I Bought Protein Seltzer. We Need to Talk.

THE FXBG ADVANCE MONDAY 9/14/26 MIDDAY READ

By Matthew Jeans, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR

Alex Saks/Unsplash

I bought protein seltzer water the other day. So before anyone accuses me of standing outside the protein craze throwing stones, let the record show that I, too, have participated. Was I curious about what protein-infused sparkling water would taste like? Absolutely. Did carbonated water desperately need protein? I’m less convinced.

I say that as someone who takes protein seriously. I pay attention to it in my own diet.

I understand its importance for maintaining muscle and supporting recovery, and I think plenty of people could benefit from being a little more intentional about getting enough. But somewhere between Greek yogurt and protein seltzer, we seem to have decided that adding protein automatically makes a food healthier. It doesn’t.

Still, protein is having a moment. It’s in cereal. Chips. Pancakes. Ice cream. Cookies. Coffee. Water. If someone releases a high-protein breath mint, I’ll accept partial responsibility for manifesting it.

The obsession isn’t something only happening on grocery-store shelves. A 2025 survey from the International Food Information Council found that 70 percent of Americans said they were actively trying to consume protein. More than a third said they’d increased their protein intake during the previous year.

But here’s the funny part. About eight in ten people in a related survey said they either didn’t know or weren’t sure how much protein they actually needed.

That is an extraordinary business opportunity: We know we want more. we just don’t know how much. So food companies can put the word “PROTEIN” on the front of a package in enormous letters and let the health halo do the rest.

Protein is important, but a nutrient can’t absolve a food of everything else happening inside it. A cookie with added protein is still a cookie. Protein chips can still contain a lot of sodium and saturated fat. A bar with 20 grams of protein can also contain enough calories or added sugar that whether it makes sense depends entirely on what you’re trying to get from it.

“High protein” and “healthy” aren’t the same.

That doesn’t make high-protein convenience foods useless. Quite the opposite. I understand their appeal because I don’t particularly want to drink all my protein either. There are only so many shakes a person wants to consume. Sometimes a Greek yogurt is easier. Sometimes it’s cottage cheese, jerky, roasted edamame, a protein bar, or something else you can grab without cooking. A convenient protein snack can solve a real problem, particularly if you’re active, trying to preserve or build muscle, or simply need something filling between meals. The question is whether the product is useful, or whether the protein number is doing all of your thinking for you.

Protein requirements also aren’t one-size-fits-all. The longstanding Recommended Dietary Allowance for adults is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That’s intended as a baseline amount sufficient for most healthy adults, not necessarily an optimal target for every goal or life stage. Needs and useful targets can be higher depending on age, activity, overall calorie intake, health status and whether someone is trying to build or preserve muscle. That’s one reason simplistic protein advice gets messy quickly. A 150-pound sedentary adult and a 150-pound competitive athlete don’t necessarily need to approach protein the same way. But neither person benefits from assuming the food with the largest protein number on the package automatically wins. Nutrition doesn’t work like a scoreboard.

If I compare two snacks and one has 15 grams of protein while another has 8, I still want to know what else I’m eating. Does one have fiber? How much sodium is there? Is it mostly added sugar? How many calories does it provide? Will it actually keep me full? Do I even like it? And, occasionally, the most important question might be whether I wanted a snack, or accidentally bought a dietary supplement shaped like a brownie.

Protein has become especially good at overshadowing nutrients Americans could probably stand to think about more. Fiber would like a word. Fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils and whole grains may not always have “20 GRAMS OF PROTEIN” stamped across the package, but they provide things a protein-fortified cookie may not. That’s why I prefer thinking in terms of an overall diet rather than trying to make every individual food prove that it belongs.

I eat foods specifically because they’re good protein sources. I also eat foods because they taste good. Those categories are allowed to overlap, but they don’t have to. Sometimes I want a high-protein snack that keeps me full. Sometimes I just want a cookie. I don’t need the cookie to undergo a nutritional rebranding campaign before I’m allowed to enjoy it.

And that may be the part of the protein craze worth paying the most attention to. Nutrition marketing has become extremely good at giving foods moral upgrades. Add protein and suddenly a familiar snack feels responsible. Remove sugar and it becomes disciplined. Add a superfood, and apparently enlightenment is available in the snack aisle. But health isn’t determined by whether every item you eat can defend itself on LinkedIn. It’s the broader pattern that matters.

So I’m not telling anyone to stop buying protein products. I won’t. Some of them are genuinely convenient, and useful. Just remember that more protein doesn’t automatically mean healthier, and adding protein doesn’t erase whatever else is in the food.

And if you see me drinking a protein seltzer again, mind your own business.

I’m doing research.

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Matthew Jeans lives in Fredericksburg with his miniature schnauzer, Mia. He grew up in Tennessee, and has spent most of his adult life bouncing around the country and between music, health, research, and education. He is usually overthinking something, drinking coffee, or being reminded by Mia that she needs attention You can contact him at Matthewjeans@aol.com. Or through his Linkedin account.