Puffing Up “Half-Assed” Nutrition with Protein

Morgan Gates sums up his approach to nutrition for the Wall Street Journal succinctly: “I found that if I prioritized protein and half-assed the rest of everything else, it gave me the body I wanted.” Gates is 28-year-old sales rep. He’s a consumer who has clearly absorbed a certain thread of health claims from food and dietary supplement marketers.

While Americans are not so sure about fats and carbs, they are all in on protein. The more the better.

Perverse Health Claims

“Packed with protein” is a catchphrase in food marketing that frames a product as “healthy” these days, especially for a target audience of males. It’s perverse, though because on average, men are consuming plenty of protein – about 30% more than they need. Women overconsume, too, but not as much.

To most consumers, a candy bar is certainly not healthy. But add a claim about protein and suddenly consuming it is not only healthy – it’s an act of virtue.

Health Claims Are for Marketing, Not Health

The implied health claims for protein illustrate why health claims on food products wind up doing little to promote health. Instead, they often serve to promote overconsumption. They help consumers rationalize dietary patterns that are not especially healthy. And thus, they are great for selling ever more food to consumers who are already over-fed.

Survey research by Rosa Ortega and colleagues offers perspective on the effectiveness of these claims. The authors tell us:

“The results derived from the survey highlight the popularity of high protein processed foods consumed by almost three-fourths of the surveyed people. People declared that they did not supervise the frequency at which they were consumed. They declared that they consume these products to increase muscle mass, their performance, or just because they consider them ‘healthy.’”

A False Presumption

The false presumption that health claims will help consumers make healthier choices simply will not die. And that’s A-OK with food marketers. Nutrition professor Bettina Mittendorfer explains that marketers use implied health claims about protein to sell a wide range of protein-enriched products that consumer don’t really need. Most people need more fiber, not more protein. But she says that’s not what resonates with consumers:

“Would you rather have muscle strength and vitality, or prunes and Metamucil?”

The bottom line here is simple. Health claims are helping consumers rationalize lousy dietary choices, not helping them get healthier. Nor do they help people enjoy the genuine pleasure that food should bring. Health claims for food do more to undermine population health than to improve it.

Healthy eating? Eat your vegetables and enjoy good meals with people you love.

Click here for free access to reporting on this from the Wall Street Journal and here for more from Vox.

Ready Clean Protein Bar, photograph by Ted Kyle / ConscienHealth

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April 20, 2025