Protein Consumption in Menopause

When it comes to protein consumption in menopause, there are several things to consider.

Even though there's no science or medical evidence to show higher (than you grew up with or are used to) protein intakes cause kidney (renal) issues, many people still believe it’s true.

What is true is or anyone who has an existing renal issue, diabetes for instance, high protein diets should be discussed with and then monitored with your physician.

Let’s back pedal to what is “high protein.” It’s very personal in interpretation. The recommended range of protein is 10-35A% of total calories. That’s a large range.

So, if you eat 2500 calories a day and consumed only 10% protein that would be 250 calories from protein. Protein contains 4 kcal per gram so that’s 62 grams of protein. If you ate 35% of your diet from protein, you’d consume 875 kcals from protein. That would be 218 grams of protein. Anywhere between 62 and 218 grams of protein is within recommended daily amounts. That’s nuts!

RDAs are actually the “minimum to prevent deficiency.” Consider the meaning of that.

Protein Consumption in Menopause

The current recommended dietary allowance (RDA) to prevent deficiency in minimally active adults is 0.8 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) of body weight. However, newer research suggests individuals trying to build muscle need more than this.

It also makes sense that women over 50 with greater anabolic resistance trying to build muscle mass and lose fat will want to pay special attention to their need for protein.

Consuming less protein than the body needs has been linked to decreased muscle mass. In contrast, increased protein intakes above the RDA may help increase strength and lean body mass when paired with resistance exercise.

In order to build muscle, a person must consume more protein than what is broken down. This is often referred to as a net positive nitrogen balance, as protein is high in nitrogen.

That is muscle protein synthesis must be greater than muscle protein breakdown for nitrogen balance to be achieved.

According to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, most healthy adults over 19 years old should get between 10-35% of their daily calories from protein. One gram of protein provides 4 calories.

This means that a person who eats 2,000 calories per day would need to consume between 50 and 175 grams of protein per day.

Doctors generally agree that healthy adults can safely tolerate a long-term protein intake of up to 2 g per kg of body weight per day without any side effects. However, some groups of people, such as healthy, well-trained athletes, may tolerate up to 3.5 g per kg of body weight.

A 130 lb individual = 60 kg

2g per kg = 120g protein

3.5g/kg = 210g protein

Varied Protein Consumption Recommendations Exist

The World Health Organization in their official report on protein stated that "the most widely quoted potential problems of a high-protein diet relate to renal function and damage, but as discussed [above] the evidence for such claims in otherwise healthy individuals does not stand up to scrutiny."

From Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Longevity:

For adults aged 50+, we recommend consuming 1.2 – 1.6 grams of protein/kg of body weight per day (0.54 – 0.72 grams/pound body weight per day). For a 165-pound adult, this translates to roughly 90 – 120 grams of protein per day

To build muscle past the age of 50, we need to eat enough protein AND do weight training and consume 30 – 35 grams of protein within two hours of the workout.

Due to anabolic resistance, which increases as we age, it’s recommended to increase protein intake per meal to roughly 30 – 35 grams.

For those over 65, another study recommended 1.2 – 2.0 grams / kg of body weight per day.

Data from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study support these findings, showing that intake of animal protein (with greater content of EAA), but not plant protein, was significantly associated with the preservation of lean body mass over three years in older adults.

In dieting older adults (eating significantly below adequate caloric intake need) the loss of muscle percent was much greater in studies than in those adults consuming twice the recommended daily amount.

Subjects with the highest protein intake had 40% less muscle loss than those with lowest protein intake.

Muscle Mass, Body Composition and Protein Consumption in Menopause

When the energy content of the protein source is accounted for, the caloric intake needed to meet the EAA requirements from plant sources of protein is considerably higher than the caloric intake from animal sources of protein. This