No, you really don’t need to be eating any more protein!

From pizza to Weetabix, it seems no food is exempt from the latest craze. Helen Coffey investigates how it went from gym bro fodder to panacea, and looks at the facts behind the hype

- Helen Coffey

There's a tipping point with every food fad - a moment when whatever the latest trend is seems to have strayed into absurdity.

For protein, it was possibly the introduction of "Weetabix Protein”, the existence of which recently stopped me in my tracks in the supermarket aisle.

While we’ve mostly become inured to the sight of an evergrowing menagerie of protein-enhanced products – smoothies, ice cream, cheese, snack bars et al – there was something about the inclusion of the usually humble, no-fuss breakfast biscuits among this motley crew that broke me.

Weetabix is already doing God’s work – it’s made from 100 per cent wholegrain, high in fibre, low in sugar, salt and fat, and fortified with thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, folic acid and iron. Weetabix does not need to be surgically enhanced by shoving in extra protein, too. Is nothing sacred? Surely not everything we eat must be packed to the gills with the stuff?

But increasingly, it is. Supplementary protein powder and shakes are nothing new, of course, having been around since the 1950s, when bodybuilders and athletes started using them. They steadily became more mainstream, but remained largely the preserve of gym bros looking for extra “gains” when attempting to build muscle. In the past few years, however, protein has experienced a popularity explosion across the board, which has seen it added to a widening array of foodstuffs and proactively consumed by a much greater proportion of the population.