Guidelines to Protein Consumption at Age
- isoldespies
- Mar 25, 2024
- 4 min read
Evidence based research confirms that frailty is linked to sarcopenia (muscle wasting) and associated with reduced physical function and poorer health outcomes at age. To maintain and build muscle mass our bodies require building blocks in the form of amino acids that are found in protein. Nine essential amino acids are required to produce other non-essential amino acids as building blocks for maintenance and repair in our bodies (1).
Fun fact: The word protein originated from the Greek work “proteios”, meaning primary or prime. This Greek work appropriately describes protein as the fundamental building block of our human tissue (2).
Animal protein is a "one-stop-shop” when it comes to essential amino acids. This highlights the importance of consuming a wide variety of plant-based foods when vegan or vegetarian diets are followed (1). Furthermore, exercise plays an important role in our ability to retain dietary amino acids and enhances the ability of skeletal muscle to synthesize more contractile proteins in older adults. In contrast, inactivity and bed rest impairs muscle protein synthesis. However, research shows that consuming excess amino acids during inactivity can help maintain muscle mass in older adults (3). Additionally, it is important to evenly spread your protein intake across your daily meals. Research has shown that consuming at least 30 grams of protein per meal is necessary for muscle protein synthesis (4). Therefore, both the daily intake, intake patterns and activity levels play a role in maintaining our muscle mass and optimal function.
In general, research recommends that adults consume 0.9 grams/kg body mass of protein daily. However, once we transition into our mid-60’s we could require double the daily amount (1.8 grams/kg body mass) (2, 5, 6). Please note: When you suffer from chronic conditions, or on certain medications e.g., levodopa for Parkinson’s your protein consumption must be discussed with your pharmacist or general practitioner. Furthermore, patients with renal dysfunction or gout are advised to consume an adequate amount of high-quality protein, but not an excessive amount of protein (2). Interestingly, a study review by Nowson and O’Connell confirms the prevention of muscle loss in older people that followed resistance exercise recommendations (twice weekly) and consumed 1.0 to 1.3 g of protein/kg body mass/day (6).
A Canadian study on protein intake (n=13,616) revealed that Canadians usually consume 79.47 grams of protein per day and that inadequacies were highest in females over 71. The biggest source of protein was red meat, processed meat (21.6 g), poultry and eggs (20.1 g), cereals, grains and breads (19.5 g), and dairy (16.7 g) (1).
Older adults, especially females are most at risk for too low protein consumption, and animal sources contribute to two-thirds of protein consumed by Canadians. However, determining the “what” and “how much” can be a daunting task. In this blog I have compiled and summarized some resources to navigate you on this route to sufficient protein consumption at age (1).
Conduct a self-experiment: Log your meals for 1 week (product and quantity), breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Then utilize the “Protein Table” below to see how balanced your protein consumption is throughout your daily meals, and if you are consuming enough protein for your weight and age. For example,
Meet Emily. She is 74 years old and weighs 130 lbs.
Assuming Emily is healthy I am calculating her daily protein needs at 1.5 grams per kg body mass.
1 kg = 2.2lbs
130 lbs ÷ 2.2 = 59.1kg
59.1 x 1.5 = 88.65 grams of protein per day
Emily evenly divides her daily protein consumption up between 3 meals and a snack
(See summarized protein table)
