How We Lost the Plot on Protein

It’s become a dietary touchstone of America. But experts warn it shouldn’t be.

October 31, 2025

woman staring at highprotein foods in consternation

All products featured on Self are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.

If nutrition is a popularity contest, one macro has emerged victorious. Driven by cultural pressure and disseminated via the internet, protein hysteria has reached a fever pitch. Per The Economist, Google searches for “high protein diet” hit an all-time high in January 2025—a clear indicator of our nutritional priorities.

While protein is of course important—it’s necessary for growth and development, muscle and bone metabolism, and a ton of other critical functions—experts say its current star power is concerning for a few reasons. Prioritizing one specific nutrient can come at the expense of the others, and may shift attention away from the dietary practice with the largest health payoff: eating balanced meals rich in whole foods.

Oftentimes, a high-protein diet “can displace our intake of things like carbohydrates or fats or other micronutrients,” such as vitamins and minerals, Janice Dada, MPH, RDN, a certified intuitive eating counselor based in California, tells SELF. And contrary to what you might hear online, the vast majority of people don’t actually need more protein, thanks to the already-omnipresent emphasis on protein-rich animal products like meat and dairy in the Western diet. “Unfortunately, this is a widespread misunderstanding that can actually harm people,” Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, DrPH, a cardiologist, public health scientist, and the director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, tells SELF.

“Widespread” is right: Even if you personally aren’t all that tuned into the nutrition conversation, you’ve probably noticed the high-protein hype slowly but surely seeping into your consciousness, from the addition of protein foam to the Starbucks menu to the presence of Khloe Kardashian’s Khloud protein popcorn on supermarket shelves. Here’s how protein went from a basic macro to a bona fide cultural phenomenon—and how that’s ushered in a radical change in our eating habits.

Where the protein obsession began

While protein has been a point of fascination among the public for a while—in fact, the first protein powders actually “came on the market in the fifties,” Dada says—the spotlight really intensified in the late twentieth century as a side effect of another cultural trend: thinness. Starting in the 1980s, a boom in low-carb and low-fat diets—like Zone, Dukan, Atkins, and South Beach—steered people toward protein because it was the only “acceptable” macro left. “The poor public…. They're sort of grasping at the last nutrient standing,” Dr. Mozaffarian says.

Then, as fitness went from a niche interest among athletes and bodybuilders to a larger cultural phenomenon around the turn of the twenty-first century, interest in protein spiked again, according to Dr. Mozaffarian. With more people working out consistently than ever before, “it started to become more mainstream to think about whether you’ve had enough protein” to achieve peak performance, Federica Amati, PhD, MPH, MSc, a medical scientist who serves as nutrition lead at Imperial College London and chief nutrition scientist at ZOE, tells SELF.

Fast-forward to 2020: Amid a global pandemic the world has come to a standstill, and news headlines are full of case rates and photos of body bags. Everyone is effectively trapped at home, and putting on a mask before you interact with other people feels as natural as, well, breathing. Understandably at that time, we were desperate to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe—so health and longevity were at the forefront of our minds. “We saw this huge rise in the popularity of protein around the pandemic,” Dr. Amati says. There was a “surge of interest in, ‘What can I do to stay healthy? How can I basically stop myself from getting COVID and getting sick?’” Even after COVID-19 vaccines became available, businesses reopened, and masks (largely) became a thing of the past in public spaces, a lingering preoccupation with wellness remained. “Protein quickly became a really popular solution for pretty much everything,” Dr. Amati says—brain fog, hot flashes, fertility issues, you name it.

How celebs, influencers, and other stars led the protein charge

Unsurprisingly, TikTok and Instagram “had a massive role to play in making [protein] go from a diet trend for dieters to an everyday trend,” Dr. Amati says. (Maybe for this reason, digital natives like Gen Zers and millennials have been most heavily affected). In a 2025 “Protein Profile” report, Cargill, a Minnesota-based agribusiness company that supplies high-protein products, found that 25% of consumers describe websites and social media platforms as “key influences” on their eating habits—and that 61% of Gen Zers say they value influencer advice in dietary decision-making.

