The way young people have been worshipping at the church of protein recently, you’d have thought its priest was Andrew Scott.
For instance, two in five parents of American 13- to 17-year-olds said their kids had eaten protein supplements such as bars, shakes and powders in the last year, according to a poll by CS Mott Children’s Hospital, Michigan.
Meanwhile, a survey by online supermarket Ocado found that 62 per cent of British Gen Z and Millennials had increased the amount of protein they were eating in the last year.
Take to foodie TikTok and you'll see chocolate brownies with hidden black beans, pasta sauces full of tofu, and chickpeas and cashew nuts.
Then there’s the cottage cheese. With 11g of protein per 100g serving (more than Greek yoghurt), it’s the star of the show. In fact, Ocado reports that demand for the ingredient soared by 97 per cent last year.
But as young adults go all in on protein, many older adults are missing their baseline recommended amounts.
A study by the University of Birmingham from 2020 found that older people ate less protein than middle-aged adults, who ate less than younger adults.
Meanwhile, a 2020 study by the University of Sheffield found that less than 15 per cent of their study participants aged 65+ met age-specific daily protein recommendations, and only one participant out of 256 met mealtime recommendations.
While young people guzzle cottage cheese like it’s 1974, some older people are eating less than half the protein their bodies need to stay healthy – and experts say it’s a problem.
Why middle-aged adults need to eat more protein
“Protein requirements differ across your life course,” says Professor Elizabeth Williams, a nutritional scientist at the University of Sheffield. As we age, she says, adults become “less efficient at protein synthesis.”
That means our bodies become less able to break down proteins from food and rebuild them into proteins that can be used for growth and repair.
This decline in efficiency is called anabolic resistance, and Williams says middle-aged and older adults may need to eat more protein to counteract this.
There are other factors to consider too. Functional nutritional therapist Amani Kaite says that, as we age, “our bodies begin to experience a natural decline in muscle mass and strength: a process known as sarcopenia.”
Post-menopausal women are especially at risk, she says, because “this decline is influenced by hormonal changes, such as reductions in testosterone and oestrogen levels.”
Why elderly adults struggle to eat enough protein
Anabolic resistance and sarcopenia get worse as we age, particularly among those with less active lifestyles, so the oldest adults need to eat the most protein out of any age group.
Muscle loss can be more than three per cent per year in elderly people, says nutrition researcher Dr Conor Carey, so eating more protein is important just “to maintain a functional level of muscle,” for these people.
Plus, approximately half of the body’s bone volume comes from protein, so not eating enough can lead to frailty and fractures.
“If a person has gone through a period of bed rest or an unexpected surgery, muscle loss can be really ramped up, so protein intake should be strongly considered,” says Carey. “Otherwise, it’s very easy to get into this negative cycle, where lower muscle mass causes a fall, which causes surgery, which causes hospitalisation, which causes loss of muscle, which causes further issues.”
But eating enough protein can be especially challenging among elderly and frail people, who may struggle with a reduced appetite or difficulties chewing.
“Protein is a very satiating nutrient; it makes you feel quite full,” says Carey. “As a result, it can be difficult to consume a high amount.” For those who might struggle to chew through a lot of meat, he recommends focusing on liquid proteins, such as milk and dairy products.
How much is enough protein?
Protein intakes are usually measured in grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day, and the recommended daily amount for most people is 0.75g/kg.
“This equates to around 50g of protein per day,” says Williams. “For context, a chicken breast contains about 30g of protein and an egg about 8g of protein.”
Most people eat more than this, with young adults chomping 1.2g/kg per day, according to some research.
That’s no bad thing; the 0.75g/kg figure is a baseline requirement to avoid malnutrition, so slightly higher intakes are believed to better support good health – and older adults need more than this.
“Older or elderly adults benefit from protein intakes of around 1g/kg to 1.2g/kg per day,” says Kaite. “Some experts recommend up to 1.5g/kg per day for those at risk of, or already experiencing, muscle loss.”
For someone who weighs 65kg, eating 1.5g/kg is equivalent to nearly 100g of protein per day, or three chicken breasts.
That’s double the protein needs of young people – who, the experts in this piece agree, generally do not need to focus on protein intake.
There are a few exceptions, such as particularly active or athletic young adults, especially those focusing on muscle strengthening and resistance training.
“This increased intake helps repair muscle tissue and promotes muscle growth after strenuous exercise,” says Kaite.
Others may also benefit from higher relative protein intakes to support growth, aid recovery or prevent muscle wastage – think pregnant people, growing children or those recovering from injury or surgery.
If you’re trying to lose weight on a calorie-restricted diet, focusing on protein could come in handy too. That’s because people losing weight don’t just lose fat but muscle, putting them at risk of sarcopenia, while a higher-protein diet can help protect that muscle mass.
How to eat the protein you need to support better health
So, if you’re in need of a little more protein in your life, what’s the solution? Two words: eggy breakfast.
Both the Sheffield and Birmingham studies concluded that a straightforward way for middle-aged and older adults to improve their intake of protein and support muscle mass retention would be by eating more of it in the morning.
“Most people eat a lot of protein in their main evening meal, but the morning has been consistently shown as the time when people consume the least protein,” says Carey. “Over the course of the day, if you consume your protein in an even manner across three or four intakes, there are greater benefits to muscle health, muscle strength and muscle mass.
“So, if you increase protein intake in the morning, you’re more likely to get these benefits to skeletal muscle.”
Williams recommends eating 25g of protein in each of your three daily meals, equivalent to three eggs, a chicken breast or a tin of tuna.
That can be especially tricky at breakfast, when most of us instinctively reach for cereal or toast.
But it might benefit your health to instead whip up a three-egg omelette, or sprinkle some nuts and berries on a hearty dollop of Greek yoghurt.
If you’re feeling really brave, you could even try lumpy, goopy cottage cheese. There are plenty of recipes out there trying to make it taste acceptable and, apparently, you don’t need a TikTok account to eat it.
Read more:
- Most of us are overeating protein... and it’s driving up fat levels
- Should you add protein to your coffee? A doctor explains
- Protein doesn't make you fart. But these ingredients do…
About our experts:
Prof Elizabeth Williams is a professor of nutritional science at the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health. She is a member of the University of Sheffield Healthy Lifespan Institute and co-lead the lifestyle intervention work-stream. Her research interests are the role of diet in the prevention of chronic disease, healthy ageing, and diet and male fertility, and she has over 20 years’ experience of conducting nutrition intervention trials.
Dr Conor Carey is a postdoctoral researcher and nutrition lecturer at University College Cork (UCC), whose research has focused on protein. He has an undergraduate degree in sports science and health from Dublin City University and a PhD in performance nutrition from UCC.
Amani Kaite is a functional nutritional therapist at Amani Kaite Ltd, specialising in gut, hormone and cardiometabolic health. She is a lecturer on the principles of functional nutrition at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition.
