We used to eat eggs. Now we consume protein. The distinction may sound trivial, but it neatly captures what has happened to modern eating.
Protein currently enjoys extraordinary PR. It appears in yoghurt, pudding, cereal, chocolate bars, bread, ice cream, and products that until recently had no apparent ambition to be high-protein. The gram count is printed across packaging in lettering once reserved for car prices, and on social media a breakfast barely qualifies as breakfast unless its author has reported the protein content.
Unlike many wellness trends, there is a genuinely solid idea at the base of this one. We do need protein: it supplies the amino acids the body uses to build and maintain tissue and it participates in a wide range of physiological processes. It is especially important when discussing the preservation and development of muscle mass, and research shows that higher-protein meals can increase short-term feelings of fullness.
As so often happens, wellness moved fairly swiftly from "protein matters" to "more protein is better." These are not the same sentence. Requirements depend on body weight, age, activity level, total energy intake, and other circumstances, so the figure that makes sense for a serious athlete may have little bearing on the life of someone who simply wants a decent breakfast.
A person can spend a surprisingly large portion of the day counting grams of something that generations before them managed to eat without an app. Eggs contain protein. So do yoghurt, fish, meat, and cheese. Beans, lentils, chickpeas, and soya never received the memo that they belong to fitness culture, but they have been doing the job for a very long time. Nuts, seeds, and grains add further to the overall intake.
Food is, fortunately, more complicated than its most popular macronutrient. Salmon is not merely a protein packet; lentils bring fibre alongside protein; yoghurt is a different food from protein powder even when the maths produces a similar gram count. When we reduce food to macros, we get a very tidy spreadsheet and we lose lunch somewhat.
This is where marketing becomes particularly interesting. A large 20 g PROTEIN banner has the effect of rendering the rest of the packaging nearly invisible. A biscuit with added protein is still a biscuit of a certain composition; a pudding does not become morally superior because it goes to the gym. That does not mean such products are bad. They can be convenient, enjoyable, and genuinely useful to some people — but protein is not an indulgence that cancels everything else in the product.
The same applies in reverse. A food does not need a HIGH PROTEIN label to be a good protein source. One of the stranger achievements of the modern food industry is selling us, as a new idea, something that was already in an egg.
It is perhaps worth returning to the plate. A leek omelette with good bread is not just a "protein meal." It is a leek omelette with good bread, in which protein plays an important but not exclusive role. Greek yoghurt with fruit, granola, and nuts is not a satiety optimisation strategy; it can simply be a very decent breakfast.
None of this means numbers are meaningless. For athletes, older adults, people in a calorie deficit, or those with specific nutritional goals, the amount and distribution of protein can be highly relevant. There is serious literature on the subject, just as there are situations in which protein powder supplementation is a straightforward and practical way to meet requirements.
The problem arises only when a specific need is transformed into a universal lifestyle. The wellness industry is particularly skilled at this: it takes something useful in a particular context, removes the context, and turns it into a character. So we no longer eat lunch; we "hit our protein." We no longer drink yoghurt; we select whichever carton has the largest number on the label. And an ordinary snack acquires a performance.
For most people, there is a far less dramatic starting point. Look at the main meals and ask whether each contains a meaningful protein source. If it does, and the rest of the diet is varied and the overall quantity of food matches actual needs, a great deal has already been accomplished without a calculator.
At VERA, that idea is closer to us than building a menu that reads like a macronutrient table. Eggs, Greek yoghurt, fish, legumes, seeds, and other protein sources make sense because they are part of good food — not because we want to print a number across the plate. Food must first be delicious and function as a meal; its nutritional value does not become less important simply because we are not shouting about it.
Perhaps the greatest irony of the protein revolution is that a vast industry has returned us to very old advice. Eat enough varied food, ensure main meals contain a good protein source, and adjust the quantity to actual needs. That is less exciting than a new protein chocolate bar, but it will probably remain true for longer.
Protein matters. It just does not need to become a personality.
Try it at VERA — specialty café and wellness bistro, Nikole Spasića 4, Stari Grad, Belgrade.
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