Even if your algorithm is more tailored to movie bloopers or thrift hauls than protein-maxxing, you’re probably aware of protein’s biggest advocates, like Andrew Huberman, PhD, a neuroscientist and associated professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Peter Attia, MD, a Stanford- and Johns Hopkins–trained doctor. Both podcasters have been “strong proponents of a high protein intake and, also, of red meat,” Dr. Amati says. “And I think because their profiles are so big and they are both in the medical science space, it gave [those claims] credibility.” (Capitalizing on his success, Dr. Attia has even come out with his own line of protein products, David, which claims to offer the “most protein-dense” bar in existence (at 75% calories from protein.)

TikTok content

Besides heavyweights like Dr. Attia and Dr. Huberman, plenty of smaller players have done their own part in tipping the algorithm towards protein. Fitness influencers’ “What I Eat in a Day” videos, which often specify the amount of protein in meals and snacks, “certainly don’t help,” Dada says; neither do the high-protein recipes constantly making the rounds on TikTok. In many cases, these involve odd combinations of ingredients, like Greek yogurt and sugar-free Jell-O mix (for fluffy yogurt) or Diet Coke and a vanilla protein shake (for protein Diet Coke). For any food that exists, there is probably a way to make it “high-protein” that someone has filmed and published online.

There is also the more extreme side of the internet—entire “social subcultures,” per the Cargill report, that treat protein not just as meal inspo fodder, but as an entire philosophy of eating, or even a lifestyle in and of itself. The infamous carnivore diet (which, as the name would suggest, entails eating animal products exclusively) is espoused by influencers like Steak and Butter Gal, who made the transition after a period of veganism, and the Liver King, who became infamous for his taste for raw animal organs. (For what it’s worth, Dr. Amati says, extreme carnivore diets are a bad idea even aside from the protein issue—large amounts of red meat and processed meat can elevate bad LDL cholesterol, as well as blood pressure in the case of salty processed meat. Both can ultimately increase heart disease and stroke risk. Diets high in red meat and processed meat are also associated with an array of cancers.)

Celebrities have hopped on the protein bandwagon too, adding fuel to the fire, as fans will naturally want to buy products developed or endorsed by their favorite stars. Venus Williams founded a plant-based protein powder company, Happy Viking. Jennifer Aniston is a chief creative officer for the supplement company Vital Proteins. Addison Rae has also partnered with Vital Proteins as a global brand ambassador. Regardless of the individual quality of these products or the specific intentions of the celebs, “all these touch points are a reflection of where the [high-protein] trend has gone in terms of popular culture and influence,” Dr. Amati says.

Naturally, all of this has led to companies churning out high-protein products at an unprecedented rate. It may have started with basic items like shakes and bars, but has since progressed to “protein in water, protein in coffee, protein in cereal,” Dr. Mozaffarian says. (And of course, we already mentioned Khloud popcorn.) “How consumers think about and engage with protein is evolving, and that presents new opportunities across the food industry,” Gonzalo Petschen, a Cargill executive, observed in a press release summarizing findings from the 2025 trends report. Between 2025 and 2034, the global high-protein food market is projected to balloon from $56.69 billion to nearly $117.44 billion, according to the consulting firm Towards FnB—an increase of more than 50%.

There’s a business incentive for brands to market protein products, too. Not only is adding protein to products “very, very cheap to do,” Dr. Amati says, but research shows that people are willing to pay more for items labeled as high-protein because they perceive these items as health foods and, in turn, assume they have a higher value. Per the Cargill report, 57% of people who read nutrition labels check for protein content.

In some cases, as both Dr. Amati and Dada point out, a certain amount of cognitive dissonance can enter the picture: “On one hand, there's all this vilification of packaged foods and what people call ‘ultraprocessed foods,’” Dada says, but the second a manufacturer slaps a “big high-protein label on it, then everybody wants it.” Speaking of ultraprocessed, most of this added protein is exactly that, according to Dr. Mozaffarian. Sourced from inexpensive powders rather than whole foods in the vast majority of cases, it’s “stripped and devoid of its natural structure,” he says. “That’s not the best option.”

