“I don’t see anything really kind of slowing down this exceptional demand of animal protein in general,” Brian Earnest, lead animal protein economist at CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange research division, told Yahoo Finance. RELATED: Tofu or Beans: Which Vegan Protein Source Is Best? On TikTok alone, #highprotein has more than 908,000 mentions, #protein has around 2.6 million, and #beef has 1.3 million. “While the overall protein intake might be sufficient, it is very common for people to rely heavily on animal sources for protein,” Chun added. “This can lead to potential issues like consuming excess saturated fat and neglecting other essential nutrients like fiber found more readily in plant-based protein sources.”Plant-based protein is also significantly more environmentally friendly.