Review: Protein Supplements Often Unnecessary Outside the Lab for Active Adults

The paper is a brief commentary, not a new experiment. It appears in the journal Nutrition Today (2026) and was written by Pasiakos, Bailen and Cohen. The authors review earlier research on active-duty military personnel and other physically active young adults. The text available to us does not report a new participant count for the commentary itself.

Protein and amino acid supplements are among the most widely used supplements in this group. The authors cite a 2021 survey of 26,681 service members. In it, 74% said they used a dietary supplement at least once a week. About 42% used protein or amino acid supplements, second only to multivitamin and mineral products at 45%.

People use them to build muscle, recover faster and support performance. The authors say these goals are logical. Randomized controlled trials in laboratory settings show that extra protein or amino acids can improve muscle and whole-body protein responses to military-relevant stress, under tightly controlled conditions.

Field studies tell a less clear story. According to the review, some studies found benefits during moderately stressful activity, such as initial military training, or during about 36 hours of heavy exertion combined with an energy shortfall. Others found no measurable gain in protein balance, which is protein built minus protein broken down. They also found no gain in related physical outcomes or performance when stress was severe, prolonged and came from many sources at once. Those sources include heavy activity, sleep loss, hormonal disruption and extreme environments.

From this, the authors conclude that supplements alone cannot offset the effects of sustained, multi-stress operations. They suggest supplementation may be unnecessary in most real-world contexts. They also warn that a heavy focus on protein could distract from the more important goal of eating enough total energy from mixed foods.

That energy gap is common. The authors note that service members often eat too little because of time pressure, low appetite, and discarding parts of rations to cut pack weight. In those cases, they say, a supplement can be a practical way to get essential amino acids when time, appetite or logistics limit food. Military policy and sports nutrition guidelines, they note, favor a food-first approach, with supplements when operationally necessary.

The review also says protein is a nutrient, not a performance booster like creatine. Protein and amino acids do not directly improve strength or power. Any performance gains seen in meta-analyses are modest, and likely reflect better recovery and adaptation. The authors add that most Americans already eat more protein than the minimum needed.

Safety is a further concern. The authors say a recent literature review found that as many as 50% of protein supplements, depending on product type, were adulterated with anabolic agents such as steroids or prohormones. Another study found 38% of sports-related supplements contained prohibited substances. Heavy metals such as lead have also been found in some products.

Of 120,300 supplement products listed in a National Institutes of Health label database as of December 2025, 5% (5,489) were proteinor amino acid-based. Only 5% of those (281) were third-party certified, even though about half carry labels claiming some testing. The authors say label information alone cannot guarantee safety. They note that Operation Supplement Safety, along with scientists and health and consumer agencies, strongly recommends third-party certified products.

For personal budgets, the takeaway is cautious. This is a commentary on military and active young adults, not a trial of supplements versus food in the general public. It says it offers practical recommendations for supplemental intake during strenuous military operations, and for when supplementation may be warranted, though the text available to us was truncated and we could not review those details. Its central message is that enough total food comes first, and that supplements help mainly when eating enough is hard.

Watch for field studies that test supplements against simply getting enough total energy, and for more work on product testing and safety.

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