Protein Consumption in Menopause

The Flipping 50 Show

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 is important to consider since obesity, especially with aging, is a major public health concern. Obesity is the most predominant factor limiting mobility in the elderly

For anabolic response maximal anabolic response is ~35 g/meal

For older adults it is 2x that of younger adults

The amount of total intake (with at least 35 g per meal) but not the pattern of intake matters most.

So, you could do a large protein intake at breakfast and dinner and moderate at lunch during the day. Or you could do a simple shake pre-workout followed by a high protein meal post workout and 2 additional meals

For synthesis:

• 35g + at meals
• Weight training (with adequate rest between sessions)
• Movement/physical activity
• Sleep
• Optimal stress levels

After just 5 days of bedrest older adults have reduced sensitivity to EAAs and greater muscle breakdown compared to young adults. Any illness or injury resulting in decreased muscle function, to be followed by decreased lean muscle mass and strength.

There is a significant reduced effect of EAA synthesis with age.

To maximize muscle protein accretion with resistance exercise, daily protein intakes should be approximately .7-1g per lb body weight and 35g or more per meal.

To promote lean body mass retention during weight loss, protein intakes of ~2.3–3.1 g/kg/day have been advocated. The human body is capable of digesting large quantities of dietary protein.

Protein Consumption in Menopause and Anabolic Resistance (H2)

Reductions in LBM are primarily driven by reductions in postabsorptive rates of MPS and a reduced sensitivity to the presence of a protein bolus. To effectively prevent these declines in MPS during both postabsorptive and postprandial periods, daily protein intake have been recommended to be increased to ~2.3–3.1 g/kg/day, and leaner athletes may wish to aim for intakes at the higher end of this range.

130 lb = 60 kg

2.3 g/kg = 138 g/day

3.1 g/kg = 186 g/day

Anabolic resistance in postmenopausal women

There is no sex difference in basal or fed muscle protein metabolism in the young, but postmenopausal women have a greater anabolic resistance than older men. Anabolic resistance is also shown by the decreased phosphorylation in the PKB-mTOR-eIF4BP1 pathway in response to increased EAA.

Peri and post-menopausal women are increasingly resistant to muscle protein anabolism due to a lack of response to exercise and amino acid uptake (due to the change in the ratio of estrogen:progesterone and sensitivity of receptor sites).

Research also shows that with age, we also need more protein for the same training adaptations.

Current recommended dietary allowance for protein (0.8 g/kg/day) might be inadequate for maintaining muscle health in older adults, probably as a consequence of “anabolic resistance” in aged muscle.

In a report using data from 1,081 adults aged 55–85 years old, more frequent consumption of meals containing 30–45 g protein resulted in the greatest association with leg lean mass and strength.

Total body strength, but particularly lower body strength is closely correlated with longevity or mortality rate.

Consumption of higher protein diets does not have detrimental effects on health, including kidney function, bone health, or liver function and blood lipids according to multiple sources of research.

Summary of Protein Consumption in Menopause (H2)

Women in the menopause transition should target the higher end of that range (2.2 to 2.4 grams per kilogram), aiming for the lower end on easier days and the higher end on very heavy training days. Research also indicates that when undergoing a calorie deficit, higher levels of protein intake help you keep your lean mass and lose body fat.

That is, set your protein intake, and then if dieting or attempting to lose weight, create a reasonable deficit in calories but with increased protein beyond normal intake.

As you reach peri and postmenopause, your anabolic resistance increases, so you want to aim to have that post-exercise protein closer to 40 grams.

A protein intake of 1.0–1.2 g/kg/day has been recommended for the preservation of healthy aging muscles, while 1.2–1.5 g/kg/day of protein may be necessary in older patients with acute or chronic diseases. Elderly people with severe illness or malnutrition may need as much as 2.0 g/kg/day of protein.

Very active and athletes have always been advised to consume additional protein. For midlife and older women, there’s even more reason to adhere to this advice.

To overcome anabolic resistance, active and menopausal women’s Daily protein intake should fall within the mid- to upper ranges of current sport nutrition guidelines (1.4-2.2 g·kg-1·day-1). If you are an active woman, exercising intentionally 4 or more times a week these numbers apply to you. Using 2.2 g/kg/day is the equivalent of 1 g protein to a lb of body weight. (J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023 Dec)

Athletes [and let’s include, the very active] aiming to reduce fat mass and preserve FFM should consume protein intakes in the range of ∼1.8 - 2.7 g kg(-1) d(-1) (or ∼2.3-3.1 g kg(-1) FFM) in combination with a moderate energy deficit (-500 kcal) and the performance of some form of resistance exercise. (Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2018)

Add Your Questions Relative to Protein Consumption in Menopause (h2)

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References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4924200/

Rennie MJ. Anabolic resistance: the effects of aging, sexual dimorphism, and immobilization on human muscle protein turnover. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Jun;34(3):377-81. doi: 10.1139/H09-012. PMID: 19448702.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175749/

Andres V Ardisson Korat, M Kyla Shea, Paul F Jacques, Paola Sebastiani, Molin Wang, A Heather Eliassen, Walter C Willett, Qi Sun,

Dietary protein intake in midlife in relation to healthy aging – results from the prospective Nurses’ Health Study cohort, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 119, Issue 2, 2024, Pages 271-282, ISSN 0002-9165, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.11.010.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882708/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5852756/

https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/28/2/article-p170.xml

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882708/

J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023 Dec

(Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2018

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