[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"post-protein-requirements-across-the-lifespan":3,"post-protein-requirements-across-the-lifespan-author":69,"post-protein-requirements-across-the-lifespan-related":85},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":68,"description":13,"excerpt":69,"extension":70,"featuredImage":69,"meta":71,"navigation":72,"path":73,"publishedAt":74,"readingTime":75,"seo":76,"stem":79,"tags":80,"__hash__":84},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fprotein-requirements-across-the-lifespan.md","Protein requirements across the lifespan: what the evidence supports","faculty-clinical-lead",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":57},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,26,29,33,36,40,43,47,50,54],[11,12,13],"p",{},"The reference nutrient intake for protein was designed to prevent deficiency in most healthy adults. It was never designed to describe the intake that best supports muscle maintenance in an 80-year-old recovering from hip surgery. Confusing those two purposes causes real clinical harm.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"children-and-adolescents","Children and adolescents",[11,20,21],{},"Requirements per kilogram fall steadily through childhood while total requirements rise with growth. Deficiency is rare where energy intake is adequate and diets are varied; the more common problem is inadequate total energy.",[15,23,25],{"id":24},"adults","Adults",[11,27,28],{},"For sedentary adults, requirements are modest and easily met. For adults training regularly, higher intakes distributed across the day support adaptation — the distribution matters nearly as much as the total.",[15,30,32],{"id":31},"pregnancy-and-lactation","Pregnancy and lactation",[11,34,35],{},"Requirements rise in the second and third trimesters and during lactation. In practice, appetite usually covers this where food access is adequate; where it is not, protein quality becomes the priority.",[15,37,39],{"id":38},"older-adults","Older adults",[11,41,42],{},"This is where the reference figures mislead most. Anabolic resistance means older muscle responds less to a given protein dose, and illness or immobility accelerates loss. Higher per-meal doses, spread across the day and paired with resistance activity, are the practical response.",[15,44,46],{"id":45},"clinical-caveats","Clinical caveats",[11,48,49],{},"Kidney disease, hepatic encephalopathy and inborn errors of metabolism all change the calculation, sometimes sharply. Protein targets in these groups belong to the care plan, not to general advice.",[15,51,53],{"id":52},"what-this-means-in-practice","What this means in practice",[11,55,56],{},"Assess the person in front of you: their age, their activity, their clinical status and what they will actually eat. A target they never reach is worth less than a slightly lower one they hit every day.",{"title":58,"searchDepth":59,"depth":60,"links":61},"",2,3,[62,63,64,65,66,67],{"id":17,"depth":59,"text":18},{"id":24,"depth":59,"text":25},{"id":31,"depth":59,"text":32},{"id":38,"depth":59,"text":39},{"id":45,"depth":59,"text":46},{"id":52,"depth":59,"text":53},"Clinical Nutrition",null,"md",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fprotein-requirements-across-the-lifespan","2026-06-02",8,{"metaTitle":77,"metaDescription":78,"title":5,"description":13},"Protein requirements across the lifespan: what the evidence supports | Nexus Institute Blog","Requirements set to prevent deficiency are not the same as intakes that support strength and recovery. A stage-by-stage look.","blog\u002Fprotein-requirements-across-the-lifespan",[81,82,83],"protein","sarcopenia","requirements","4dGbzNVQ7G43tZ0U2pfmMSCIfJYtSCFKAOjeyhmZlpo",[]]