Protein intake is the latest health food topic getting traction on social media, and the message is usually that people aren’t getting enough of it — but is that true?

What does protein do for us?

Dietitians Australia president Dr Fiona Willer said protein can be thought of as the “building blocks of our own bodies”.

Fiona Willer from Dietitians Australia says adding protein to a a diet is generally not needed for most Australians. Source: Getty / Kindamorphic

“Inside every type of protein is amino acids. There’s a range of amino acids that our bodies can choose to build itself from and if we need to, we can break down protein into those amino acids and then process the amino acids into energy, a source of energy, so that’s how our bodies use it.”

Willer said as our bodies digest food with protein, it gets broken down into its component amino acids, “and then builds whatever it needs of its own body out of it”.

Daily protein on a plate

What’s trending?

Willer said a lack of protein is more often than not associated with famine, malnutrition or childhood neglect.

But what if you work out a lot?

What happens if you eat too much protein?

“Rather than thinking about the detriment that protein itself can bring, it’s really what it’s crowding out … other things that we need to function well, like fruit, vegetables, grain foods, fibre.”

So why the trend?

“It’s absolutely a social media-birthed trend that’s not really based on current scientific research findings.”