Breakfast: 1 cup dry bran flakes (5g) + 1 cup milk (9g) + ½ cup Greek yoghurt (12g) = 26 grams
Lunch: Toast 1 slice (3g) + 1 egg (6g) + 1 Avocado (4g) + salad-spinach (125ml)(3g), pumpkin seeds(20ml)(3g), hemp hearts (30ml)(7g) = 26 grams
Dinner: 3 oz salmon (21g) + 1 cup potato (3g) + 125 ml Broccoli (5g) = 29 grams
Snack: 60 ml Almonds = 8 grams
TOTAL: 89 grams of protein for the day
PROTEIN CONTENT IN OUR FOOD**
MEAT, POULTRY, FISH AND EGGS
Food type | Weight/portion size | Protein content (g)* | Comments |
Meat and poultry (cooked)
| 3 oz (85 g) | 24 | Chicken, turkey, beef, pork, lamb, veal, wild game |
Meat | 1 oz | 7 | Beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb |
Fish and shellfish (cooked) | 1 oz 3 oz (85 g) | 7 21
Crab / lobster = 15 | Salmon, snapper, trout, tuna, whitefish, halibut, shrimp, scallops, canned fish |
Legumes (cooked or canned) | ¾ cup (125 ml)
| 11
| Lentils, chickpeas, split peas, black beans, kidney beans, navy beans |
Eggs | 1 egg | 6 |
|
Egg whites | From 1 large egg | 3 |
|
MILK, CHEESE AND MILK ALTERNATIVES
Food type | Weight/portion size | Protein content (g)* | Comments |
Milk (skim, 1 %, 2%) | 1 cup (250 ml) | 9 |
|
Yoghurt | ½ cup (125 ml) | 12 | Greek or Icelandic |
Regular yoghurt | ½ cup (125 ml) | 6 | Regular |
Kefir | 1 cup (250 ml) | 8 |
|
Cheese, hard, low fat Cheese | 1 oz 1 ¼ oz (42 g) | 7 12 | Cheddar, mozzarella, goat |
Cream | 2 tablespoons | 0.9 | Cream and butter are high in fat and low in protein |
Soy milk | 8 oz (236 ml) | 7 |
|
Cottage cheese | ½ cup (125 ml) | 14 |
|
Cream cheese | 30 ml | 2 |
|
Sour cream | 15 ml | 1 |
|
Ricotta cheese | ½ cup (125 ml) | 15 |
|
Cheddar cheese | 50 g | 12 |
|
Feta cheese | 50 g | 7 |
|
Parmesan, grated | 15 ml | 2 |
|
Almond milk | 1 cup (250 ml) | 1 |
|
Oat milk | 1 cup (250 ml) | 1 |
|
LEGUMES, NUTS, SEEDS, AND PLANT BASED PROTEINS (fruit and vegetables)
Food type | Weight/portion size | Protein content (g)* | Comments |
Tempeh | ¾ cup (150 g) | 28 |
|
Almond, rice or coconut beverage | 1 cup (250 ml) | 1 or less |
|
Soy or pea beverage | 1 cup (250 ml) | 8 |
|
Soybeans (boiled) | ½ cup (125 ml) ¾ cup (175 ml) | 8 21 |
|
Tofu (firm) | ¾ cup (150 g) | 12 |
|
Tofu (soft) | ¾ cup (150 g) | 7 |
|
Hemp hearts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 13 |
|
Lentils | ½ cup (125 ml) 175 ml | 9 13 |
|
Lima beans | ½ cup (125 ml) | 7 |
|
Cannellini beans | ½ cup (125 ml) | 8 |
|
Black beans | 175 ml | 11 |
|
Red kidney beans | 175 ml | 10 |
|
Navy beans | ½ cup (125 ml) 175 ml | 8 15 |
|
Pinto beans | 175 ml | 9 |
|
Fava beans | 175 ml | 10 |
|
Refried beans | ½ cup (125 ml) 175 ml | 6 10 |
|
Black eyed peas | 175 ml | 8 |
|
Green peas | ½ cup (125 ml) | 4 |
|
Edamame | ½ cup (125 ml) | 9 |
|
Chickpeas | 175 ml | 9 |
|
Hummus | 60 ml | 4 |
|
Falafel | 1 ball/17 g | 2 |
|
Almond butter | 2 tbsp (30 ml) | 5-7 |
|
Peanut butter | 2 tbs (30 ml) | 7 |
|
Nuts, general | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 4-6 |
|
Squash seeds | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 9 |
|
Peanuts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 9 |
|
Walnuts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 4 |
|
Cashews | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 5 |
|
Almonds | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 8 |
|
Pistachios | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 7 |
|
Hazelnuts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 5 |
|
Brazil nuts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 5 |
|
Pine nuts | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 5 |
|
Sunflower seeds | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 6 |
|
Flax seeds | 30 ml | 4 |
|
Chia seeds | 30 ml | 4 |
|
Hemp hearts | 30 ml | 7 |
|
Pumpkin seeds | ¼ cup (60 ml) | 9 |
|
Tahini | 30 ml | 5 |
|
Asparagus | 6 spears | 2 |
|
Avocado | ½ avocado 1 | 2 4 |
|
Beets | ½ cup (125 ml) | 2 |
|
