Do you actually need more protein? What the science says

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Protein is having a major moment, showing up in everything from snack foods to coffee drinks—but do we actually need more of it? In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with science journalist Bethany Brookshire about what has happened with the rise of the protein craze, how much protein people really need and why most of us are already getting plenty. They explore where the trend came from, what the science says about daily intake and how there are potential downsides to focusing too heavily on protein at the expense of overall diet and sustainability. Recommended Reading: Protein is being added to everything from Starbucks’ cold foam to Pop-Tarts. Here’s how much you actually need The Science That Could Change How You Think about Protein E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Science Quickly fans, Rachel here. If you love our show, I want to tell you about another podcast
0:06.2	you should definitely be listening to, Science Friday. Science Friday and Science Quickly
0:11.2	definitely share a lot of podcast DNA, mostly because Science Friday was the first science show I ever
0:17.9	listened to. And I love it so much that I've actually appeared as a guest
0:21.8	host on the show. But even if you're a longtime fan like me, you might not realize that Science Friday
0:26.9	isn't just for Fridays anymore. Every day, the SciFri team puts the latest science news under the
0:32.9	microscope, from the origin of the universe to AI news you can actually use to the science of heavy metal screams.
0:41.1	Just like Science Quickly, Science Friday stokes your curiosity and pulls back the curtain on some of the most interesting science happening today.
0:49.1	So give Science Friday a listen wherever you get your podcasts.
1:05.6	Music Friday, I'll listen wherever you get your podcasts. For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman.
1:14.2	Go into any grocery store these days, and you'll see plenty of food-related fads,
1:19.2	both new and old, being used to hawk products.
1:22.7	You've got your paleo-catchaps, your gut-microbe-friendly sodas, and my personal favorite, plant-based chips that
1:29.4	are none too subtly build as mimicking the singular taste of a cool ranch Dorito. But one of
1:36.6	today's hottest nutritional buzzwords is actually kind of basic, protein. Influencers say we're
1:42.9	not getting enough. Food marketers want us to know they've got it.
1:46.6	And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems to think more meat could do us all some good. But what does
1:52.0	the science actually say about this buzzy macronutrient? Here to tell us more is science journalist
1:58.4	Bethany Brookshire, the author of a recent story on
2:01.6	Siam about this wave of protein enthusiasm. Bethany, thanks so much for coming on to chat with us
2:07.0	today. Thank you for having me. So we're here to talk about protein. Why are we talking about
2:13.7	protein so much? Why is it everywhere? Are we getting enough? What's happening?
	...

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