300 grams of Protein per day? That’s impossible.
Protein intake and Muscle Loss with Aging: The Hidden Danger of Not Eating Enough Protein
Your body breaks down proteins every single day, but as you age, your ability to replace them starts to fail, leading to muscle loss if you don’t adjust your protein intake. Without enough protein and exercise, you could be losing muscle and strength faster than you realize. The scariest part? Most people don’t even know it’s happening until it’s too late. Here’s how you can stop this silent decline before it takes over your body.
Why 300 Grams of Protein Matters
The average adult needs 300 grams of protein every day. Before your head explodes wondering how that is possible, keep reading. This amount of protein includes protein from our diet as well as recycling daily. Your body is made up of structural proteins that wear out and need to be replaced regularly. Thankfully, the body can recycle about 230 grams of that protein, meaning you only need to eat around 70 grams daily to keep up with the demand—if you’re in your first three decades of life. The efficiency of protein recycling depends on your age, size, gender, level of activity, genetics and many variables, but we are saying 230/70 as an overall average.
What Happens As You Age
As you enter your 30s and beyond, things start to change. The efficiency provided by your hormones and genetics, begin to decline. This means your body becomes less efficient at recycling the proteins it needs, and your muscles can start to waste away. Not just your muscles but the structure of every system in the body will deteriorate slowly with time. Without the proper adjustments to your diet and exercise routine, you’ll lose muscle and strength, leaving your body weaker and more prone to injury. As you age, your body’s ability to recycle protein declines, which contributes to muscle loss if your activity levels and protein intake is not adjusted accordingly.
How to Combat the Decline
To maintain healthy muscle mass as you age, you need to do two things:
- Eat More Protein: After age 30, your daily protein intake should increase beyond 70 grams. Increasing your protein intake as you age is essential to prevent muscle loss.
- Exercise with Resistance: Regular resistance training stimulates muscle growth, helping your body better use the protein you’re consuming to maintain muscle mass.
Why You’ll Need to Adjust Your Diet
Since your body requires more protein as you age, something else in your diet has to give—and that’s likely going to be carbohydrates. By reducing carb intake and increasing protein consumption, you can better support your muscles and avoid the dangerous effects of muscle loss. Protein typically comes with fat (think animal food products) and we can only eat so many calories per day. The only logical thing to do when fat and protein increase is to reduce the one food group that is not essential, carbohydrates.
Key Takeaways:
- 300 Grams of Protein: Your body needs 300 grams of protein daily, but most of it is recycled. Approximately 70-100 grams will need to be consumed.
- Aging Impacts Protein Recycling: As you age, your ability to recycle protein declines, requiring more dietary protein to maintain muscle mass.
- Exercise is Key: Resistance training is essential to stimulating muscle growth and slowing muscle loss as you age.
- Diet Adjustments: To meet your increasing protein needs, you’ll likely need to cut back on carbohydrates as you grow older.
Don’t let muscle loss sneak up on you. By increasing your protein intake and exercising regularly, you can keep your body strong and healthy—well into your later years. Start making these changes now before it’s too late. For additional information, please watch my YouTube video below!
References
- Bauer, J., Biolo, G., Cederholm, T., Cesari, M., et al. (2013). Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: A position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 14(8), 542-559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.021
- Koopman, R., & van Loon, L. J. (2009). Aging, exercise, and muscle protein metabolism. Journal of Applied Physiology, 106(6), 2040-2048. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.91551.2008
- Deutz, N. E., Bauer, J. M., Barazzoni, R., Biolo, G., et al. (2014). Protein intake and exercise for optimal muscle function with aging: Recommendations from the ESPEN Expert Group. Clinical Nutrition, 33(6), 929-936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2014.04.007
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