The current trend in broiler nutrition toward lower protein diets is driven by several factors, including the aim to improve environmental sustainability, reduce reliance on imported soybean meal (which could lower feed costs), and align with the global move towards more sustainable agricultural practices. This shift highlights the critical need to explore efforts aimed at reducing waste and maximizing the use of industrial by-products to build more resilient production systems. The quest towards optimizing low-protein diets is evidence of how poultry nutrition plays a dynamic and crucial role in the broiler industry, which requires continuous heuristic and epistemological efforts in order to find feasible solutions complying with food security requirements and a more efficient and resilient commercial production. A recent evaluation revealed that the protein reduction in practical diets during the starting period presented a negative impact on performance at the final processing age. On the other hand, maintaining protein levels during the starter phase and then strategically reducing and adjusting the amino acid profile in later phases minimize consequent detrimental effects on performance. There are still pressing questions involving some neglected essential (Phe+Tyr) and non-essential amino acids (Ala, Asp, Glu, Pro, Gly, and Ser) which may play significant roles in practical formulation of low-protein diets. Incorporating a blend of free non-essential amino acids into feeds formulated with 3 percentage point protein reduction, while balancing adequately all ten essential amino acids, has shown to sustain live performance comparable to positive control diets. Considering the impact of supplementary non-essential amino acid on feed cost, it is crucial to design future low-protein trials focusing on the pure effect of each non-essential amino acid on performance and meat yield. A third trial comparing lower-protein diets formulated with either corn or wheat demonstrated that corn-based diets resulted in better performance. Wheat-based diets also lead to reduced Ala levels, which may limit the amount of protein reduction if not taken into consideration during the formulation process, despite presumptions regarding differences in carbohydrate characteristics and utilization.