Whey too much: The hidden costs of the protein boom

Imagine drinking two gallons of milk in a day. Now imagine doing that every day. For an average American man, that’s one way to consume the 200 grams of protein recommended by fitness influencers nowadays — an amount well above the 0.36 gram per pound of bodyweight that most experts agree is adequate for less-active people. Considering that strategy involves about 4,800 calories — roughly equivalent to eating six sticks of butter — food scientists have been hard at work innovating other ways to pack a variety of comestibles with protein. Walk the aisles of your local supermarket or even health food store, and you’ll see added protein in everything — and not just the classic powders and bars, but high-protein, low-calorie ice cream, gravy, pretzels, popcorn, toaster waffles, oatmeal, fruity cereal, tortillas, pasta, even water. Where is it all coming from?

The short answer: whey. Originally a waste product of cheesemaking, whey is now a multibillion-dollar industry and the best-selling protein supplement in the world. Touted for its muscle-building properties and digestibility, whey has been embraced by athletes, dieters and casual consumers alike. But there’s a darker and more complicated history behind the glossy packaging.

From byproduct to boom

As an alternative, new industrial equipment allowed some protein powders to emerge in the 1950s and 1960s, but the whey protein industry didn’t really take off until the 1980s, when it started to grow in tandem with the popularity of bodybuilding (and its poster boy, Arnold Schwarzenegger). As low-carb and Atkins diets rose in the 1990s and 2000s, the focus on protein increased, and whey protein along with it.

Today, the global whey protein market is valued around $5.5 billion, with annual growth of around 10 percent. Whey and casein (which is also derived from milk) are by far the largest sources for the protein supplement market, followed by collagen (derived from the skin and bones of animals) and then plant sources like pea, soy and hemp.

A classic chicken-or-egg conundrum

New demand for protein has certainly helped the dairy industry rake in more profits, but is it just a turn of good luck that’s allowing the industry to take advantage of new fitness trends, or are the fitness trends coming from an industry that’s producing more because it stands to profit?

An analog can perhaps be found across the farm and in a different sector of the food industry, with pork and the elusive McDonald’s McRib. When the company announces that the sandwich is available again after a long hiatus, demand goes through the roof. But McDonald’s strategically re-releases the McRib only when pork prices are low, and the pork industry relies on the frenzy for it as a backstop against profitability dropping too much. Marketing around protein in general may be similar.

Over the past five years, every primary source of protein has reached new all-time highs in terms of production volumes. We’re producing more eggs, chicken, beef, pork and dairy annually than ever before. With increases in supply, there’s a real chance of prices dropping, unless demand increases with it.

Luckily for suppliers, demand is booming. On average, Americans eat 40 percent more meat than USDA dietary guidelines recommend, and so far we’ve eaten more annually in the 2020s than in the 2010s. Dairy demand is up too, and industry advocates say that multiple years of huge marketing pushes for protein-enriched products is a key part of that demand (and the resulting profits).

The impacts of protein overconsumption

The protein powder industry thrives on a cultural fixation with protein and its reputation as the “virtuous macro”— particularly when used for muscle growth and weight loss. Fitness culture often promotes daily intake levels beyond what’s necessary. Usually, most of someone’s protein intake comes from meats, eggs, beans and other common dietary sources. Now, many fitness enthusiasts view those typical sources as supplemental, and the majority comes from enriched products laden with whey. Many people even substitute whole meals, with their corresponding fiber and nutrients, for protein smoothies and alternatives.

When it comes to the body, common wisdom for gym-goers is to try to consume one gram of protein per pound of body weight, but a 2022 meta-analysis of studies looking at the subject found that two-thirds of that amount is actually enough for maximizing muscle growth, and just one-third is enough for general health. Many people find that high-protein (and especially lower-carbohydrate) diets help with weight loss, but research also shows that long-term high-protein diets can increase risks to heart, kidney and liver.

The impacts are environmental, too: The excess amount of protein that our bodies can’t process goes down the drain and into our water system. Protein contains a lot of nitrogen, so when it’s released into a sewage system it behaves similarly to a fertilizer. Research suggests that Americans are consuming about 40 percent more protein than dietary recommendations, and if everyone decreased consumption to those recommended levels, there would be 12 percent less nitrogen in aquatic ecosystems. That’s comparable to the effects of upgrading wastewater treatment plants, but significantly less expensive.

Industrial vs. small scale

Grass-fed and small-scale dairies produce whey, but processing it into powder requires expensive, food-grade dehydration equipment and strict storage protocols. As Susan Rigg, a small-scale cheesemaker operating River Whey Creamery in Texas, notes, these costs are often prohibitive: “We produce over 500 gallons of whey every week, but the infrastructure to safely process it for human consumption would cost upwards of $100,000.”

Instead, small dairies like River Whey often give their whey to local hog farms — a practice with historical precedent. For centuries, whey-fed pork has been a means of closing the loop between dairy and meat production. In Europe, whey is specially reserved for raising more marketable Italian hogs to produce Prosciutto di Parma. In the U.S., artisanal producers still follow this model, often mixing whey with spent brewery grain and feeding it to pigs.

Yet these practices are the exception, not the rule. Most commercial whey protein comes from industrial-scale dairy operations, where their extra profit pushes true costs onto ecosystems and communities.

Rethinking protein

The rapid growth of the whey protein industry is connected to a broader food system problem: the drive to decrease surplus by encouraging overconsumption. As the U.S. continues to produce more milk, meat and calories than it needs, marketing campaigns shift consumer behavior to absorb the excess. In the case of whey, the solution to dairy’s waste problem has become another dietary norm: eat more protein.

There’s nothing wrong with protein per se — it’s essential for life. But the way we source, consume and dispose of it matters. Sustainable alternatives like plant-based proteins offer promise, though they come with their own challenges in terms of amino acid completeness and agricultural practices. Ultimately, the most impactful change may not be swapping one powder for another but recalibrating our cultural relationship to protein itself.

Whey protein may have gone from gutter to gold, but its environmental footprint still lingers. As with many modern food products, what seems efficient on the surface often masks deeper inefficiencies within the system. Rethinking whey isn’t just about protein. It’s about transforming the way we value food, health and the planet.

Top photo by TOimages/Adobe Stock.