.<\/p>\n

Are protein products healthier?<\/p>\n

Safefood research from 2019 found that the way these products were being marketed would lead people to believe they were healthy alternatives.<\/p>\n

However, 77 per cent of the high-protein bars surveyed were high in saturated fat and a source of added salt and sugar, while high-protein yoghurts and quark, dairy drinks and smoothies surveyed were a source of added salt and sugar. <\/p>\n

Are people buying into this protein phase?<\/p>\n

If company accounts are anything to go by, protein\u2019s marketing success is undeniable.<\/p>\n

Kilkenny-based nutrition group Glanbia reported a 7 per cent jump in revenue for the first six months of the year, which included a 25 per cent spike in demand for its premium protein powder product, Optimum Nutrition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A visit to an Irish supermarket in recent years shows a clear trend. Protein wraps. Protein ice cream.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[224033,199030,97,682,269,101597],"class_list":["post-871389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-food-safety-authority-of-ireland","tag-food-production","tag-health","tag-health-wellness","tag-nutrition","tag-weekendreview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}