Sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, a woman with a cherry-red manicure removes the cap from a bottle of vanilla-flavoured protein shake, pours it into a large fountain cup of icy Diet Coke from a gas station and takes a long sip of the putty-coloured concoction. In the caption of her TikTok video, viewed 2.7 million times, she rates the trending “protein coke” she just made a 10 out of 10.
Protein-enhanced food and drink used to be exclusively the domain of athletes: five-pound tubs of whey powder, protein bars that tasted like cocoa-flavoured Play-Doh and shakes with an unpleasant after-taste – all found at health food stores or stocked alongside vitamins at the supermarket, targeting people who needed it as fuel to build muscle.
But now protein has infiltrated office vending machines, cafés and supermarkets. It’s the health halo slapped on granola bar wrappers and cookies. It’s the fixation of social-media influencers, whose recipes for protein ice cream and protein fluff have gone mega-viral. It’s the go-to solution for every concern one might have about their health and body. Want to fight aging? Eat more protein. Looking to lose weight? Protein. Menopausal? How much protein are you getting? Struggling with sleep? Have you considered increasing your protein intake?
Protein – just like fibre – has cycled in and out as the dietary component of the moment for decades. There was the rapid expansion of smoothie joints, the massive popularity of the paleo and keto diets and now it’s all about turning protein into a sweet indulgence.
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Most adults who aren’t pregnant or professional athletes need about 0.8 grams of protein for each kilogram of body weight a day, according to Health Canada. If you weigh 77 kg (about 170 pounds), that means you’d need 62 grams of protein a day.
That could look like two fried eggs, a grilled cheese sandwich, chicken thighs and a handful of almonds. Or it could be a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Chocolate Crunch Cereal, a small tub of homemade cookie dough protein ice cream, half a bag of Tropical Fruit Protein Candy and a Made with Local double chocolate protein nut butter cookie.
“We have these cycles of people trying to sneak protein into things and market it as, ‘We’re helping you hit your goals in a tasty, easy way,’” says Chelsea Cross, a registered dietitian with the Kitchener, Ont.-based Dietetic Directions. “We’re trying to dessert-ify a protein source and getting away from whole foods.”
Consumers know that protein is important to help grow and repair cells, to build muscle, to provide satiety. But going through the trouble of preparing those foods can be a major obstacle, says Dana McCauley, the Canadian Food Innovation Network’s chief executive officer.
“Changing people’s behaviour is difficult so I think it makes sense to give somebody something they’re familiar with,” she said. “I think you see all of these cookies and breakfast cereals with extra protein because it’s a small change.”
Alice Marciniak, a food scientist at the University of Guelph who studies the way proteins can be processed in food to preserve their functionality, says manufacturers often have to add a lot of fat and sugar into high-protein desserts to mask the unpleasant mouthfeel and flavour. The higher the protein content, the higher the “off-taste,” she says.
The marketing claim that you can have your protein cake and eat it too is, well, just marketing.
In a video posted to her Instagram in July, fitness instructor and influencer Hayley Steinberg, who teaches seven classes a week at the fitness chain Barry’s, stands in her living room in workout gear, sampling from various bags of Protein Candy, a Canadian-made line of gummies launched last year.
She explains she loves candy, but doesn’t want to sacrifice hitting her protein goals. Enter Protein Candy, the perfect snack that helps her reach those goals while letting her eat as much candy as she’d like.
The company reached out to Steinberg for a paid partnership and she agreed. What she doesn’t say in the video, but she said in an interview, is that one of the flavours tasted really good; the others did not. Would she choose these gummies over regular ones because of the added protein? Sure. Would she use them as a replacement for whole food in her diet? Nope.
Steinberg says in her diet, most protein comes from whole foods – everything from salmon to nut butter to chickpeas to eggs, though she’ll add collagen to her coffee and protein powder to smoothies.
While a mocha nut fudge protein bar might seem tempting because of its flavour and convenience, “I just find I don’t always love the ingredients and I don’t love how my stomach feels,” she said.
Some who are wary of the processing or additives in these packaged treats have pursued the DIY route to get their dessertified protein. Sales of the wildly popular Ninja CREAMi, an ice cream maker, were largely driven by social-media posts about “protein ice cream” made in the appliance using protein powder and other ingredients.
Protein fluff, a related homemade concoction, comes with a claim reminiscent of eighties dieting magazines: eat this cloud-like confection, satisfy your sweet tooth, feel full, all while only consuming a fraction of the calories and fat you would if you were eating a real dessert. It’s like something the insecure comic-strip character Cathy would’ve eaten every night in preparation for swimsuit season.
Of all the protein desserts out there, this is the one that offends Cross, the dietitian, the most. The overvolumized protein takes a long time to eat and might offer satiety, but the same thickeners (such as acacia gum and xantham gum) that gave it that voluminous texture can cause bloating and make people feel awful afterward – a complaint she’s heard from clients.
In her practice, she tries to debunk the myth that protein is time-consuming or difficult to prepare. She recommends buying rotisserie chickens or tinned fish from the supermarket, which are ready to eat. Eggs are quick and cheap. For vegetarian clients, she recommends Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and tempeh.
Sometimes Cross is blunt with her clients: It’s okay to occasionally eat things such as chocolate or cake that taste good without requiring an extra nutritional benefit from them. And not everything that our body needs to function has to taste good. “We have to let go of the idea that everything needs to be hyper-palatable,” she says.
