{"id":112469,"date":"2025-05-18T19:27:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T19:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/112469\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T19:27:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T19:27:12","slug":"are-the-health-benefit-claims-hard-to-swallow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/112469\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the health benefit claims hard to swallow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From microwaveable protein lava cakes to cottage-cheese pizzas, foods once considered unhealthy now find an eager appetite among social media users.<\/p>\n

One purportedly healthy apple crumble recipe has racked up 9.1 million views on TikTok, while almost 450,000 people have liked a low-calorie edible cake batter video.<\/p>\n

But are these recipes actually good for people?<\/p>\n

If you believe the creator of the protein lava cake video, the dish has 166 calories and 13 grams of protein.<\/p>\n

But dietitian and influencer Susie Burrell is sceptical.<\/p>\n

“If something seems like it’s junk food, it probably is junk food,” she told AAP.<\/p>\n

While it and similar viral recipes allow people to have fun in the kitchen, Burrell urges consumers to not rely on them as a healthy alternative to regular meals.<\/p>\n

“You don’t normally get protein in chocolate, right?” the podcaster and supplement brand owner said.<\/p>\n

“If you’ve got protein in it, it’s a problem, because it means it’s ultra-processed.<\/p>\n

“But if it’s protein in yoghurt, it’s probably OK because it’s already there.”<\/p>\n

\"File<\/p>\n

File image of cottage cheese (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Her protein and creatine products were targeted at older women, who could struggle to meet their recommended intakes.<\/p>\n

Academic dietitian and exercise physiologist Adrienne Forsyth isn’t surprised so many of the viral recipes are taking off.<\/p>\n

“We tend to be really interested in learning more about new and novel ways of improving our health and wellbeing,” the Australian Catholic University associate professor said.<\/p>\n

“It’s problematic because it takes the focus away from eating foods for nourishment and for pleasure, and shifts the focus towards food being only a tool for weight management.”<\/p>\n

A study she helped oversee found social media tended to influence the attitudes of young Australians more than their practices.<\/p>\n

“We thought that young adults would learn about nutrition by social media, but instead we found that they were using it more as a source of inspiration and motivation to make healthy food choices,” Forsyth said.<\/p>\n

“There’s great opportunity to learn from others by viewing content.”<\/p>\n

\"If<\/p>\n

If something seems like it’s junk food, it probably is junk food, says dietitian and influencer Susie Burrell. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Dietitians Australia head Dr Fiona Willer said people had always had a fixation on food.<\/p>\n

“It is a human condition that we seek to avoid pain and suffering … treating food like medicine is a natural narrative for people to have,” she said.<\/p>\n

Many of the recipes include protein powder or other supplements, which are a relatively new food trend.<\/p>\n

But people should only take protein supplements if they eat small amounts of food, are older or have had weight-loss or cancer surgery, Willer said.<\/p>\n

In Australian, about 99% of people meet their recommended protein intake, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from 2015, although the rate drops among those in their 70s and beyond.<\/p>\n

“If everyday people are choosing protein supplements thinking that they’re going to provide them with some sort of special health effect, that is definitely stretching science,” Willer said.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Gawthorne is a food influencer who shares high-protein, plant-based recipes such as pretzel bars, salad jars, pastas and frittatas on social media.<\/p>\n

She has more than 300,000 followers and shares novel recipes, but says they are based on her research as a dietitian.<\/p>\n

\"Meat,<\/p>\n

Meat, dairy and eggs are major sources of protein, but there are also a variety of plant based protein sources such as pictured above. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Gawthorne aims to stop food misinformation from non-dietitians online, but she adds there’s only so much that can be done to combat it.<\/p>\n

“We are responsible for what we choose to consume online and I hope there can be enough qualified health professionals spreading beneficial information,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Having a knowledge of calories can be beneficial, but this also needs to be balanced with a knowledge of nutrition.”<\/p>\n

Food science and nutrition expert Evangeline Mantzioris said consuming high quantities of protein wouldn’t necessarily affect people, but it could reduce their intake of other, important nutrients such as fibre.<\/p>\n

“Increasing your fibre is linked to reducing your risk of bowel cancer”, the University of South Australia programme director said.<\/p>\n

“We have seen lots of reports about increasing rates of bowel cancer, particularly in under 40-year-olds.”<\/p>\n

The best solution for meeting protein, fibre and carbohydrate targets was to eat more vegetables, fruit and grains, Mantzioris added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From microwaveable protein lava cakes to cottage-cheese pizzas, foods once considered unhealthy now find an eager appetite among…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4318],"tags":[13842,105,4434,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-112469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-food-drink","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114530487193731009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}