Jono (00:01.408)

Hey food groupies, very much an on the fly podcast recording today. I have no notes. I have no preparation whatsoever, but I wanted to talk about protein added foods. I've been kind of talking about them a fair bit on Instagram, reviewing products of that nature. And I've had a few questions about it. So I wanted to just, this sounds like a press release. So I needed to address the concerns. No, but really there's just a few bits of information that I think are going to be helpful when you're thinking about these sorts of foods. So I guess.

Protein, why protein? Now, you might've heard me already talk about it before. I think I have a whole podcast on protein. So if you haven't listened to that, go do that. We'll put that in the show notes. Protein is helpful in so many different ways. It's not just helpful for people wanting to gain muscle and look big and swell in the gym. Sure, if that's your goal, that's an important part of that process. But almost everybody can benefit from having enough protein in their diet.

better energy levels, helps manage your appetite so you're not getting hungry and cranky. That's probably the main reason I like people to focus on their protein intake. It just helps with those energy levels and that regulates your appetite a little bit better. You've got stuff like immune function. There's all these other things that protein can help with as well, but we wanna be talking about moving from an adequate protein intake to an optimal protein intake. Now an adequate protein intake,

is what's, you the government recommendations of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. I've spoken about them before. There's nothing wrong with them. They're great for adequacy, i.e. making sure you're not deficient. You've got enough protein to run your immune system, help with, you know, supporting and maintaining your current level of bone mass and muscle mass and things like that. However, we can go towards from adequate up to a higher, more optimal protein intake. And that's when we start to really see those benefits of

better appetite regulation, just better energy levels. And then, you know, definitely increased and supported recovery and muscle growth and things if that's what you're into. So I'm going to be talking more about hitting an optimal protein intake. Now, that's why you want to be interested in protein. That's why we bang on about it all the time. It's certainly not the only thing that's important in nutrition. There's lots of other things that are important. It's just, it's a big rock. So we're talking about it.

Jono (02:21.706)

Unfortunately, as is often the case with the food industry, because people have become more more aware of the importance of protein, and we've seen, we've had quite a few studies on quite high protein intakes, the protein has become quite synonymous with health, right? It's actually, it's called the health halo effect. It's when a food has a a phrase on it, it gets this halo effect that, if this has protein on it, it must be a healthy food, right?

which is not the case, but that's okay. We'll talk about that in a second. So because of this, though, we're seeing lots more protein versions of regular foods. So, you know, I've been speaking about and reviewing a bunch of them on my Instagram. We've got protein puddings. We have high protein hummus. What else have I done? Protein pasta. There's a protein dip. So personally, when I think of protein added foods, I'm referring to foods that

normally aren't particularly high in protein that have been fortified, I guess, have had protein added to them by one way or another to increase their overall protein consumption. I'm not talking about foods that are classically high in protein, like chicken breast, tofu, like those aren't protein added foods, those are high protein foods. So I'm not talking about those. I think probably a bit of a blurry line is around.

the high protein yogurts, because yogurt is high protein, but then we have these extra high proteins, your Chibanes, your Siggy's, your Yo-Pros, those sorts of things. I would still probably consider them as just high protein foods, not these protein added foods. I think protein added, wants us to think really just like, like pudding. Pudding is never high protein, right? Except for this new range of, you know, the Cadbury ones, the Wicked Sister ones, the Paul stuff. So that's the food I'm specifically talking about. Now, should you...

include them in your diet over the, so should you choose those, for example, over the regular versions, right? Should I get the chocolate protein pudding over a regular pudding? Should I get the high protein hummus over the regular hummus? And as is always the case, I can't give you a black and white answer, but I can give you a couple of questions to ask yourself that will help you decide whether these foods are potentially beneficial for you. The first all-encompassing question, all-encompassing, that's not correct. The first,

Jono (04:42.132)

most important question is, are you struggling to get enough protein? Is protein intake something that you are finding difficult? If it is, have you looked at trying to increase your intake of high protein foods, the ones we spoke about before that are naturally high in protein? Not because naturally is better, but just because they're just going to be a richer source of protein anyway. So that's the first question that I would ask you. And if the answer is, yeah, I am struggling, I would first go back through my main meals of the day.

