It seems like every time you enter a grocery store, there is one word you can’t avoid: protein. From protein bars to protein chips, the choices are endless.
This craze has coincided with the rise in fitness in America. As of 2025, 80 percent of Americans report being physically active, and more than ever are going to the gym. Along with this change, fitness influencers have grown in prominence, and much of their content focuses on protein.
Protein’s importance is undeniable. Protein breaks down into amino acids, which help the body grow and repair. Protein is heavily emphasized in fitness spaces because it is essential for muscle growth, helping accelerate muscle repair and glycogen replacement.
But this focus on protein has become obsessive to the point of being misleading, and influencers are pushing more than guidelines suggest. Some claim you need two grams of protein per pound of body weight, but experts say you need only 0.7 grams per pound of body weight. Focusing only on eating protein can also lead to low carbohydrate intake. This is dangerous as carbohydrates are needed in workouts since they break down into glucose, which provides energy. These glycogen stores are limited, so you need to replenish your carbohydrate intake to support exercise and performance. Thus, if you focus only on protein, you may miss vital fuel before workouts and a key nutrient to replenish afterward, leaving gains on the table. Hitting your protein goal is important for muscle growth, but proper carbohydrate levels make workout sessions more productive.
Fats are the other macronutrient that often gets pushed aside by influencers. You need fats because they regulate your body and support vitamin absorption, hormone production, joint health, and brain function. Not getting enough fat in your diet can disrupt your hormones and make you feel awful.
But who benefits the most from this protein craze? It’s not the fitness influencers — it’s actually large corporations.
Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk is an excellent example of this. By filtering the milk, they create a product with more protein and calcium while reducing sugar and eliminating lactose. Fairlife is now one of Coca-Cola’s fastest-growing brands, with customers paying up to more than three times as much as for regular milk. Additionally, quick, ready-to-eat options like protein bars have become incredibly popular, and the global protein bar market is expected to grow further this year. The term has also been slapped onto more unexpected products, from snacks like popcorn to water.
But these products aren’t always as high in protein as they want you to believe.
There’s no exact formula to determine if a food is high in protein. Dietitians often use the “10 grams per 100 calories rule,” meaning that a food is high in protein if it contains at least 10 grams per 100 calories. Many “high-protein” alternatives fall far short of this standard. Take Pop-Tarts, for example. They released a high-protein alternative, undoubtedly to capitalize on the protein craze. If we use their strawberry flavor as an example, their “high-protein alternative” boasts six additional grams of protein, going from four to 10, with only an additional 10 calories.
The issue is that the “high-protein version” is still far from a real source of protein. It gives you 10 grams of protein for 380 calories, nowhere near the 10 grams per 100 calories rule. Many people will miss this, flocking to buy it simply due to the protein label.
So the next time you go to pick up a protein snack, be mindful that it may not be as great a source of protein as you’re led to believe. These companies care more about profit than their consumers’ well-being. And getting adequate amounts of the other macronutrients, carbohydrates and fats, is essential for productive workouts and recovery.
Kayla Cloherty is a sophomore majoring in history.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.