The evidence-led answer
NST verdict
Yes, most older adults do better on more protein than the standard adult target. Food labels use about 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight a day; a European expert group recommends at least 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg for healthy older adults, and 1.2 to 1.5 g per kg for those who are unwell or eating poorly. For a 70 kg person that is roughly 70 to 85 g a day instead of about 56 g. The reason is "anabolic resistance": ageing muscle gets less out of the same serving of protein, so you need a bit more, spread across your meals rather than piled into dinner. The single biggest thing that restores the response is resistance training, lifting, bands, bodyweight, done regularly, with protein around it. In older adults who are already losing muscle, protein plus resistance training measurably improves muscle mass, strength and walking speed. Whether the protein comes from meat, dairy, beans or a blend barely matters next to hitting the daily total.
How much protein, and compared with what?
The reference protein intake for adults, the figure behind food label percentages, is about 0.8 g per kg of body weight per day. A European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism expert group reviewed the ageing evidence and concluded that is not enough for many older people. Its recommendations: at least 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg per day for healthy older adults; 1.2 to 1.5 g per kg per day for older adults who are malnourished or have a chronic or acute illness; and more still during severe illness or after injury. It also recommended that all older adults keep doing physical activity, including resistance and aerobic exercise, for as long as possible. These are consensus recommendations from experts weighing the whole evidence base, not the result of one large trial, and the precise optimum is still argued over, but the direction, upward from 0.8, is well agreed.
Why the requirement goes up
It is called anabolic resistance. Feed a younger adult a serving of protein and muscle protein synthesis rises sharply; feed an older adult the same serving and the rise is smaller. Older muscle is simply less responsive to dietary protein. Two things follow. First, protein per meal matters, not just the daily total, since each meal needs enough protein to clear the higher threshold, which is why spreading intake across breakfast, lunch and dinner beats saving it all for the evening. Second, and more powerfully, movement restores the response: doing physical activity, especially resistance exercise, before eating protein makes older muscle use more of that protein to rebuild. Protein and training are not two separate strategies here; the protein does much less without the training.
Does more protein actually change anything?
In older adults who already have sarcopenia, the clinical term for age related muscle loss with reduced strength or slowness, a pooled analysis of 10 randomised trials found that whey protein supplementation increased muscle mass and gait speed compared with a placebo, and that adding resistance training on top also improved grip strength. It did not reduce body weight or fat mass: the effect is on muscle and physical function, not on slimming down. Whether these gains are as large in healthy, active older adults is less certain, because the trials were done in people already losing muscle.
Does the type of protein matter?
Much less than the amount. A pooled analysis comparing animal and plant protein found no difference in changes to absolute lean mass or muscle strength. There was a small edge for animal protein on percentage lean mass, and it showed up mainly in younger adults. For an older adult, the practical message is that meat, fish, dairy, eggs, soy, beans, lentils and blends all work; what counts is reaching the daily target, with a decent amount of protein at each meal. Mixing plant sources across the day covers the amino acids that any single plant food is lower in.
What this means in practice
If you are over about 65, aim for the higher end, roughly 1.0 to 1.2 g of protein per kg of body weight a day, or more if you are recovering from illness or surgery (check with your doctor or a dietitian in that case). Put a palm sized portion of a protein food at each main meal rather than relying on one big serving. Do resistance exercise two or more times a week, since this is the part that makes the extra protein count, and it is where the strength and walking speed improvements come from. If your appetite is small, higher protein foods like Greek yoghurt, milk, eggs, fish and, if it helps you hit the target, a protein powder can make the numbers work without large meals. Two cautions: if you have known kidney disease, higher protein intake should be set with your medical team, not self prescribed; and unintentional weight loss or a shrinking appetite in an older adult is worth a GP visit rather than only a diet change.
Practical meaning
Over about 65, aim for roughly 1.0 to 1.2 g protein per kg body weight a day (more when recovering from illness or surgery, check with a doctor or dietitian). Put a palm sized protein portion at each main meal rather than one big serving. Do resistance exercise twice a week or more, since that is what makes the extra protein count and where the strength and walking speed gains come from. If appetite is small, Greek yoghurt, milk, eggs, fish or a protein powder can help hit the target. Cautions: with known kidney disease set protein intake with your medical team; unintentional weight loss or a falling appetite in an older adult warrants a GP visit.
Limitations and uncertainty
The 1.0 to 1.5 g/kg figures are expert consensus recommendations from 2014, not the result of one hard outcome randomised trial, and the exact optimum is still debated. The anabolic resistance evidence rests on short term muscle protein synthesis measurements that do not map one to one onto long term muscle size or strength. The pooled analysis showing protein plus resistance training improves muscle mass, gait speed and grip strength was in older adults who already had diagnosed sarcopenia, so the benefit may be smaller in healthy, active older people; its trials used varied supplements and training. The animal versus plant comparison used diets already adequate in protein, which limits how well it can detect a source difference, and did not test higher dose or blended plant protein.
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