How much protein to aim for after 60, which everyday foods get you there, and how to spread it out.
Muscle loss speeds up in your 60s, and what you eat is one thing you can change.
Muscle loss, called sarcopenia, starts around age 35 at 1–2 percent a year and can accelerate to 3 percent a year after 60. The same Harvard Health piece says strength training can help reverse it. Protein is the other half of the plan.
How much protein you need after 60
The PROT-AGE position paper recommends at least 1.0–1.2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day for people over 65, and 1.2 g/kg or more if you exercise. For a 70 kg person, that’s 84 g or more on active days.
Protein works best alongside lifting. A meta-analysis of 28 randomized trials found that extra protein plus resistance exercise added lean mass in the arms and legs and improved grip strength. Protein without exercise showed no significant benefit.
Key takeaway: Aim for 1.2 g/kg a day if you train, and pair it with resistance exercise.
Foods that make it easy
Protein per 100 g, from USDA data:
- Eggs: 12.6 g for raw whole egg. Cheap, quick, easy to chew.
- Canned light tuna in water: 25.5 g, drained.
- Plain nonfat Greek yogurt: 9.5 g.
- Low-fat cottage cheese: 10.4 g. We covered it in cottage cheese for muscle building.
- Cooked lentils: 9.0 g. A plant option that costs little, though you need a bigger portion to match tuna.
Spread it across meals, but skip the stopwatch
Older muscle responds less to a small dose. In one analysis, muscle protein synthesis in older men leveled off at about 0.40 g/kg in a single meal, versus 0.24 g/kg in younger men. For 70 kg, that’s roughly 28 g per meal. It was a small study of men, and the individual range was wide, so treat it as a ballpark.
What about eating protein within 30 minutes of a workout? A meta-analysis of 23 hypertrophy studies found total daily protein was the strongest predictor of muscle gain, and timing around workouts didn’t add a significant effect. Hit your daily number first.
Key takeaway: Total protein across the day matters most. Meals of about 25–30 g are a sensible target.
Putting it together
- Do the math: body weight in kg × 1.2.
- Build each meal around a protein food. Eggs at breakfast, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese as a snack, tuna or lentils at lunch.
- Lift two or three times a week, at a level your clinician is comfortable with.
Proteinly can help with step two. Its automatic eating timer reminds you to eat every 2 hours, so protein shows up through the day without a calorie-counting spreadsheet. The app is a habit tool and doesn’t promise results.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get enough protein from plants alone?
Yes, but you’ll eat larger portions. Lentils have 9.0 g per 100 g compared with tuna’s 25.5 g.
Should I see a doctor first?
If you have kidney disease or another condition, ask your clinician. The PROT-AGE paper says people with illness may need 1.2–1.5 g/kg, and advice there is individual.
Next steps
Set your daily target, anchor each meal on a protein food, and lift. For a simple routine, visit Proteinly, or find us on YouTube. Build the Habit. Build the Body.
Related: Protein Needs After 40.