High-protein snacks can be much less healthy than you think – what to avoid

High protein snacks and drinks, including yoghurt, porridge pots, cereal bars and milkshakes, are more popular than ever. But their “health halo” could be obscuring the fact that some of these foods are not really that good for us, an analysis has found. In fact, some of the snacks could be seen as examples of so-called “protein washing” – when foods are marketed as healthy because of their high protein, when they actually should be eaten in moderation. The two main shortcomings of such snacks are usually failing to be very high in protein and having more sugar than protein, said Robert Bradshaw, superintendent pharmacist at Oxford Online Pharmacy, which carried out the research. Shorts “High protein can give something a bit of a health halo. But it is important to look at the overall nutritional content, and it’s probably better to get your protein from whole food sources rather than snack bars and shakes,” said Bridget Benelam, a scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, who was not involved in the work. The public’s growing appetite for protein seems to have come from rising appreciation of the health benefits of building muscle, as well as the increasing numbers using slimming jabs. People taking injections such as Wegovy and Mounjaro are advised to keep up their protein intake to avoid muscle loss caused by eating less. Estimates vary for how much protein we need in our diet. UK guidelines for the general public are to eat 0.75g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is about 45g a day for a typical woman and 55g for a man. But these figures were based on the amount of protein needed to avoid getting sick, rather than the optimum intake for healthy ageing, said Dr Chris Macdonald, a behavioural scientist at the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the latest analysis. And recent US guidelines doubled this target, making it more likely that many people are not currently getting enough protein in their diet. Insufficient protein Looking at protein targets in a different way, people are also advised to get between 10 and 35 per cent of their daily calories from protein. But those using slimming jabs are recommended to aim for at least 30 per cent of their calories from protein. “If you’re having 1,200 calories a day, then you’re probably going to be protein insufficient,” said Professor Philip Atherton, a nutrition expert at the University of Nottingham. Based on the 30 per cent target, some of the high-protein snacks in the supermarkets are falling short, said Bradford. His firm looked at 88 different high-protein snacks across six large supermarket chains, to see which products are best and worst for those trying to maximise their protein intake. They analysed yoghurts, mousses and other desserts, milkshakes, porridge pots, cereal bars and coffee drinks. Across all categories, over a quarter of the snacks failed to meet the 30 per cent threshold. One of the worst groups of offenders was some porridge pots. These did have more protein than standard porridge – with about 14g compared with 6g – but because they also contained calories from sugar and starch, they typically only reached about 22 per cent of their calories from protein. In contrast, yoghurts were the best performers, with all 18 varieties tested giving over 30 per cent of their calories from protein. Quick protein check How to calculate the amount of calories from protein in a pre-prepared snack: Multiply the grams of protein in the product by four to get the calories from protein Then divide that number by the total amount of calories in the snack Having too much sugar was a particular problem, the report found. In fact, 16 per cent of products analysed had at least as much sugar as protein and often more. NHS guidelines recommend that adults should consume no more than 5 per cent of their daily calories from free sugars, but 77 of the 88 products bust this target. Here, the milkshakes were the worst offenders, with about 33 per cent of their calories coming from sugar. Professor Leigh Breen, a muscle physiologist at the University of Birmingham, said it may not matter for slimming jab users if some of their snacks have less than 30 per cent of the calories from protein, as long as their overall diet hits that target. “The snacks are intended to help support higher protein intakes, not provide all the required protein directly,” he said. “I only think this becomes an issue if companies are claiming a higher protein content than is present.” On the other hand, Macdonald said people would not be improving their diet if they increase their protein intake by buying protein bars loaded with sugar. “If they start consuming snacks that are not made with the consumer’s best interest at heart, then they may end up consuming really high levels of sugar,” he said. Bradford said people could eat more protein without buying pre-prepared snacks by eating foods like chicken, tofu, cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt and boiled eggs. “While high-protein snacks are a convenient way to increase your protein intake on the go, whole foods will nearly always have more nutritional value for fewer calories,” he said.