Protein Tips for Men and Women Over 50: How to Adjust Your Intake for Optimal Muscle Health

Alan explains why adjusting your protein intake after 50 can help fight muscle loss and fatigue—common challenges of aging that affect both men and women. His latest insights cover why our bodies become less efficient at using protein with age, and what specific steps can help maintain muscle strength and motivation as the years go by.

Why Protein Intake Matters As You Age

Alan explains that everyone is at risk for a condition called sarcopenia as we age. Sarcopenia is a subtle but impactful change where our bodies “lose the ability to assimilate protein” or, more specifically, our muscles become less responsive to the amino acids circulating in our blood. Instead of shuttling these amino acids toward muscle growth or maintenance, the body may start to store them as fat or simply excrete them.

Alan points out:

It’s kind of like our muscles forget that those amino acids were really important to them and they let them bypass…

This means that, even if you’ve always eaten “enough” protein, your needs and how your body uses protein both change as you hit your late 40s and 50s. Alan stresses that sarcopenia can actually start as early as age 45 to 50, especially for people who are less active.

Practical Steps: Optimizing Your Protein Intake Over 50

Adopt a “Protein Forward” Diet

Alan suggests anchoring your daily eating habits around protein. He calls this a “protein forward diet,” making it the heart of your meal planning instead of an afterthought.

Actually as we get older we should be monitoring and trying to hit a protein goal every day. As a matter of fact, I talk to people about having what’s called a protein forward diet.

This means that, when planning your meals, you start by deciding how you’ll reach your protein target and build the rest of your plate around that.
Know Your Protein Number

For those familiar with their weight in kilograms, Alan recommends aiming for somewhere between 1.6 and 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. If you prefer pounds, he suggests calculating your lean body weight (subtracting body fat) before working out your daily goal.

If you know your weight in kilos, somewhere between 1.6 and 2 grams per kilo of body weight per day.

Unsure about your lean body mass? Alan notes that you can easily check your BMI (Body Mass Indicator) using online calculators by inputting your height and weight. This offers a starting point to understand your healthy range, though Alan highlights that truly knowing your body composition gives the most accurate target.
Don’t Skip On Essential Amino Acids

According to Alan, another simple intervention to support muscle health is supplementing with essential amino acids. He explains that 5 grams of essential amino acids per day have been “clinically shown to reactivate the receptor sites” for muscle protein uptake. This can “wake up” your muscles’ ability to use dietary protein more efficiently.

One of the things we would want to do then is make sure that our amino acid receptor sites are active and we do that through the use of essential amino acids. So 5 grams of essential amino acids per day has been clinically shown to reactivate the receptor sites for muscle protein…
Space Your Protein Intake Throughout the Day

Rather than saving all your protein for dinner, Alan recommends spreading your intake consistently over the day. This helps your muscles have constant access to the amino acids they need to maintain and rebuild.

…then having this protein forward diet where we would look at our body weight and we would have this goal to meet that minimum sort of requirement of protein per day and have that spread throughout the day.
Stay Active and Add Resistance Training

Alan emphasizes that activity and even small amounts of resistance exercise can dramatically improve muscle mass and bone health, even for women over 80. Regular activity keeps muscles receptive to protein, and exercise can even help reverse bone loss in older adults.

…we did this study in women and just a small amount of exercise we’d see an immediate sort of response in their lean muscle mass as well as the bones that we were checking for osteopenia, osteoporosis and could we stop it or reverse it and we found that there’s ways to do that.

Sex-Specific Considerations: Protein for Men vs. Women After 50

How Hormones Change the Game

Male and female bodies respond differently to aging, and Alan lays out how shifts in hormones require tailored protein strategies.

For Women:
- Alan explains that women naturally have more body fat compared to men, partly due to higher estrogen and progesterone levels. After menopause, these hormones drop, and women start to lose muscle mass more rapidly.
- In his clinical experience, Alan has seen that monitoring testosterone in older women is becoming more common, as even women have “some testosterone,” and dropping levels correlate with muscle loss, reduced endurance, and lower mobility.
- Alan recommends that women “protein load in the morning and taper off in the evening.” This aligns with the body’s changing hormone profile throughout the day after 50.
For Men:
- Men maintain testosterone production their entire life, with Alan noting a 24-hour “recycling” of testosterone levels. This helps preserve their ability to build and maintain lean muscle.
- Men can spread their protein intake more evenly throughout the day, as they don’t experience the same sharp hormone drop-offs as women do after midlife. Alan also suggests that men should monitor their testosterone to ensure it’s in a good range, as this is key for muscle maintenance.

Calculating Your “Healthy” Body Fat Range

Alan shares his guidelines for healthy BMI and body fat ranges to support muscle health:

For men: Aim for a BMI “definitely under 27”; for optimal health, body fat in the 11 to 18% range.
For women: Aim for a BMI under 30 (ideally 19 to 23-24% body fat), as women naturally need a bit more fat for hormonal health.

These aren’t rigid cut-offs, but Alan suggests that tighter ranges support better muscle and metabolic health as you age.

Final Thoughts: Tailor Your Protein Intake for Lifelong Muscle Health

As Alan underscores throughout his episode, muscle loss and the resulting mobility and vitality decline aren’t inevitable parts of aging. With consistent attention to how much (and when) you eat protein, making activity part of your daily routine, and understanding how your body’s needs change with age and by sex, you can keep muscle loss at bay and retain that “vim for life.”

Alan also encourages considering genetic testing as a powerful tool for personalizing your protein strategy and dietary choices. This can help you see whether approaches like carnivore, keto, or intermittent fasting truly fit your biology — or if you need a more nuanced plan to meet your unique protein needs.

Ready to take the next step? Comment below if you have questions, share your experiences, or reach out to Alan through the contact page to learn more about genetic testing and personalized protein recommendations. And don’t forget to check the link to DNA Power, Total Power Genetic Test — this is the genetic tool Alan uses with his clients to unlock a more tailored approach to protein intake for aging men and women.

Here’s to stronger, healthier years ahead!