Prebiotic high-protein zero-sugar mood-boosting…lies
You are what you eat. But what if what you eat is empty?
Prebiotic sodas, protein snacks, sugar and dairy alternatives, and de-stressing beverages. For the past several years, these trends have defined the consumer packaged goods food market. Products advertising mental health, microbiome, and nutrient benefits using colorful, bold (and infantilized?) branding line the shelves of grocery stores, each vying for customers’ attention.
What do you need today?
Hard time in the bathroom?
Stressful day at work?
There’s a beverage for that.
Four dollars, please!
But whatever snack you choose won’t fix you. Poppi will not make you poopy. A wellness shot isn’t going to cure your cold. You’re not going to get jacked tomorrow because you ate a protein bar today.
Increased concern around gut issues like constipation and IBS is the driving force behind the growing market for prebiotics — which are intended to feed and encourage the growth of beneficial gut microbes like probiotics — but what is the science behind their health benefits? To date, there is little evidence showing significant or long-term benefits of taking supplemental prebiotics. A thriving, diverse microbiome has many health benefits, but drinking prebiotic sodas is unlikely to have a major impact because supplements are just that — they supplement your diet with additional nutrients, not replace them. Conversely, there is much more conclusive supporting evidence for the benefits of regularly consuming probiotics through fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, yogurt, and kombucha.
Besides prebiotic sodas, the “functional beverage” category has been similarly dominated by “mood-boosting” ingredients such as ashwaganda, L-theanine, CBD, reishi mushrooms, and various other adaptogens and nootropics. Growing research shows positive responses to these supplements, many of which have been used for centuries in various cultures to reduce stress, improve sleep, and more. Their rise in popularity can be largely credited to their potential as alternatives to alcohol, providing euphoric feelings without the liver damage. However, it is important to point out that these ingredients do not target or fix underlying issues, their effects vary by individual and preparation method, and they can have potentially harmful drug interactions. Many are skeptical of the efficacy of adaptogens due to their effects being difficult to prove, a lack of rigor in scientific studies, and the placebo effect. Per their name, adaptogens help you adapt to various stressors. They’re not a replacement for coping skills and therapy.
Similarly, consumers are obsessed with protein — a trend that has been exacerbated by fitness trends. The food industry has quickly capitalized on this, adding protein to everything from ice cream to pasta, and marketing protein products as health foods despite often being ultra-processed and full of sugar. But unless you are pregnant, elderly, or highly active, you likely don’t need to consume protein beyond the federally recommended amounts for your weight and sex. Doing so may increase your risk for cancer and heart disease while harming the environment. Your protein requirements are likely already met by your standard diet (even if you’re vegetarian!). Not to mention, most of these products taste really bad.
Instead of taking prebiotics and increasing protein intake, Americans need to focus on consuming more dietary fiber and cutting back on ultra-processed foods. Only 7% of Americans eat enough fiber, which is vital for microbiome and digestive health and regulating cholesterol, in addition to reducing the risk for chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer. Alarmingly, colon cancer is on the rise among younger Americans, with lifestyle and dietary habits assumed to be a major contributor. Ultra-processed foods are another plague on the American diet, contributing as a major source of sugars and additives while stripping away nutritional substance.
The creation and consumption of these food products speak to deeper problems in American society and culture. The lifeblood of capitalism is extracting labor to increase profit, and to extract labor is to extract time and freedom from workers. This system has bred an intense culture of convenience that, coupled with American individualism, leaves Americans constantly on the prowl for the next quick fix to our problems, putting the onus of health on the person rather than the system, and that’s no clearer than in the food on our tables — or rather, the food in our hands during the commute to our second, third, or even fourth jobs. Rather than preparing fresh meals with whole ingredients, people are turning to ultra-processed foods and supplements for their nutritional needs, limited by rising prices and misguided by the guise of health marketing and a long history of destructive food and agriculture policies.
For customers to be properly informed about the health impacts of these products, regulatory agencies like the FDA and USDA need to set more stringent regulations on food and supplement labels to restrict non-evidence-based health claims. The FDA’s loose regulatory supervision on supplements is a long-standing controversy and has only become a more pressing concern with the explosion of the wellness industry. Though many vitamins, supplements, and adaptogens are typically harmless in moderation, governing agencies need to take greater responsibility for consumer safety, not just by way of preventing harm, but promoting truth.
