Hormonal
Elderly individuals require higher protein intakes (1.6–1.8 g/kg/day) to achieve muscle anabolism due to an impaired anabolic response to mixed meals and reduced insulin sensitivity compared to younger adults.
To build or maintain muscle, elderly individuals may need 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. This is higher than the standard recommendation because aging reduces the body's sensitivity to protein's muscle-building signals. Combining this intake with exercise can help restore the body's natural anabolic response.
These data seem to indicate that doubling the RDA from 0.8 g/kg per day to 1.5 to 1.6 g/kg per day may result in better muscle and bone health in elderly individuals... The studies using muscle anabolism and maintenance of muscle tissue as outcome variables show that a protein intake of 1.6 to 1.8 g/kg per day supports anabolism at rest or after exercise in older men and women.
Why this rating
Based on multiple isotope and clinical studies cited, though long-term safety is still being established.
Source
Increasing Dietary Protein Requirements in Elderly People for Optimal Muscle and Bone Health
Erin Gaffney‐Stomberg et al. · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2009
DOI 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02285.x
More from this paper
- Increasing dietary protein intake to 1.0–1.2 g/kg/day in elderly individuals maintains nitrogen balance and calcium metabolism without adverse renal effects, serving as a safe baseline compromise until higher-dose long-term trials are completed.Good
- Increasing dietary protein intake improves intestinal calcium absorption and suppresses parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion, thereby benefiting skeletal health without causing negative calcium balance.Good
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