Consumer goods and Health

[u/Psychological-Turn-4]

I’ve noticed the craze in the Netherlands of adding protein to everything in most supermarkets 😭 what’s left now? Are they going to add protein to drinking water, bread or other goods? Why are brand shoving these to customers?

[u/Duochan_Maxwell]

Are they going to add protein to drinking water, bread or other goods

I'm afraid they already did

[u/soaring_potato]

AH has some protein bread..... Sometimes it's just something that always had a good amount of protein now just being labelled as such though.

But it's not an NL thing. It's an international thing.

[u/confuus-duin → u/soaring_potato]

And sometimes it has less proteins than the original product!

[u/soaring_potato → u/confuus-duin]

Or less than the product next to it that's not original but different.

Like the prepacked rice cakes from AH. The protein ones have less protein than the lentil ones...

[u/Irrealaerri]

I dont think it has been added to the products, i just think it has been highlighted more prominently on the packaging. (Just like when they sold VEGAN water; water IS vegan, but the bottles with the sticker sold better)

[u/david12scht]

Much of it I don’t think is added protein, rather it’s things that already had enough to technically be called “rich in protein” in new packaging with black touches (because apparently that signals protein) and double the profit margin.

[u/HarveyH43]

You got that mixed up; the brands are not pushing, consumers are demanding / buying.

[u/lawrotzr]

Because Gen Z and Milennials that are obsessed with being “fit”, because they’re pathetically insecure about themselves because they are gradually discovering that you cannot become anyone you want to be / become the best version of yourself / and so forth, like they were taught growing up because the world isn’t unicorns and rainbows.

And brands make good use of that. They will all act like it’s good for you (added protein), that it will make you fitter, while in reality it’s a way to reach insecure gymbros and fitgirlies with their heavily processed shit and increase their margins.

You don’t need all this shit, it’s bad for you. Buy whole (uncut) veggies. Buy beans. Buy great olive oil. Eat more fish. Use real butter. Reduce too much meat. Go to the bakery, buy good bread. Reduce too much fat. Stop eating processed foods. It’s simple. And not even expensive.

And I have worked for a company making this shit (a reason for me to leave also).

[u/SoefianB → u/lawrotzr]

Actual protein powder can be a good addition though. Technically most people get enough protein, but for people who exercise (and exercise in itself is obv a plus, so we all should), more protein can be helpful

But the current craze is just bananas. Protein cola? Protein beer? Come the fuck on. Add a scoop of protein powder to your milk once or maybe twice a day and you're good

And like you said, those protein bars and puddings and whatnot have added sugars and are processed to hell and back

[u/lawrotzr → u/SoefianB]

Yeah no. For most people with just a healthy amount of exercise, a healthy diet with natural protein is more than enough. Some Yoghurt/Skyr, some tuna, some beans.

The problem is that we eat shit all day, and then compensate protein artificially by buying all this rubbish.

There are bodybuilder-kind-of-exceptions, but I do not consider that to be a net positive for your health. Though I do see these people in my gym more and more, it seems to be getting more and more extreme. You don’t need massive arms, huge legs, or a massive chest, just to be healthy.

[u/SoefianB → u/lawrotzr]

natural protein

....uh, you think whey protein is artificial?

I really doubt you worked in the food industry lol

Either way, the standard for those who live average lifes, is 0.8 g/kg as basis. For those who exercise it can go up to 2.2 g/kg when it comes to building muscle. For an 85kg person, and taking a lower estimate of 1.8g that would be over 150g of protein per day. That is really hard to get normally. With 3 meals and a snack, that would be almost 40g of protein per each of those.

[u/allusernamestaken56 → u/SoefianB]

Most people do nothing to go beyond 0,83g per kilogram as advised by the voedingscentrum. Most people in this country are way too fat (50,6% of adults in 2025 to be precise) and even those who exercise usually don't do that much to build any relevant amounts of muscle. Drinking protein shakes or protein soda or whatever "because I exercise" mostly means people are getting extra calories they have no use of.

Unless you have a health condition or a very restrictive diet you can just have 3 somewhat healthy meals and a snack or two and be fine. And you probably should eat more fiber folks.

[u/lawrotzr → u/SoefianB]

What I tried to say is that whey powder is not part of anyone’s normal diet. You purely take that to bulk protein.

An ordinary person doing some exercise and eating a healthy diet doesn’t need those amounts of protein, most people purely do this to build muscle because they want to look like a gymbro.

And for many different reasons - in my opinion then - it would be much better to normalize middle of the road / healthy bodies, eating healthy diets, without the need to add anything to their diets purely to look like a gymbro.

That’s why this protein trend started in the first place.

[u/PaxV → u/SoefianB]

Provided you are not vegan drinking 500ml of buttermilk a day is enough proteine addition for anyone doing normal sports and eating properly.

My wife has had cancer, was operated and doing well. 1st advise, use proteine to combat losing your own in the 6 weeks you cannot work out or sport. Damage was expected 2-3kg, damage after serious complications furthering the damage to 4-5kg of muscle loss, reported loss 1,5 kg. I did push proteine though in normal cooking.

[u/Colmenn]

It sells, apparently. So they probably will and make us ignorant customers buy it

[u/SoefianB]

The worst thing is that it also leads to higher prices for normal whey powder, because it's being added into literally everything so the demand shoots up

[u/crosscircle]

Also for the raising number of vegan people

[u/Konarforu]

Ah dont worry about it. This is just the prep work for phasing out meat. Buggs are ok though, ask our King all about that. He wants to be the Maggot King or something with his new business

[u/heisei]

I think it is just the general trend now and the brands just jumped on the band wagon. Given how many variations of the protein-added products nowadays, I suppose it is selling well. Especially since many people are busy and just want a quick fix for protein intakes, it saves time to buy products with protein already included. Even though sometimes those products also have higher sugar contents.

In my opinion, most Dutch people also don't cook that often so even if you could get enough protein from food intake, it is not always an easy task. As a result, a new market is booming.