Protein Thresholds: How Much You Actually Need as You Age

The commonly cited recommended dietary allowance for protein was established to prevent outright deficiency in the general population, not to optimize muscle protein synthesis, particularly in older adults. Research on aging muscle has found that older adults experience what's sometimes called anabolic resistance, needing a larger dose of protein per meal to trigger the same muscle-building response that a smaller dose would produce in a younger person.

Several expert panels focused on aging and sarcopenia prevention have recommended notably higher protein intakes than the general population RDA, particularly when combined with resistance training. Distribution across meals appears to matter too, since research suggests spreading protein intake more evenly across the day, rather than concentrating it in one meal, may better support muscle protein synthesis over a full day.

Why this matters for tracking: protein needs likely increase rather than decrease with age, which runs counter to the intuition many people have that they should be eating less as they get older.