Fri, Jul-26-24, 08:19
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/152/160
BF:
Progress: 110%
Location: UK
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People Want More Protein. Even at Dessert.
Quote:
People Want More Protein. Even at Dessert.
People are flocking to ice cream, cakes and cookies with extra protein mixed in. They don’t always need the boost.
The obsession with protein has reached a new frontier: dessert.
People are using cottage cheese to make ice cream. They’re sipping boba tea made with protein-powder-infused milk. They’re chomping on cheesecake crammed with Greek yogurt filling and an almond-flour base.
Food brands are joining in on creating protein desserts. Frozen-dessert chain 16 Handles announced a high-protein chocolate peanut butter banana frozen yogurt flavor earlier this year. Legendary Foods, a protein-focused snack company, offers a high-protein sweet roll with wild berry, cinnamon and chocolate variations. A food company called Wow! crafted a protein doughnut.
The emergence of protein sweets is part of a wave of U.S. consumers wanting to amp up their protein and avoid added sugar. Six in 10 U.S. consumers surveyed said they are looking to consume less sugar, according to a survey of nearly 3,300 U.S. consumers 15 years or older in March by the New Consumer, a consumer brands publication, and Toluna, a market-research firm.
The same survey found that almost 20% of people want to get more protein this year.
These high-protein desserts can be designed to be lower in sugar and give a sheen of health to cakes, cookies and other indulgences, consumers say. Yet dietitians say most people with omnivorous diets get sufficient protein from their other meals.
Abdullah Emad, a civil engineer in Dallas, says he and his girlfriend work out six to seven days a week and try to eat a high-protein, low-sugar diet. Creating protein ice cream made with protein shakes, vanilla extract and Jell-O has become a guilt-free way for the couple to indulge nearly daily, he says.
“We said to each other, ‘This feels like cheating,’ ” Emad, 33, says.
Searches for “protein desserts” on Google have reached their highest levels ever in recent months, according to Google Trends. Fairlife, a milk product sold by Coca-Cola with more protein and less sugar than regular milk, experienced a 30% jump in sales this year from a year ago, a company spokeswoman says. One of the three most popular uses of Fairlife is with desserts like cookies and cakes, she says.
How much protein?
Around one in five U.S. adults said they worry they aren’t getting enough protein, a February survey of 2,000 people by Mintel shows.
“The average person gets more than enough protein,” says Joanne Slavin, a professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Focusing on protein mostly makes sense for growing kids, the elderly and bodybuilders, she adds.
Eating more protein helps people feel satiated after meals and build muscle, says Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Eating too much protein could cause dehydration and nutrient imbalances, she says. She recommends a minimum of 54 grams of protein for an 150-pound adult. That much protein would correspond to about two eggs, one cup of Greek yogurt and a serving of salmon, she says.
Protein intake depends on your health goals, age, gender, health conditions, family history and what you are trying to accomplish, Derocha says. But there are plenty of other things to consider when building a healthy diet.
“If someone is so focused on protein, are you getting enough fiber?” Derocha says. “Are you getting enough vitamins and minerals from whole grains, from fruits and vegetables, from your heart-healthy fat sources?”
Some protein desserts cooked up with sugar alcohols or substitutes can also cause headaches, she says.
Still, the appetite for protein-rich foods is rising. Sales of food with 25 grams or more of protein per serving jumped nearly 8% between July 2023 and June 2024, according to an analysis of U.S. retailers by the market-research firm NielsenIQ. This was faster sales growth than products with less protein per serving, the same data shows.
New recipes to swap
People review and exchange protein dessert recipes on social media. Content with a hashtag or caption that mentions “protein dessert” has generated 68 million views on TikTok between early April and early July, 22% more than over the previous 90 days, according to data provided by dcdx, a research and strategy firm focusing on Generation Z consumers, and Tubular Labs, a video-analytics company.
Erin Oprea, a Nashville, Tenn.-based fitness trainer, says protein ice cream lets her enjoy dessert and meet her low-sugar, high-protein diet goals. She makes her dish by blending milk, vanilla protein powder, sugar-free vanilla pudding mix and peanut-butter powder and has been enjoying a scoop daily this summer. Other recipes can be gross, she says.
It isn’t just gym rats pounding the protein desserts, says dcdx’s founder, Andrew Roth.
“What we see on TikTok and social media is they’ll frame and make this as accessible to hack your way to success,” Roth says.
Kim Cauti, a food blogger living in Providence, R.I., devises protein dessert recipes like chocolate peanut butter cottage cheese ice cream and s’mores cookies. The recipes are more fun than having another plate of meat, she says.
“I want to have dessert every single day, but I have health and fitness goals that are really important to me that traditional desserts don’t fit into,” Cauti, 39, says.
Some desserts with roots in Asia are also high in protein, including tofu pudding or the Filipino dessert halo-halo, which is often made with sweetened beans.
Megan Henderson, a 31-year-old lawyer in Denver, says she’ll dig into taho, a Filipino dessert of layered silken tofu with tapioca pearls and brown sugar syrup, when she wants to boost her protein consumption in a sweet way.
Not everyone is on board with replacing regular desserts. Careese Kwok, a 30-year-old in New York, says she enjoys getting protein in her regular diet without having to turn to dessert.
“I just have such a big sweet tooth that if I’m gonna eat something sweet, I want it to be the real thing,” Kwok says. “I’ve tried to experiment with sweet, protein-like desserts, but it just doesn’t hit like I need. I’d rather eat a cookie.”
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https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness...ookies-e5c36afa |
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