There was a time when protein kept to itself.
It lived in your eggs, your chicken, your Greek yogurt. It helped you recover from workouts and occasionally got stuffed into a sad little bar at the gym.
Now?
Protein is everywhere.
In popcorn. In soda. In candy. In chips made of chicken breast. Even in cow colostrum.
Welcome to the Proteinization of America, where macros have become marketing, and your guilty pleasures come with a side of whey.
Protein Has Officially Entered the Chat
- In 2023, searches for “high protein” hit a five-year peak .
- Products with “protein” in the name more than doubled from the year before .
- On TikTok, #highprotein has over 40 million weekly views .
- And protein products with 25g+ per serving are among the fastest-growing grocery items in the U.S. .
Americans, it seems, have decided that if something doesn’t have protein in it, it’s not worth chewing.
What’s Been Proteinized?
Let’s take a tour of the new protein galaxy:
- Candy: Protein Candy with 14 grams per bag. “Candy that works as hard as you do.”
- Ice Cream: Protein Pints, with 30 grams per tub (cookie dough, of course).
- Donuts & Brownies: Drumroll and Alpha Prime delivering “dessert macros.”
- Popcorn: Khloé Kardashian’s “Khloud Protein Popcorn” sprinkled with milk protein powder aka “Khloud Dust.”
- Sparkling Water: Vuum and Feisty sodas with 10–20 grams of protein per can.
- Colostrum Protein Powder: That’s right—Dandy the cow’s “God-given elixir” (bovine colostrum) is now a top seller thanks to a Juilliard-trained ballerina and her weightlifting husband .
What’s Fueling the Craze?
Several converging trends have pushed protein from the gym aisle to your grandma’s grocery list:
- GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro→ People using these drugs are losing fat and muscle, so they’re increasing protein to preserve lean mass .
- Protein = Satiety→ Protein helps you feel full longer, and that’s marketing gold when “snaccident” is a real word.
- Macros Go Mainstream→ “Tracking macros” used to be a bodybuilder thing. Now it’s your neighbor Karen mixing whey into her oatmeal and calling it #wellness.
- Processed Indulgence with a Halo→ As one fan put it, “People love to get the blessing to do the thing they know they’re not supposed to do” .Enter: Protein cookies. Protein candy. Protein soda.
But… Do We Actually Need More Protein?
Here’s the inconvenient truth: most Americans already get enough.
- The RDA is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
- For a 150 lb person, that’s about 54 grams a day — easily covered by an egg, a chicken breast, and some almonds.
Still, companies are stuffing extra protein into everything from waffles to soup.
“It’s like eating sand on the beach,” said Dr. Bettina Mittendorfer, who studies nutrition at the University of Missouri. Too much protein, especially from processed sources, could even have cardiovascular consequences .
And what do we actually need more of?
Fiber.
But, as Dr. Mittendorfer said with a sigh:
“Would you rather have muscle strength and vitality, or prunes and Metamucil?”
Touché.
So… Is This Good or Bad?
We’re not answering that. Yet.
That’s for our next article:
👉 “Should You Get Your Protein from Whole Foods or Supplements?”
For now, just know that the Protein Wave isn’t a wave anymore.
It’s a flood. And your snack aisle is drenched in it.
Final Word: You’re Living in the Protein Era
From cow colostrum smoothies to popcorn with a six-pack, America is deep in its protein moment.
And while we’re not anti-protein (we love a lentil), we also believe in whole foods, balance, and not getting seduced by sweetened whey disguised as wellness.
Because at Hopium Health, we believe what you eat should build your body and your joy — not just your macros.