Furthermore, public education must improve the quality of food literacy curriculum. The CDC recommends that students receive 40-50 hours of nutrition education every year, yet U.S. students typically receive less than 8 hours. Americans can reference food pyramids to assemble balanced diets and read nutrition labels that demonize the Calorie, but do they know what diseases people of their ethnic background are more likely to contract or how to prepare affordable, nutritious, culturally relevant meals? A strong curriculum prepares students with the food literacy skills to make informed decisions about their dietary habits, potentially preventing conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
In the same vein, the USDA needs to focus on subsidizing the production of fruits and vegetables and educating the public about the importance of diets rich in fruits and vegetables. American agribusiness receives about $38B annually in federal funding, yet only 0.4%, or $152M, of that amount subsidizes produce, with the rest poured into the meat and dairy industries. Corn and soy are the country’s largest crops, but most yield goes toward feeding livestock or producing alcohol. Only 3% of U.S. cropland is used for fruits and vegetables. USDA checkoff programs like “Got Milk?” have been successful in propagandizing the American public into believing that beef and milk are healthy household essentials — despite beef being a well-known carcinogen and a majority of adults experiencing lactose intolerance or maldigestion1 — increasing market share and revenue for bovine commodities. Instead, these programs need to target fruits and vegetables dense in essential nutrients like fiber.
So why hasn’t it? The health and wellness industry is trying to sell you “health” by isolating dietary needs into bite-sized pieces. Healthcare is treatment-focused rather than preventative and holistic. The healthcare industrial complex has the US government nestled deep into its pockets. It wants to keep Americans chronically ill and in hospitals racking up bills. All these issues will only worsen with the passing of the devastating One Big Beautiful Bill and escalating rollbacks on consumer safety standards.
And so Americans will continue eating lies.
A Feast for Thought 🧑🍳💬
What other food trends interest you? Good, bad, skeptical, or otherwise?
Alternative proteins — Just Egg, Impossible Meats, etc.
Alternative dairy — seems like every day there’s a new plant-based milk, each with its own pros and cons that don’t make the choice between them any easier
“Upcycled” foods — I am pretty excited about the potential for this one and am interested to see what products pop up, how expensive they are, and whether they’ll take to mainstream markets
In the CPG food products space there seems to be a pattern of taking foods out of their cultural context, whitewashing them, or making them “healthier”… contributing to the American dietary zeitgeist that already demonizes ethnic foods.
Organic, regenerative, and fair-trade are labels that refer to the production process of the food with regard to the product itself, the earth it’s born in, and the labor used to make it, respectively. However, the standards, levels of compliance, and auditing practices of each label vary widely in rigor — often diluting the label’s integrity until it’s practically a scam.
What are other “functional” food products you’ve come across? Are adaptogenic drinks a good way of delivering eastern medicine ingredients to western audiences?
Do you follow western medicine, eastern medicine, or a mix of both? How do dietary habits factor into these ideologies?
What are other potential policy avenues for this issue?
What kind of nutrition education did you receive in school?
Are brands just meeting demand? Filling “gaps” in the market? Once, again shifting the burden of health back to the consumer…
Not to say that this stuff is all inherently bad — some of these products are useful for those with chronic conditions that may prevent them from consuming conventional products. Most drinks However, studies and claims often fail to consider how much people might consume. Everything in moderation…
Thank you to Pour Out Pepsi, FEED Berkeley, and the Berkeley Student Food Collective for teaching me so much about food justice and to Prof. Kurt for encouraging me to publish! I was drawn to write this after attending Natural Products Expo West and seeing the obscene amount CPGs whose chief selling points were good graphic design and a poorly substantiated health or sustainability claim. The cover photo for this article is just a tiny sampling from the show!
🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍋🟩🍌🍉🍇🍓🫐🍈🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥝🍅🍆🥑🫛🥦🥬🥒🌶️🫑🌽🥕🫒🧄🧅🥔🍠🫚🥐🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🥚🍳🧈🥞🧇🥓🥩🍗🍖🦴🌭🍔🍟🍕🫓🥪🥙🧆🌮🌯🫔🥗🥘🫕🥫🫙🍝🍜🍲🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍤🍙🍚🍘🍥🥠🥮🍢🍡🍧🍨🍦🥧🧁🍰🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🍿🍩🍪🌰🥜🫘🍯🥛🫗🍼🫖☕️🍵🧃🥤🧋🍶🍺🍻🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🍾🧊🥄🍴🍽️🥣🥡🥢🧂…lighthearted non-food posts to come
A majority of people globally. The US is the exception — having the highest rate of lactase persistent adults. However, this varies by ancestral history, with those of European descent having the highest rate of lactase persistence.
Oh yeah i’m definitely in the 93%