How Much Protein After 40? The New Study and My Answer

How much protein after 40 is right? A new review that's getting a lot of media attention recently says the protein advice I have given women over 40 for years is wrong. But before you cut a single gram, this episode is what I found when I read it all.

I have spent years telling women over 40 to eat more protein. So when the eat-less-protein headlines started, I read the review behind them, every page of it, and asked the question the headline skipped. What I found decided whether my advice stands, and it changed how I read every nutrition headline now. If you lift weights, one part of this review is specifically about you. And back in January, the US updated its official dietary guidelines for the first time in decades, and where the protein recommendation moved matters for this whole conversation.

In this episode:

• What the study behind the eat-less-protein headline looked at, and how far its findings go
• Who was studied, and why that decides whether the headline applies to you
• How lifting weights changes what your body does with the protein you eat
• The protein range I still recommend if you lift, and my recommended starting point if you don't
• What the January update to the official US dietary guidelines did to the protein recommendation
• The 2 questions to ask before any headline changes your entire diet

RESOURCES:

💪🏼 The Strong Core Method: my 4-week at-home core program for women over 40, built for every level, even if you've never worked out a day in your life. 12 guided workouts per level with video demos, 20 minutes, 3 times a week, to build a stronger, more defined midsection.

📝 Grab the FREE Fat Loss Formula Workbook to calculate your maintenance calories, your protein target, and your exact calorie deficit.

🎯 Take the FREE 'What's My Metabolism Type' Quiz to identify your unique metabolism type and get a personalized plan to manage your weight confidently.

💌 Stay connected: join my BTB Newsletter for weekly insights.

🎧 Listen Next: Lose Weight Without Exercise After 40 

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👋🏻 ABOUT ME:

I'm Andrea, a double-certified NASM Nutrition and Fitness Coach and founder of Behind the Body. For 20 years, I under-ate, avoided weights, and lived on cardio chasing skinny, and none of it gave me a body I was proud of. In my mid-30s, I changed my approach: more protein, real strength training, and a plan that fit my life. I lost 20 pounds, and 10 years later, at 45, I'm still maintaining it through perimenopause. I help women over 40 simplify their approach, build real strength, and get results that last. Every week, I cover the science, the strategy, and the honest truth about fat loss and maintenance for women over 40.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER:

This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. Results vary. Andrea is a NASM-certified Nutrition and Fitness Coach, not a doctor or registered dietitian.

