Americans Can’t Stop Eating This Trendy Snack Food, But Experts Are Warning About Its Terrifying Side Effects

Did you get enough protein today?

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The craze has led to a slew of new protein-packed products — from bars and powders to popcorns and pancake mixes — and sent many of us trudging to the meat department at our grocery store to get our fix.

In fact, a recent study found “US meat consumption grew from 109 kg to 117 kg per capita between 2018 and 2023 and is projected to grow to 122 kg per capita in 2027.”

But should we be thinking twice about where our protein comes from and what dangers could be lurking if we jump mouth first into a diet full of meat?

That’s us — Raj Punjabi-Johnson and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost’s Am I Doing It Wrong? podcast — asked Elizabeth Dunn, a food journalist who has written extensively about nutrition, when she dropped by our studio recently.

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“There’s definitely this kind of perception online that if you’re going to live a high-protein life, it’s going to involve a lot of meat,” Dunn told us. “What you don’t hear a lot about in those contexts is the negative aspects of eating a lot of meat. The data is very, very clear – that is, like decades of large-scale, reputable studies that show that the higher in meat your diet is, the higher your chances of getting cancer, of getting diabetes, of all-cause mortality – and therefore the younger you die in health. meat, especially a diet with a lot of red meat or highly processed meat.”

There is one popular snack in advance that concerns Dunn in particular.

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“One of the fastest growing snack categories right now is meat sticks,” she said. “Obviously, the protein trend is driving this, [and though] they’re also very delicious, what really surprises me, especially because right now we’re in this very healthy, nutritious, conscious moment, is that people are not aware of the fact that processed meats are class one carcinogens — Group 1 carcinogens. So that’s a World Health Organization classification, and that means we know they cause cancer in humans. So this is really something that I think more people should think about.”

Dunn noted that the average American does not need to supplement their diet with extra protein because they are probably already getting the recommended daily allowance in their meals. However, if we are looking for more protein, we encourage you to get it from whole foods, rather than processed ones.

She added that there is protein in most foods, which means that even people who don’t eat meat don’t have to work too hard to meet their daily needs.

“As long as you’re making a concerted effort as a vegetarian to eat a lot of different plants, like, you’re going to get as much protein as you need,” she said.

Michelson noted that “a cup of [cooked] spinach … contains five grams of protein, a cup of raw peas has eight grams of protein … wild rice has six grams of protein in a cup.”

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Whole grains are also “a great source of protein,” Dunn said.

“I’m not just talking about quinoa – oats have a lot of protein in them, things like seeds, like hemp seeds and chia seeds, have a lot of protein … It adds up a lot faster than you think.”

So if you’ve been worried about not getting enough protein, don’t worry! You probably are, but if you want an extra boost, reach for whole foods – and maybe skip processed meat as a regular part of your diet.

We also spoke with Dunn about why we’re wasting our time and money if we’re getting too much protein, which nutrient we should probably be focusing on instead of protein, and much more.

For more from Elizabeth Dunn, visit her website and subscribe to its Substack.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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