Do I have a decent source of protein at each of those? Do I have a decent snack with some protein? If that's not the case, then start there. If there's no protein at breakfast, add some yogurt, add some eggs, add some tofu, add some baked beans, some protein powder, which I guess is a bit of a segue into even though that is technically a protein added or like a supplemental food, I think most of the time, if you're struggling to hit your protein intake, you'd be way better off.

predominantly from a cost perspective, you'd be way better off just adding a scoop of protein somewhere in your day than going for the high protein pudding or the high protein hummus over the regular hummus, right? So that would be the next stage. After you've gone through, tried to add more high protein foods and have struggled, the next thing would be like, hey, would a protein supplement help? Probably. Would that be easy to fit in? Probably. Would that be cheaper? Definitely. If you've gone through all of that and either you don't want to add the protein powder,

or you have and you still are falling short, potentially these high protein foods can be, sorry, these protein added foods could be a really useful addition. They could be quite helpful. So that's the first thing, you know, and if you've gone through that process and you've come out going, no, they, still am behind on my protein. I think these could help get me there. Excellent. The next thing I just need you to quickly double check. And I talk about it in the reviews. So, you know, just watch the reviews on Instagram, but

If you've picked up a new food that I haven't reviewed yet, send me a message and I will. In the meantime, have a look at the packet, pick up the regular version of the thing as well, because this is a really, really sneaky thing that some food companies can do. It could be, it could have protein on the label. It could be a high protein, protein added thing, but compared to the regular version of the thing, it's such a small amount that it doesn't matter. So an example is, I recently looked at high protein hummus.

Jono (07:05.436)

And the packets were basically the same size, so always check that. Make sure you're comparing like for like. Or you could compare the 100 gram column to the 100 gram column. I picked up these two packets and the high protein hummus had, I think it was two and a half. It might've been three grams of protein extra versus the normal hummus. Three grams of protein is nothing, particularly when most of us are gonna be pushing for 90 plus grams of protein.

If I'm struggling to hit my protein targets of roughly 180 to 200 grams of protein, an extra three grams is not going to save me at all. Right? It's inconsequential. And then of course, I'm typically paying the protein tax. All of these higher protein, these protein added versions of foods are almost always more expensive than the regular versions of food. So check to make sure that you actually need to get more protein in your diet. And if you do try and get it through food or potentially a protein powder to save a bit of money, then

actually double check that the protein added version of that food is in fact significantly higher in protein than the regular food. Otherwise, what's the point? I would argue that three to five grams of extra protein, not a huge benefit. Obviously, it's going to be a little bit dependent on what sort of food we're talking about. But for the most part, if I'm adding more protein to my diet by spending more on a higher protein added food, I want significant. I want a

a good bang for my buck. for example, that's why I do quite like the protein puddings because regular pudding is like two grams of protein and these other protein puddings like 16 grams. It's a significant bump. Now, I don't eat them all that often just because I don't overly struggle to get protein in and I'd much rather just drink a protein shake and eat a regular pudding. So they're not for me. That doesn't mean they're bad products. It's just I've run through those questions I was talking about before and that's the answer that I have come to for me. So I need you to go through that for you.

If you've gone through and it has added a significant amount of protein, then it's just a question of cost and taste, right? Do you find that extra, you know, so for example, the hummus was an extra 50 cents. So as I said, it wasn't even high enough protein, enough of an increase in protein for me to bother with anyway. But then the fact that it was more expensive, I would not bother at all. So potentially I would buy it if it were special and cheaper than the regular hummus, sure. But I'm not going to go out of my way. It tasted just as good. So that wouldn't be...

Jono (09:32.204)

a part of it. But then also, for some of these high protein foods, yeah, they don't taste as good. So the high protein dips, I tried. Now, a regular dips, maybe five grams of protein per serve. These were like 14 grams of protein per serve. So if we're looking at a, you know, that to me is a significant boost in protein might be worth looking into. But the taste just wasn't there. It was a bit grainy. I didn't really enjoy it. So I'm not going to bother with them again.

I'm gonna get my protein from somewhere else. Whereas someone else might find that that's a really handy way. They add one of those every afternoon with some veggies and they like the taste. The cost isn't an issue and it helps really significantly increase their protein intake. that is the deal, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, with protein added foods. They're not good or bad. It's way more, we just need to be more specific about the food in question. We need to be specific about your individual context and what's going on right now.

and run through those questions and hopefully you'll get a good answer. If this was helpful, please put it in your stories, send me a message, do all the things. rate, rate, subscribe. I don't even know if you can like podcasts anymore. It doesn't matter, but thank you for listening anyway and I'll chat to you guys next week.