It’s a fact: Your body changes as you age. No matter how fit you are or how well you eat, as you get older, muscle mass inevitably decreases while body fat takes over. It’s a “gradual loss,” deemed sarcopenia, that can occur even before some turn 50.
That also means that your nutritional needs change as you age as to make up for the loss in muscle mass. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for adults. And according to a study led by Il-Young Kim and previously reported by US News, the majority of “older adults” actually require around 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass every single day.
But recent research has revealed that nearly 1 in 3 adults over the age of 50 are still not consuming the amount of protein their bodies require daily. However, there are more than enough ways to get an extra protein push out of your meals and ensure you’re hitting those nutritional marks.
Here’s how:
- Swap regular yogurt for Greek yogurt. 1 serving of Greek yogurt can have anywhere from 15 to 20 grams of protein.
- Get sipping on Ensure™ Max Protein, which has 30 grams of high-quality protein and 1 gram of sugar. It’s available in two protein packed flavors, including Café Mocha and Milk Chocolate.
- Add peanut butter to fruit, which can average around 8 grams of protein on only 2 tablespoons.
- Choose lean ground beef for more protein. 3 ounces of beef is packed with 22 grams of protein.
- Keep high-protein nuts like peanuts, almonds and pistachios handy for when you get hungry. 30 almonds can have as much as 7.6 grams of protein.
- Mix in seeds like hemp, chia or flaxseeds to your meals.
- Opt for fish such as salmon, trout or tuna. One 6 ounce serving of tuna has 50 grams of protein.