How dietary habits have changed in response

There's no point in beating around the bush. “Protein deficiency is not really a thing in the West, so [this trend is] misleading,” Dr. Amati says. Between July 2022 and April 2025, the percentage of US consumers who wanted to eat more protein increased from 33% to 44%, according to a 2025 Bain & Company survey (and currently stands at an impressive 59% among Gen Z). Perhaps even more notably, a survey conducted by the Greek yogurt giant Chobani found that a full 85% of Americans reported they wanted to increase the amount of protein they consumed in 2025—but at the same time, 26% admitted to not knowing the correct amount to shoot for.

But in reality, “more than 90% of Americans get enough protein” in terms of typical intake recommendations—around a gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, Dr. Mozaffarian says. When Dr. Mozaffarian meets with patients in his clinic or gives lectures on nutrition, he sees this discrepancy between scientific reality and popular belief firsthand: “Clearly, in speaking to folks, this [trend] has really changed their perception, and they're shocked when I tell them that,” he says.

Not only do most people not need extra protein, but it could be harmful in high amounts, according to Dr. Mozaffarian. Your body’s ability to process the stuff is not infinite, after all: Rather, “there is a limit,” Dada says. Bad breath, digestive issues, and dehydration are three possible side effects, as SELF has previously reported; weight gain is another. Without an accompanying strength-training program, Dr. Mozaffarian says, increasing your protein intake won’t automatically build muscle or make you stronger, so any excess calories will be stored as fat. In fact, there could be even more severe health consequences in the long term. Maintaining a high protein intake or high meat intake for an extended period of time is associated with cancer, liver and kidney issues, coronary artery disease progression, and bone and calcium disorders, as a 2013 review published in the scientific journal ISRN Nutrition found.

Where do we go from here?

Despite its dubious scientific basis, the protein push seems to be here to stay—at least for now. “I don't think it's going anywhere. I think it's really stuck,” Dr. Amati says. In fact, Dr. Mozaffarian actually believes that the current cultural emphasis has risen far beyond historic levels. “What's happened in the last five to 10 years…has really eclipsed that,” he says. Think it’s intense now? Well, the pinnacle is still to come: Based on their results, the authors of the Bain & Company survey concluded that “peak protein demand isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.”

Even though the protein push itself may not be on its way out, Dr. Amati does see a way to put a more beneficial spin on it: shifting the focus from animal protein, like meat and dairy, to plant protein, like nuts, seeds, and legumes. Not only are plant protein sources free of the harmful saturated fat that characterizes many animal sources, they’re also an excellent repository of fiber—a gut-boosting carb that, in contrast to protein, tends to be in short supply in the average diet. Because a high fiber intake can help reduce your risk for colon cancer and a whole host of other chronic diseases, this is kind of a big deal. To be clear, research into plant proteins “is not that new, but it's gaining traction now,” Dr. Amati says—a hopeful sign. Close to 50% of people say they’re interested in plant-based protein for health reasons, and 20% of people say they’ve actually increased their intake in the last two years, according to the Cargill report.

But even refocusing the protein push on plant-based sources evades a larger issue: Ultimately, any approach to nutrition that zeros in on one single nutrient—whether it’s protein, carbs, fats, or something else entirely—is fundamentally flawed. “We've learned that you can't really determine a healthy food or a healthy diet from macronutrient composition,” Dr. Mozaffarian says. In his mind, “the real problem is the oversimplification and the looking for a single solution.” Treating protein as the holy grail of nutrition ignores the fact that your body’s needs are complex and nuanced—and your diet should reflect that. Personally, “I really hope that the narrative becomes less unhinged,” Dr. Amati says, “but we'll see what happens.” Either way, one thing is likely: We haven’t seen the last of the TikTok recipes or celebrity supplements yet.