Aging and protein intake

Thanks so much for posting. I like how everything is explained in practical terms. I need to send this to my Dad! lol. For Father's Day I sent him a lot of canned (low or no sodium as he has a heart condition) fish as like many of the people observed in this study, he tends to just gravitate towards starches. And no, not the protein denser ones like amaranth etc. The loss of muscle in his lower body contributes to his exhaustion. I think for some seniors a lot of it often comes down to food preparation & many protein dense meals need prep of some kind.
I realize that this article was not just speaking of seniors, although I have seen this quite a bit with senior populations & it has concerned me. Their care providers need to focus on limiting diet choices for health issues like cholesterol, diabetes etc., so the daily "theme" is often about food exclusion rather than inclusion. I've seen many of them just become overwhelmed with all of the exclusion rules and language (omega 3, glycemic, low fat vs. full fat etc.) & everyone telling them what they ought to be doing. I believe this, along with the food prep dilemma (some cannot always stand for extended periods in the kitchen), & the affordability of already cooked turkey or what have you from the deli can cause our seniors to become protein and mineral deficient. There have been studies in these last few years that is showing that amino acid (protein) deficiencies may actually accelerate or even cause alzheimers symptoms.
I know I have gone off on yet another tangent of mine ;), as I just feel that this is so important!
(I will not even get into how whey is not a solution as we depend far too often as it is on products from cattle)

Dawn, what kind of outcomes have you been seeing when folks start to consume more protein?
 
Thanks for the link, catwoman. Very important and great, useful info.
As a smaller woman over 55 I try to take in about 100+ gr. protein per day (as the author recommends for a person of my weight), but I prefer to take in no more than 20 - 25 gr. at a time. I do this by have 4 -5 meals per day, rather than 3 meals of high amounts of protein. Each person has to reflect and think what would work for them...I think the key is to take in protein at every single meal. Sooo many people rely on the evening meal only for protein intake. I have had good results once I woke up and realized I need protein throughout the day.
Thanks again. I will definitely pass on this info to others I know, especially those over 50.
 
Here is an interesting article about how much protein a person over 50 should be eating. Protein is even more important as we get older.


http://breakingmuscle.com/nutrition/protein-requirements-for-the-ageing-athlete

We've actually written numerous articles on this subject if you're interested in further reading:

http://cathe.com/do-you-need-more-dietary-protein-to-build-muscle-as-you-age

http://cathe.com/need-dietary-protein-build-muscle-age-50

http://cathe.com/can-a-high-protein-diet-help-older-adults-lose-weight-and-be-more-functional

http://cathe.com/an-unexpected-perk-of-eating-a-high-protein-diet-for-weight-loss

http://cathe.com/3-ways-muscles-age-and-how-you-can-prevent-it

We have over 2000 well researched articles on a variety of topics. If you're not familiar with our articles just go to our cathe.com home page and you will see a search box just above the first articles. Just type in the keywords you're interested in and the appropriate articles will be retrieved.
 
I have to careful how much protein isolate powder I can eat in one sitting. No more then 25gm for me or my kidneys start acing up.
 

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