Every food commercial, advertisement, and packaging in the US is currently protein obsessed. I just bought 3 burritos, and the most noticeable thing on the entire package is its protein content. TV commercials about waffles are advertising that they have X amount of protein per serving. The products in my jobsite’s vending machine have protein all over every package.
Did America have a protein thing recently?
The US secretary of health, RFK Jr., pushes an uptake in protein as part of his “MAHA” - “Make America Healthy Again” - messaging. See example tote bags for an event here.
It’s the reason you can buy protein poptarts.
Eh, its gotten more popular, but I first did keto back in 2017 and it was great. The Atkins diet started back in the 70’s. Keto aa we know it today traces its roots back to the Mayo clinic in 1921, and you can find other evidence of people throughout history trying high protein diets.
The US government’s messaging about food as always had a lot more to do with economics and politics than health.
Oh, I was being advised about a “Mediterranean diet” back in the early 2000s for my epilepsy. But mass adoption at this level - like, “Protein Chocolate Milk” - bro, do you know how much protein is already in chocolate milk, before you add more? - is absolutely grifters gathering around a new fad, and RFK and the current admin is nothing if not on the grifter train, or “economics and politics” if you want to call it that. The GLP-1 note from others is actually a good point as well.