On Sept. 29 of this year, Starbucks announced its new protein lattes and cold foam that ranges anywhere from 12 to even 36 grams of protein for a single drink. Auburn’s on-campus Starbucks had these available immediately, and for research purposes I just had to try one.
Except, waiting in line for my drink,I started to ask myself why I wanted a matcha with protein and, more importantly, why I felt compelled to drink 36 grams of protein?
This singular Starbucks drink forced me to start looking at the bigger picture, and I began to try to understand what’s going on.
We are, to put simply, obsessed with protein.
For anyone else finding themselves questioning why in the world everyone is putting cottage cheese in everything, you’re not alone. At first, I didn’t pay too much mind to it, and I was admittedly excited to see cottage cheese return and get the recognition it deserves.
What I didn’t expect was for cottage cheese to be entirely sold out at Auburn’s local Kroger and Aldi. This shortage of cottage cheese has arguably been the responsibility of viral recipes on TikTok. These include adding cottage cheese to cookies, buffalo dip, ice cream and even traditional meals, such as Tikka Masala. At what point do we admit this is ridiculous?
Everyone is now in this constant, consuming fear of not meeting their protein “goals” for the day, but I think we are selectively forgetting that the average person meets their protein requirements without even thinking. Many people are eating more than enough protein. It wasn’t until someone got on the internet and brought it to everyone’s attention that they need just under a gram per body weight did everyone begin to overanalyze each of their meals.
Without focusing on the undeniable importance of protein, it’s safe to say this unanimous obsession speaks to the environment we have collectively created around our bodies and our never-ending fixation with them.
People have begun to treat protein as the key to being healthy and including a substantial amount in everything they eat.
Although this captivation with nutrition isn’t something new to any of us. We have seen this before in the collective push for whole grains as well as the infamous "Got Milk?" advertisements.
Both of these examples illustrate a similar effect to what protein is doing today. Everyone is gearing towards products that have these health advantages, with little question around this dramatic shift towards them.
Each one of these products contains actual benefits and nutritional values, but I doubt they are the holy grail of health.
I think what is happening with protein has just taken its place in a bigger pattern. What’s interesting is the fact that it has taken over our generation.
In particular, college exemplifies how this obsession and protein has captivated our peers. As young adults in college, it's difficult transitioning into living without our families, and unfortunately, the first thing to get disregarded are our diets.
Eating fast, quick meals is undoubtedly easier than making home-cooked meals or thinking about what’s going into our bodies. Yet, something that people still focus on is the protein amount on labels. We are now in the belief that protein automatically makes something healthy and something we should eat in high volumes.
We are learning how to survive on our own, and protein is currently serving as a crutch in how we think we should prepare meals.
College kids notoriously don’t eat enough vitamins due to our lack of availability of fresh produce. This is a serious problem considering how much our diets affect our physical and mental health.
At this point, it's safe to assume we all know a little too much about protein and making cottage cheese ice cream. I encourage us as college-aged adults to go back to the basics of balanced and nutritious meals. Maybe it's time to even reflect on the infamous balanced meal plates from every elementary lunchroom. Our bodies require protein, but they also need carbs, sugar, fats, and so much more.
Making sure our dinners are not just rotisserie chicken or a scoop of protein powder is a great start to this change.
The key takeaway here is that maybe the next time you go to Starbucks, skip out on that 36 grams of protein in your iced vanilla latte. Treat yourself to the real thing. You deserve it.
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