No, you really don’t need to be eating more protein

There’s a tipping point with every food fad – a moment when whatever the latest trend is seems to have strayed into absurdity. For protein, it was possibly the introduction of “Weetabix Protein”, the existence of which recently stopped me in my tracks in the supermarket aisle.

While we’ve mostly become inured to the sight of an ever-growing menagerie of protein-enhanced products – smoothies, ice cream, cheese, snack bars et al – there was something about the inclusion of the usually humble, no-fuss breakfast biscuits among this motley crew that broke me.

Weetabix is already doing God’s work – it’s made from 100 per cent wholegrain, high in fibre, low in sugar, salt and fat, and fortified with thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, folic acid and iron. Weetabix does not need to be surgically enhanced by shoving in extra protein, too. Is nothing sacred? Surely not everything we eat must be packed to the gills with the stuff?

But increasingly, it is. Supplementary protein powder and shakes are nothing new, of course, having been around since the 1950s, when bodybuilders and athletes started using them. They steadily became more mainstream, but remained largely the preserve of gym bros looking for extra “gains” when attempting to build muscle. In the past few years, however, protein has experienced a popularity explosion across the board, which has seen it added to a widening array of foodstuffs and proactively consumed by a much greater proportion of the population.

Just as “fat-free” was the magic phrase to get someone to purchase your product in the 2000s, so “protein” has become its natural successor. Forget health food shops – stroll into any supermarket nowadays, from M&S to Lidl, and you’ll find packaging that practically screams about an item’s lofty ’tein credentials at every turn. Big, brash labels abound, like hyperactive paddles at an auction house: “20g!” “30g!” “50g!!!!!” “SOLD to the tiramisu on aisle nine!”

The latest data from marketing research firm Mintel indeed shows an uptick in 2024: high or added protein claims went from featuring on 5 per cent of UK food and non-alcoholic drinks launched in 2023 to 7 per cent last year.

“While this latest rise was partly fuelled by products like meat and poultry highlighting their intrinsic protein content, activity has also picked up in many categories not traditionally associated with high protein, such as desserts, yogurt, breakfast cereals, pasta, bread, and even cold coffee drinks,” says Kiti Soininen, Mintel’s category director of UK food and drink research. She namechecks brands like Grenade and Myprotein, whose mainstream growth has built “momentum” and brought high-protein, lower-sugar snacks like chocolate-style bars and drinks to a wider audience.

On the face of it, this focus on incorporating protein into our diet is no bad thing. The health benefits are wide-ranging: proteins are molecules consisting of essential amino acids that our bodies need in order to function properly. Protein also “takes a while for your body to digest and helps keep you feeling full until the next meal”, says Clare Thornton-Wood, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association. “This is why higher protein intake is often promoted for people who are trying to lose weight.”

It can also help maintain muscle during weight loss, and build muscle in people who exercise frequently. And, unlike fat and carbohydrates, protein cannot be stored by our bodies – which is why there is a legitimate need to eat enough of it each day.

Knowledge of its benefits appears to have trickled down to the general populace. According to research commissioned by The Grocer in 2024, protein was the No 1 nutrient Brits were trying to consume more of, while Mintel’s data has found that the percentage of people who listed high protein content as one of their three most important factors in healthy foods jumped from 15 per cent in 2019 to 21 per cent in 2024. The latter number is much higher for young people too, leaping to 39 per cent for under-35s.

Protein’s climb up the popularity rankings has enabled a multibillion-dollar industry to shoot up around it. In the UK, the market enjoyed 24 per cent growth to reach £205m in the year to November 2023, and a further 15 per cent increase to £235m in the year to November 2024. Meanwhile, the global protein supplements market was worth $28bn (£22bn) last year, a figure that is predicted to increase to $30bn in 2025. Protein is big business, and every brand in town wants to milk the latest cash cow – Weetabix included.

But how much protein do most of us really need on a daily basis, and are we struggling to get it? The recommendation is that we eat around 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight per day, equating to around 56g for an average man (11st 11lb) and 45g for an average woman (9st 6lb). Older adults aged 65 and over should consume a little more – around 1g per kg of bodyweight – as muscle loss increases and absorption slightly decreases as we age. For those specifically looking to build muscle by working out, the recommendation goes up to 1.2 to 2g per kg of bodyweight per day – the equivalent of 90 to 150g for the average male and 72 to 112g for the average female.

Clare Thornton-Wood, British Dietetic Association

The main sources of protein are meat, fish, eggs, tofu and nuts, but it’s also found in cereal products such as bread, dairy and soya. Plus there are additional small amounts in vegetables, for instance peas and beans, and other snacks including chocolate and biscuits.

“It is always best to get your nutrients from freshly prepared food, consuming only small amounts of ultra-processed food,” advises Thornton-Wood. “If you need more protein, try to obtain this by adding things yourself where possible: for instance, ground almonds, peanut butter, chia seeds or mixed seeds to porridge; protein-based snacks such as hard-boiled eggs or hummus with vegetable sticks; or add silken tofu to a homemade smoothie.”

