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Why Gen Z is finally ditching the vegan diet and embracing protein By FRANCESCA HORNAK FOR YOU MAGAZINE Published: 08:01, 15 March 2025 | Updated: 08:01, 15 March 2025 e-mail View comments Gen Z: Ugh! Tesco was out of chicken breasts. And smoked salmon. Now my only protein is hummus! Which barely counts.
I need some protein inspo. Boomer: I thought your generation avoided meat. Aren’t you all vegan ? Or fussing about your gut? I can’t keep up with your food fads.
Plant-based? God, no. You’d never get enough protein. Do you know how many lentils you’d have to eat to get even an egg’s worth? Big in the 1980s An egg’s worth of what? Of protein.
And it’s not a fad, it’s been in the news. Listen: according to a national poll, nearly half of all adults have increased their protein intake in the past year. And Ocado says searches for high-protein food have doubled since 2023 – among people aged 16 to 34 they are up two-thirds.
Is that so? I suppose one does crave hearty food in the cold. Nice meaty stews. This isn’t stews! Searches for chicken breasts are up by 43 per cent, steak by 39 per cent and tuna by 35 per cent.
See? No wonder Tesco was sold out. I’ll have to find some biltong. No wonder everybody’s overweight.
All this snacking. Snacking’s good! Otherwise you get hypoglycaemic. Plus it helps you reach your #highproteinfood goals.
Hypo what? Now you mention it, my teenage grandsons do seem to eat their bodyweight in chicken breasts. And one of them was insisting on ‘protein bread’. Surely a contradiction in terms? I thought bread was a starch.
A carb, you mean. That’s the ticket. Well, get this – Starbucks now does a protein coffee [below right].
And demand for cottage cheese has increased by 97 per cent. It’s had a big TikTok revival. Has it? I can remember living on cottage cheese and celery in the 1980s.
Funny how these things come back. Wasn’t there a diet where one could eat a fry-up only without toast? Just after the millennium. Atkinsons? Back again: protein-rich cottage cheese on Tiktok Atkins.
But that was bad for you. Increasing protein isn’t a diet – it’s about health. And feeling fuller for longer.
And building muscle. Aren’t those basically all code for losing weight? No! Anyway, losing weight isn’t innately positive. Isn’t it? Not if you’re skinny-fat [when you look thin but have a high percentage of body fat].
Plus, this is about natural, lean protein. Those awful meal-replacement shakes, you mean? I don’t know why people want to look like body builders. No, there’s been a backlash against protein shakes.
And bars. They’re ultra-processed food. Now everyone’s going for pulses, lean meat and fish.
Aren’t they all wildly expensive? No wonder you’re all living at home. Raiding our gravadlax at any opportunity. I wondered where all the prosciutto had gone this weekend.
I’d be more likely to go on TikTok for protein inspiration than my parents’ fridge. Right at this moment I’m in my fluffy-yogurt era. What’s that when it’s at home? Greek yogurt with baking powder.
The influencer @llexliftz started it – her recipe has had more than four million views. Uncooked? Sounds vile. It’s so good! It fluffs up really thick.
And I bet it tastes like shaving cream. No, you stir in Angel Delight – and protein powder, obviously. Yes, but they’re ultra-processed foods! True, but they’re not as bad as creepy vegan meat.
I mean, Quorn is, like, the ultimate UPF. It tastes like..
. sorrow. I totally agree – you’d never catch me eating a Linda McCartney sausage.
Fine. Shall we go for a cheeseboard, then? I’m glad there’s finally something we can see eye to eye on. Now be a darling, would you, and cut me a nice wedge of Stinking Bishop.
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