I have never thought to take a protein supplement. Have those of you over 40 found this to be necessary ? For the most part I would rather eat food that is pretty close to its natural form, but if a powdered supplement would help retain strength as I age I will do so.
Aging and Protein
The older you get, the more protein you need. That due to the fact that older individuals don't process protein as well as younger individuals. Thus, more protein is needed for older individuals to achieve the same results as younger individuals.
The Amount of Protein Required
Age is one of the primary factors in determining how much protein you need per serving/meal to maintain or increase muscle mass.
Younger individual need at least 25 gram of "Quality Protein" per serving/meal.
Older individual need approximately 38 gram of "Quality Protein per serving/meal.
The underlying reason for for these amount of protein per serving/meal has to do with...
mTOR, Mammalian Target of Rapamycin
Think of mTOR like a light switch; when turned on it triggers an anabolic (muscle building), hormonal cascade.
mTOR is turned on with a the...
Amino Acid, Leucine
Research (Drs Layne Norton and Donald Layman) found that it take around 2.5 gram of Leucine for younger individual and around 3 gram of Leucine for older individual to turn on mTOR, the anabolic trigger.
Amount of Leucine In Proteins
The "Quality Proteins" that are highest in Leucine are...
1) Whey Protein: Between 10 -12% is Leucine.
a) Younger individual consuming 25 grams of Whey would obtain about 2.5 gram of Leucine.
b) Older individual consuming 30 gram of Whey would obtain about 3 gram of Leucine.
That is one of the reasons that Whey is touted as, "The Anabolic Protein".
Whey Protein also enters your system faster; in 20 to 60 minutes dependent on which Whey Protein that you take. There are several types.
2) Casein Protein: Around 8% is Leucine.
a) Younger individual would need to consume around 32 grams of Casein to obtain 2.5 grams of Leucine.
b) Older individual would need to consume around 38 gram of Casein to obtain 3 grams of Leucine.
Casein is defined as "The Anti-Catabolic Protein". It is a "Time Released Protein"; taking around 5 hours to digest.
While Casein builds muscle, whey is the better choice.
Vegan Proteins
Most are very low in Leucine. Thus, obtaining enough Leucine from plant based food alone is very difficult.
Real Foods
Meats, Cheese, Milk and Eggs: Around 8% is Leucine.
Thus, the above recommendation for Casein would apply.
Eating Natural Protein Foods
Consuming natural protein works, providing you consume enough protein.
Real Food Plus A Protein Supplement
If you aren't able to consume enough natural protein foods to obtain the right amount of Leucine, here are a couple of options...
1) Add a Protein Drink to your meal
2) Add a Leucine Supplement to your meal.
Leucine Research
Plant based protein are very low in Leucine.
Dr Layne Norton's research determined that adding the right amount of Leucine to Wheat Protein (any protein that doesn't contain enough Leucine) produced the same anabolic effect as with all protein sources high in Leucine.
Looking at my 75 year old father, who was a beast of a blue collar man, is now very frail looking. Granted he work until 70 then just took up the rocking chair.
Your Dad
One of the biggest problems with older individual is the loss of muscle mass, sarcopenia.
Two of the reasons for this are...
1) No physical activity/exercise.
Exercise triggers mTOR. So, some type or physical activity would definitely help, as you know.
2) Decreased appetite.
Not consuming enough calories.
3) Low Protein Intake.
Not consuming enough "Quality Protein" (Leucine) to maintain and/or increase muscle mass.
Pulse Feeding For Older Individuals
Research has determined older individual are better able to maintain muscle mass with Pulse Feeding. This means consuming fewer but larger meals, that a high in protein.
Pulse Feeding was effective for older individual but Pulse Feeding did produce the same results for younger individual.
Summary
1) Protein intake is age dependent.
2) Leucine is the anabolic trigger for maintaining/increasing muscle mass.
3) Pulse Feeding is an effective method for older individuals in maintaining/increasing muscle mass.
Kenny Croxdale