She gives an example of a day’s food to show how achievable it is to hit or exceed the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein: porridge with milk = 14g; tuna and sweetcorn sandwich = 26g; chicken breast with potatoes and veg = 35g; yoghurt pot = 5g; snack handful of nuts = 7g. This all adds up to 87g of protein – no supplements required.

In reality, despite the hype and the current abundance of high-protein products and supplements available, most of us are getting more than enough protein. Americans consume around twice the daily amount recommended in the federal dietary guidelines; in the UK, we are eating around a third more protein than we need, with men averaging about 85g and women 67g per day.

It “is extremely easy to get” the requisite amount of protein from a normal diet, says Dr Garth Davis, a surgeon and the author of Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It, adding: “If you are not exercising, excess protein does nothing for you.”

The only exception is not gym-goers, in fact, but older adults: one 2020 University of Sheffield study found that more than half of those aged 65 to 89 weren’t consuming enough protein to stay healthy.

Even for those who are intentionally upping their protein in a bid to increase muscle mass, the benefits are modest. Someone exercising two or three times a week will see a minimal improvement, while those working out four or five times a week might see a small improvement, according to Professor Stuart Phillips, the co-author of a 2022 scientific review and meta-analysis of protein intake to support muscle mass and function. He told the BBC Food Programme that anyone who isn’t a dedicated, professional athlete is unlikely to experience much of a difference from incorporating extra protein (over the RDA) into their diet.

So if the majority of people are easily hitting and even exceeding their daily protein target, why the plethora of products promising more? And why are consumers falling hook, line and sinker for these claims?

Protein’s upward trajectory can be traced back to the 1970s in the US, according to Dr Davis, when health officials started emphasising the benefits of low-fat food. At around the same time, American cardiologist Dr Robert Atkins was demonising carbs and popularising his eponymous diet. “You started having this battle between carbs and fat, and this battle between macronutrients left protein unscathed,” explains Dr Davis. “Protein is in all of our tissues, and it’s part of our muscle, and so there is the general belief that more protein equals more muscle. This is not necessarily true.”

More recently, the rise of social media influencers touting protein has had a considerable impact, despite the fact that much of the content may be misleading. “You have people who are obviously on steroids saying that they got their physique because they’re eating high protein,” claims Dr Davis. “You can see how seeing a Photoshopped, muscular person who’s on steroids holding a protein shake on an Instagram post could seriously influence many people.”

Dr Garth Davis

Aside from the fact that plenty of us are buying superfluous high-protein food and drink we don’t really need, consistently eating excess protein may not just be pointless – it could even have negative consequences. “Processing excess protein potentially puts additional strain on your kidneys, particularly if you have a kidney condition,” warns Thornton-Wood. “It has also been linked to the formation of kidney stones, and there is the potential for it to cause abdominal discomfort, nausea and headaches.”

Additionally, numerous high-protein snacks and foodstuffs are ultra-processed, packed with fat, sugar, sweeteners and other chemicals and additives – a far cry from what has traditionally been considered “health food”. For example, one Grenade Oreo White Protein Bar has 232 calories, more than a Mars bar; one bottle of Myprotein chocolate shake has a whopping 505 calories, as much as a meal, plus 21.5g of sugar.

According to a Harvard Medical School article, some protein powders contain as much as 23g of sugar per scoop – the NHS recommends adults have no more than 30g sugar in an entire day – and “wind up turning a glass of milk into a drink with more than 1,200 calories. The risk: weight gain and an unhealthy spike in blood sugar.”

Aside from potentially adding to the risk of weight gain, some protein powders have even been found to contain toxins, according to a report from nonprofit group the Clean Label Project. After screening 134 powders for 130 types of toxins, researchers found that many contained heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, along with bisphenol-A (BPA, which is used to make plastic), pesticides, or other contaminants with links to cancer and other health conditions. These toxins were present “in significant quantities” in some cases – in one of the protein powders tested, they found 25 times the allowed limit of BPA.

And then there is the sheer, unnecessary amount of protein in some products. Take the Protein Pizza Co, based in London and Northampton, where each pizza boasts between 60 and 65g of protein. For the average man or woman, that exceeds the daily recommendation in just one sitting.

None of this is to say that consuming enough protein isn’t important – more that, for the majority of us, it’s simply not an issue we struggle with. There are other, far less sexy food groups that most people fail to get enough of, but that get little airtime. Take fibre, for example. “The studies that show the health benefits of a high-fibre diet could fill a library, while the high-protein diet studies are not very positive for health effects,” says Dr Davis. The RDA for adults is around 30g per day; the latest figures suggest that the average fibre intake for UK adults is 18g, just 60 per cent of what it should be.

The moral of the story? Try to ignore the hype, swipe quickly past the protein-pushing “wellness gurus” on Insta, and focus on eating a healthy, balanced diet instead. And feel free to keep that added injection of protein out of your cereal bowl; Weetabix, our breakfast stalwart king, is already packing a cool 3.8g of fibre per serve. Now that’s tasty.