Protein now fills nearly every aisle of the American grocery store, well beyond the meat counter. Thirsty shoppers can reach for protein shakes and protein soda; hungry ones can stock up on protein cereal, coffee, chips, and even mac and cheese.

Amid the proteinmaxxing craze—a boom that has already brought whey shortages, rising costs, and recipe changes at snack companies—younger Americans might look like a generation obsessed with supplements. New data complicates that picture, however. Adults under 30 are less likely than any other age group to take supplements for their health, according to a new Pew Research Center survey, which found that about eight in 10 Americans take supplements and that many see them as important to their health.

One category breaks the pattern: protein. Thirty-seven percent of adults ages 18 to 29 take protein supplements such as powders, drinks, or bars, compared with 23% of Americans 65 and older. The divide raises a broader question about what a “supplement” even means at a time when protein is showing up in everyday foods and drinks. Young Americans may not be abandoning wellness so much as changing the form it takes in their lives.

“We’re seeing a meaningful shift in how younger consumers engage with wellness and functional ingredients,” Scott Dicker, senior director of market insights at consumer data firm SPINS, told Fortune. While older generations have tended to prefer traditional supplement formats such as capsules, tablets, and powders, he said, younger consumers are more likely to seek similar benefits through foods and beverages.

“Rather than viewing supplements as a separate health regimen, younger consumers increasingly see function as something that can be incorporated into the products they’re already consuming throughout the day,” Dicker said.

That blurs the line between a supplement and a snack. A multivitamin unmistakably looks like a supplement, while a protein shake or bar can double as part of a meal or an afternoon snack.

The age gap is especially stark when it comes to the traditional vitamin cabinet. Just 48% of adults under 30 take vitamins or minerals, according to Pew, compared with 81% of those 65 and older. Overall supplement use follows a similar pattern: 67% of the youngest adults take at least one supplement, versus 85% of seniors.

Protein reverses that trend. A 2025 SPINS study of younger shoppers found that more than half of Gen Z and millennial respondents said they follow a high-protein diet. Yet their appetite for protein-fortified foods has not come at the expense of powders, drinks, or bars. Dicker said those core protein products are still performing well, even as companies add protein to items such as cereal, pasta, and soda.

“You can’t walk in any aisle in the grocery store without seeing protein-enhanced products,” Dicker told Fortune.

Product preferences also split along generational lines. Older consumers tend to favor foods that are naturally high in protein, such as yogurt and cottage cheese, while younger consumers gravitate toward products with protein added to categories that traditionally contained little of it, such as cereal, Dicker said.

Protein’s age paradox

From a nutritional standpoint, the age divide around protein consumption is somewhat counterintuitive. The youngest adults are the most likely to consume protein supplements, yet maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as people get older, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Roger Clemens, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences who has studied nutrition for decades, pointed to sarcopenia—the involuntary loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with age—as one reason protein becomes an important consideration for older adults.

“Protein is quite complicated,” Clemens told Fortune. The amount of a nutrient printed on a food or supplement label does not give consumers the full nutritional picture, he said, because how the body absorbs and uses it matters too.

The Pew findings alone cannot establish whether the divide is truly generational or partly a product of age. Today’s 22-year-old protein-shake drinker may eventually become tomorrow’s multivitamin buyer as health needs and routines change. Whether that happens is a question future survey waves could answer. Dicker noted that protein is no longer just for young people trying to build muscle—older consumers are also seeking it to help preserve muscle as they age.

What is already changing is what companies put on shelves. Dicker said the shift is reshaping product development at supplement makers and food and beverage companies, which increasingly build functional benefits into products consumers already buy.

“For brands, this means meeting consumers where they are,” Dicker said. “Rather than asking consumers to adopt new supplement routines, many companies are embedding functional benefits into products that already fit seamlessly into everyday consumption occasions.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.