Transcript

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There's a new review lately that's gotten a lot of media traction that says the protein advice that I give women over 40 may be wrong. It suggests that eating less protein could mean better metabolic health, less cellular damage, and even a longer life. I didn't love reading that. But I also wasn't gonna just dismiss it because it challenged me and what I've been saying. So I read every page of the review, I looked at who was studied and asked the question the headline left out. Does this apply to a woman over 40 who is active and lifts weights? So let's take a look at what the research actually found, why lifting weights changes the answer, and how much protein I still recommend. I'm Andrea and welcome to Behind the Body. If you're over 40 and trying to lose fat, build muscle, or take better care of your health, you're in the right place. Every week we'll tackle the questions women over 40 are asking about nutrition, fitness, metabolism, and aging, helping you spend less time doing what doesn't move the needle and more time focusing on what does. Point one. As usual, the headline is not the whole story. The study behind the headline is actually a review, which means one paper that pulled together more than 350 earlier studies on protein and aging. Some of the findings are actually worth paying attention to. Animals fed less protein often live longer. A few short human trials also found improvements in weight, body fat, and blood sugar. But here's what the headline leaves out most of the lifespan evidence came from animals, especially male mice. What happens in a male mouse does not tell us what happens in a woman's body after 40. The human trials lasted just weeks, not years. And none of those human trials showed that eating less protein helps a woman like us live longer. That doesn't mean that the research is necessarily bad, but it means it hasn't answered our question yet. This is where I had to slow down and separate what the research actually found from what the headline made it sound like it found. So when a nutrition headline stops you on your tracks and makes you want to change everything, ask yourself two questions: who has studied and for how long? If the headline is based on mice and human trials that only lasted a few weeks, that's interesting, but it is absolutely not a reason to overhaul and change your entire diet. Point two, lifting weights changes the answer. This review did not say that everybody should eat less protein. It does acknowledge that active people and some older adults may benefit from more. If you're over 40 and you lift weights, this matters because resistance training changes how your muscles respond to the protein that you eat. Lifting increases muscle protein synthesis, which is how your body builds and repairs muscle. It also makes your muscles better at using protein right after you train. As we get older, that response can become less efficient. Researchers call that anabolic resistance. It doesn't mean that you can't build muscle, it means lifting and adequate protein matter together. Lifting provides the signal and the protein provides the building material. I know this from my own personal experience. I spent until my late 30s, like barely eating any protein and doing a ton of cardio and not losing much weight at all. When I started lifting in my late 30s and eating enough protein to support my muscle growth, my body composition changed so drastically. It did a whole 180 and for the better. Protein was a significant part of that. And it's been a significant part in my weight management since I lost the weight. But lifting was the signal that put that protein to use. So if you're worried you're eating too much protein, look at how often you strength train before you cut your intake. That's what helps to set your starting range. And point number three, your protein target depends on how you train. If you lift weights, I would not lower your protein because of this headline. I use a practical range of 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight. So if your goal body weight is 150 pounds, that gives you a range of 105 to 150 grams per day. You don't have to jump straight to the top of that range. If you lift once or twice a week, start at the lower end at that 0.7 grams. If you lift four or five days a week, then you may want to go to that higher end, to the one gram per pound of goal body weight. I train four or five days a week and I try to eat one gram of protein per pound of my current body weight, which at this point is the same thing basically as my goal weight. And I've been doing that probably for the last eight years consistently. If you do not lift weights at all, my practical starting point recommendation is 0.5 grams per pound of goal body weight. So if your goal weight is 150 pounds, that's about 75 grams of protein a day. That number doesn't come from this review, it comes from my own personal coaching recommendation for someone who's not strength training. And I think it's a careful starting point and not a high one. And here's why I can say that and kind of what I base it off of. Back in January, the US updated its official dietary guidelines for the first time in like forever. Those are the government's nutrition recommendations, the ones doctors and dietitians work from. And for the first time, literally in decades, they raised the protein recommendation for adults. So for the same 150-pound goal weight that we've been using, the old advice came out to about 55 grams of protein per day. The new advice is closer to 80 to 110 grams. My numbers line up with that. My non-lifter starting point is just under the new range, and my lifting range starts near the top of it and goes higher. Because lifting weights means your body can use more protein. So while this review made headlines about eating less protein, it was all over the morning news, Good Morning America. Literally everybody was covering it. The newest official nutrition advice in the US move towards more protein. But whichever number applies to you, build your meals around whole food protein sources and lean protein sources like eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken breast, fish, tofu, beans. A protein shake is fine, totally fine. I have one like every day or every other day, if it helps you reach your number. But you don't need protein added to every cereal or bar or every snack that you eat. More protein is not automatically better. Less protein is not automatically better either. Your age and the way that you train matter the most. So here's the simplest way to remember it. If you lift weights, multiply your goal weight by 0.7. That gives you the bottom of your starting range in grams, and you can always go up as you lift more. If you don't lift weights at all, multiply your goal weight by 0.5, and that gives you your starting target in grams. And if you want help calculating the rest of your numbers, like your maintenance calories or a healthy calorie deficit, I have a free fat loss formula workbook that'll walk you through that step by step for your specific goals. And I'm gonna link that below. This review did not prove that women over 40 should eat less protein. It did give us a reason to stop assuming that more protein is always better for everyone, and that's actually worth paying attention to. But it didn't give me a reason to tell a woman who lifts to cut back on the protein that helps her build and keep her muscle, which at this age is so incredibly important. So please do not let one headline overhaul your entire diet. So you have your protein range now and you have access to that free fat loss formula workbook that can help calculate your protein maintenance calories and your calorie deficit. I will link that for you in the show notes below. If this episode helped clear up the protein confusion, if you now know what that headline was saying and where to go from here, please consider following the show. And if you have a quick 10 seconds, leave a rating. It is the single factor that helps other women like us over 40 find this podcast. And up next, listen to Lose Weight Without Exercise After 40 for the other half of this conversation because it explains what you're eating does that exercise cannot fix. I'll see you over there. Thank you so much for tuning in, my friend, and I can't wait to chat with you next week.