Protein is a macronutrient that’s a hot commodity these days, particularly its association with muscle growth and weight maintenance. It also plays a key role in keeping older adults healthy and strong as they age.
“As an older adult, your needs increase due to a decline in your ability to absorb nutrients,” says Claudia Hleap-Knight, RD, CDCES, a diabetes educator and nutritional consultant based in Philadelphia. “Also, as appetite and taste change, it may become a challenge to get adequate protein and calories to maintain weight and muscle mass.”
With age, muscles respond less to protein intake, a phenomenon known as anabolic resistance. This is a contributing factor to sarcopenia, which is the loss of strength and muscle mass in older age, which is why experts may recommend more protein for older adults.
Here’s how to know if your body is getting an inadequate amount of protein (or too much), why that matters, and which foods are the best sources.
The
Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that all adults consume 1.2 to 1.6 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) of body weight per day (or about 0.5 to 0.7 g per pound [lb]).
That means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should aim to consume 75 to 105 grams of protein every day. The recommendations for protein consumption don’t differ between older and younger adults, but emerging research does suggest older adults may need more of it.
“The 1.2 grams of protein is a baseline, but different conditions can facilitate increased needs — including certain chronic illnesses, recovering from surgery, and if one has open wounds,” Hleap-Knight says.
On the other hand, those who have
chronic kidney disease should keep an eye on protein intake because too much can strain the kidneys. Because every older adult’s circumstances vary, talk to your healthcare provider or a nutritionist to determine an amount that’s right for you. Body size, nutritional status, and kidney health are all important factors to help make that determination.
Older adults, those with chronic illness, and strict vegetarians and vegans may regularly fall short of the recommended amounts of protein. According to Gail Clifford, MD, an internal medicine specialist and medical consultant to Paramount Wellness Retreat in Orlando, Florida, these are the signs you may notice if you’re experiencing a protein deficiency:
- Brittle Hair and Nails Because these are both made of the protein keratin, chronic protein deficiency may result in hair thinning, slowed growth, and ridges in the nails. This is often the first sign of deficiency.
- Edema Edema is the medical term for swelling caused by excess fluid. Low protein intake leads to low albumin (a protein in the blood), causing fluid buildup, often appearing as swelling in the ankles and feet.
- Slow Wound Healing Without adequate amino acids (the building blocks of protein) for collagen production, even minor abrasions or surgical incisions take significantly longer to heal.
However, these signs can also be caused by other issues. For instance,
pregnancy or thyroid disease can also cause
edema.
Meanwhile, a deficiency in
zinc can contribute to slow wound healing and hair loss.
Speak to your healthcare provider if you notice these symptoms to determine the exact causes.
Older adults with chronic kidney disease are at higher risk for consuming too much protein, particularly if you’re in stages 3 to 5. As the disease progresses, it’s often recommended to lower protein intake to help limit the buildup of waste products and slow disease progression.
It’s also possible to consume too much protein if you take a lot of supplements or follow a diet that contains a lot of animal protein. Common side effects of excess protein intake include stomach issues like
constipation, bloating, and pain.
Apart from kidney issues or gastrointestinal distress, Hleap-Knight says there are no clear signs that you’re getting too much protein as an older adult. However, if you are overdoing it, you may start to see it affect your waistline in more subtle ways.
“Excess protein can lead to an excess calorie intake and, therefore, weight gain,” Hleap-Knight says. “Focusing on excess protein intake can also unintentionally displace other necessary components of the diet, such as getting enough dietary fiber.”
To meet their protein needs, older adults should seek out
complete proteins, which are those that contain all of the essential amino acids your body needs. Typically, animal products are complete proteins and
plant-based proteins are not, with the exception of a few plant-based foods that are complete proteins (like
soy,
quinoa, and buckwheat).
However, not all animal proteins are created equal, and many health organizations advise against including too much saturated fat and cured meats in your diet because those foods have long been scientifically linked to heart disease risk.
If you are vegetarian or choose to limit meat, focus on eating a variety of plant-based foods throughout the day to ensure your body is getting all nine essential amino acids it needs.
Food sources of complete proteins include:
- Fish: 15.5 g per 3-oz fillet of cooked salmon
- Chicken: 27.9 g per 3 oz of skinless, boneless chicken breast
- Eggs: 6 g per one large hard-boiled egg
- Beef: 13.4 g per 3-oz serving of ground beef
- Milk: 8.14 g per cup
- Yogurt: 8.5 g per cup of plain, whole-milk yogurt
- Tofu: 9.2 g per 3 oz of firm tofu
- Quinoa: 4 g per ½ cup of cooked grains
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