Americans rarely agree on what they should eat — beyond «eat your fruits and vegetables» — but right now there is one consensus: they want more protein and less sugar. Confusion over how much protein they actually need, and generational divides over where it belongs, are reshaping the trend, DairyReporter reports.
In a survey of 3,000 consumers by The New Consumer, eating more protein ranks second only to eating more vegetables, and many Americans — Boomers especially — say they would rather feel 25% healthier than earn 25% more. The findings were presented by the publication’s founder and editor-in-chief Dan Frommer at the Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show in New York.
Greek yogurt, protein bars, shakes and cottage cheese were the top basket items on Instacart, echoing the «low-fat» wave of the 1980s and 1990s.
Do Americans know how much protein they need?
Most do not. A growing share of consumers, especially younger ones, say they have a daily protein target, yet two-thirds cite goals below 50 grams a day — well under recommended ranges.
Harvard Health puts protein at 10–35% of daily calories, depending on weight and activity: a lightly active 35-year-old woman of about 165 cm and 64 kg needs roughly 28 grams a day, rising to 51 grams if highly active (per the USDA reference-intake calculator).
Once seen as muscle or metabolic support, protein is now treated as a catch-all signal of «better health», producing highly intentional behaviour built on shaky understanding, Frommer noted.
Identifying the right protein fit
The data suggests protein does not need to be in every food. It works best where it feels natural or corrective — breakfast staples (cereal, yogurt, milk), snacks (bars, shakes) and carb-heavy products (bread, soups).
Protein in alcohol (beer, RTD cocktails) is seen as «weird», while gummies, soda, chocolate and even coffee sit between curiosity and rejection.
Interest in these grey areas is largely generational: younger consumers, Frommer said, find it more natural to add protein to more products and are keener to try them.
A generational split in what feels «normal»
Gen Z and Millennials are readier to try protein in unconventional places — protein water, protein candy — to optimise health and energy, whereas older consumers keep it to traditional categories such as meat, dairy and shakes.
Discovery differs too: consumers overall rely on personal research and friends, but younger shoppers are guided by algorithms — social-media creators, tracking apps and wearables, podcasts and AI tools.
The sugar problem and the rise of substitutes
If protein is what consumers want more of, sugar is what they want less of: nearly half of Americans are trying to cut back, the most-cited dietary reduction.
What replaces it divides the generations — younger consumers accept alternative sweeteners as «just as healthy» or better, while older ones stay sceptical.
As Future Market author Mike Lee puts it, «the substitute has become the original»: when Coca-Cola switched from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup in the 1980s to cut costs, a whole generation grew up on the new taste and made it the reference point.
Language matters too, Frommer added — «cane sugar» earns a better health halo than plain «sugar», though it is the same ingredient, and unfamiliar sweeteners benefit from younger consumers’ distance from the old aspartame debates.
Where this leaves protein
Consumers want more protein but do not understand how much they need — whether from over-marketing or a lack of clear nutrition guidance, the answer is not singular. They embrace it in some products and reject it in others, yet many trust its benefits instinctively, since it is, after all, an essential macronutrient.
Source: DairyReporter