Broccoli | ½ cup (125 ml) | 3 |
|
Brussel sprouts | 4 sprouts | 3 |
|
Spinach | ½ cup (125 ml) | 3 |
|
Sweet potatoes | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2 |
|
Mushrooms | 1 cup (250 ml) | 3 |
|
Potatoes | 1 cup (250 ml) | 3 |
|
Collard greens | 1 cup (250 ml) | 4 |
|
Corn | 1 cup (250 ml) | 5 | GMO Alert! |
Green peas | 1 cup (250 ml) | 5 |
|
Guava | 1 cup (250 ml) | 4.2 | Also high in Vit. C |
Jackfruit | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2.8 |
|
Kiwi | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2 |
|
Apricot, fresh | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2.3 |
|
Apricot dried | ¼ cup | 1.1 |
|
Blackberries | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2 |
|
Raspberries | 1 cup (250 ml) | 1.5 |
|
Raisins | 1 oz (60 raisins) | 1 |
|
Bananas | 1 (medium) | 1.3 |
|
Grapefruit | 1 (medium) | 1.6 |
|
Oranges | 1 (medium) | 1.2 |
|
Cherries | 1 cup pitted | 1.6 |
|
BREADS, RICE, PASTA, GRAINS, AND CEREALS
Food type | Weight/portion size | Protein content (g)* | Comments |
Bread (any) | 1 (26 g) | 3 |
|
Bread, whole wheat | 1 slice | 3 |
|
Bagel (white) | ½ (50 g) | 6-7 |
|
Naan (white) | ½ (45 g) | 5-7 |
|
English muffin (white or whole wheat) | 1 (57 g) | 5 |
|
Pita (white or whole) | ½ (32 g) | 3 |
|
Tortilla (any) | 1 (34 g) | 2 |
|
Matzo (plain) | 1 (28 g) | 3 |
|
Pasta, white | 1 cup (250 ml) | 7 |
|
Pasta, whole wheat | 1 cup (250 ml) | 8 |
|
Quinoa (cooked) | ½ cup (125 ml) | 4 | A WHOLE protein |
Bulgur (cooked) | ½ cup (125 ml) | 3 |
|
Rice, white (cooked) | 1 cup (250 ml) | 2 |
|
Rice, brown (cooked) | 1 cup (250 ml) | 3 |
|
Couscous | ½ cup (125 ml) | 3 |
|
Barley (cooked) | ½ cup (125 ml) | 2 |
|
Dry cereal | ¾ cup (175 ml) | Check label |
|
Dry bran flakes | 1 cup (250 ml) | 5 |
|
Hot cereal | ½ cup (125 ml) | 3 |
|
Oatmeal (cooked) | ¾ cup (175 ml) | 4 |
|
Cream of wheat | 175 ml | 2 |
|
Popcorn, air popped | 2 cups (500 ml) | 2 |
|
PROTEIN POWDER
Food type | Weight/portion size | Protein content (g)* | Comments |
Whey protein powder | 50 g/1 large scoop | 39 | Check individual product label |
Plant-based protein powder | 50 g/1 large scoop | 28 | Check individual product label |
*The amount of protein listed above is an AVERAGE
**Table summarised from Sunnybrook, Odette cancer centre, John Hopkins medicine, The nutrition junky, UBC: Understanding plant-based proteins and WebMD (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
References:
1. Auclair O, Burgos SA. Protein consumption in Canadian habitual diets: usual intake, inadequacy, and the contribution of animal- and plant-based foods to nutrient intakes. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2021;46(5):501-510. doi:10.1139/apnm-2020-0760
2. Wu G. Dietary protein intake and human health. Food Funct. 2016;7(3):1251-1265. doi:10.1039/c5fo01530h
3. Volpi E, Campbell WW, Dwyer JT, et al. Is the optimal level of protein intake for older adults greater than the recommended dietary allowance?. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2013;68(6):677-681. doi:10.1093/gerona/gls229
4. Deer RR, Volpi E. Protein intake and muscle function in older adults. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2015;18(3):248-253. doi:10.1097/MCO.0000000000000162
5. Bauer J, Biolo G, Cederholm T, et al. Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14(8):542-559. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.021
6. Nowson C, O'Connell S. Protein Requirements and Recommendations for Older People: A Review. Nutrients. 2015;7(8):6874-6899. Published 2015 Aug 14. doi:10.3390/nu7085311
7. Sunnybrook, Odette cancer center
https://sunnybrook.ca/uploads/1/programs/odette-cancer/patient-education/protein-in-common-foods.pdf
8. John Hopkins medicine
9. The Nutrition junky
10. UBC: Understanding plant based proteins
11. WebMD
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