Recently, I came across an old videograb of actor Ayushman Khurrana telling his interviewer that protein shakes take three years to digest. For some reason, it went viral again. Let’s take a scientific dive into the importance of protein, the role of whey, and why this claim doesn’t hold up.

Our body requires 20 amino acids to function optimally. Nine of these are ‘essential’ amino acids that must be obtained from food since our body cannot make them. When our body has access to the essential ones, it can produce the remaining 11, known as ‘non-essential’ amino acids. Our minimum daily protein requirement is 0.8-1 g/kg of body weight. However, optimal levels start from 1.2 g/kg of body weight.

Historically, our diets were rich in unrefined and local protein sources. With refined and fast foods, our diets are rich in carbohydrates and fats, leading to protein deficiency. A 2020 study by the Observer Research Foundation identified a concerning decline in per capita protein consumption of four per cent in urban and 11 per cent in rural India. According to the Protein Consumption in Diet of Adult Indians (PRODIGY) survey, around 91 per cent of vegetarians and 85 per cent of non-vegetarian Indians fail to consume sufficient protein daily in their diets.