Protein Consumption and the Elderly: What Is the Optimal Level of Intake?
1
Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, 2650 N. Young Ave, Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA
2
Department of Geriatrics, the Center for Translational Research on Aging and Longevity, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, College of Medicine, The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2016, 8(6), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8060359
Received: 26 May 2016 / Revised: 2 June 2016 / Accepted: 3 June 2016 / Published: 8 June 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Protein, Exercise and Muscle Health in an Ageing Population)
Maintaining independence, quality of life, and health is crucial for elderly adults. One of the major threats to living independently is the loss of muscle mass, strength, and function that progressively occurs with aging, known as sarcopenia. Several studies have identified protein (especially the essential amino acids) as a key nutrient for muscle health in elderly adults. Elderly adults are less responsive to the anabolic stimulus of low doses of amino acid intake compared to younger individuals. However, this lack of responsiveness in elderly adults can be overcome with higher levels of protein (or essential amino acid) consumption. The requirement for a larger dose of protein to generate responses in elderly adults similar to the responses in younger adults provides the support for a beneficial effect of increased protein in older populations. The purpose of this review is to present the current evidence related to dietary protein intake and muscle health in elderly adults.
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Keywords:
protein; aging; muscle; requirements; anabolic response; protein synthesis; elderly
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Baum, J.I.; Kim, I.-Y.; Wolfe, R.R. Protein Consumption and the Elderly: What Is the Optimal Level of Intake? Nutrients 2016, 8, 359.
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