Protein intake and muscle function in older adults
Open accessAbstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We provide an update on the recent advances in nutrition research regarding the role of protein intake in the development and treatment of sarcopenia of aging. RECENT FINDINGS: Specific muscle mass, strength and function cut-points for the diagnosis of sarcopenia have been identified. There is mounting evidence, as highlighted by multiple consensus statements, that the Recommended Dietary Allowance (0.8 g/kg body weight) may be inadequate to promote optimal health in older adults. Recent research indicates that in addition to total daily protein intake the timing of protein intake is also important to best stimulate muscle protein synthesis, and maintain muscle mass and function in older adults. SUMMARY: Recent evidence suggests that the Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is inadequate, and that the timing and distribution of protein consumption throughout daily meals may be as important as the total quantity. Research has continued to advance our understanding of protein's effects on muscle metabolism; however, there remains a need for large, long-term, randomized clinical trials examining whether the positive effects of dietary protein on muscle metabolism seen in acute studies will translate over the long term into gains of muscle mass, function, and the overall health of older adults.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Adequate protein intake is of fundamental importance because a negative protein balance leads to atrophy of skeletal muscles, reduced muscle growth, and a decline in functional status.
“For this reason, adequate protein intake is of fundamental importance as a negative protein balance leads to atrophy of the skeletal muscles, reduced muscle growth, and a decline in functional status [48].”
From Novel Insights on Intake of Fish and Prevention of Sarcopenia: All Reasons for an Adequate Consumption (2020) · cites this paper as [48]
In addition to consuming the recommended amount of protein (1.2 g/kg body weight/day), the distribution of dietary protein throughout the day is important in older adults.
“In addition to consuming the recommended amount of protein (1.2 g/kg body weight/day), the distribution of dietary protein throughout the day is important in older adults [48].”
From Novel Insights on Intake of Fish and Prevention of Sarcopenia: All Reasons for an Adequate Consumption (2020) · cites this paper as [48]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Clegg, A., Young, J., Iliffe, S., Rikkert, M. O., & Rockwood, K. (2013) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)62167-9 · Cited by 9,503 · see citing works
Fielding, R. A., Vellas, B., Evans, W. J., Bhasin, S., Morley, J. E., Newman, A. B., Abellan van Kan, G., Andrieu, S., Bauer, J., Breuille, D., et al. (2011) · Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2011.01.003 · Cited by 3,256 · see citing works
Bauer, J., Biolo, G., Cederholm, T., Cesari, M., Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Morley, J. E., Phillips, S., Sieber, C., Stehle, P., Teta, D., et al. (2013) · Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.021 · Cited by 2,553 · see citing works
Self-citationStudenski, S. A., Peters, K. W., Alley, D. E., Cawthon, P. M., McLean, R. R., Harris, T. B., Ferrucci, L., Guralnik, J. M., Fragala, M. S., Kenny, A. M., et al. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology: Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/glu010 · Cited by 2,545 · see citing works
Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Landi, F., Schneider, S. M., Zuniga, C., Arai, H., Boirie, Y., Chen, L.-K., Fielding, R. A., Martin, F. C., Michel, J.-P., et al. (2014) · Age and Ageing · doi:10.1093/ageing/afu115 · Cited by 1,963 · see citing works
Deutz, N. E. P., Bauer, J. M., Barazzoni, R., Biolo, G., Boirie, Y., Bosy-Westphal, A., Cederholm, T., Cruz-Jentoft, A., Krznariç, Z., Nair, K. S., et al. (2014) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2014.04.007 · Cited by 1,738 · see citing works
Houston, D. K., Nicklas, B. J., Ding, J., Harris, T. B., Tylavsky, F. A., Newman, A. B., Lee, J. S., Sahyoun, N. R., Visser, M., & Kritchevsky, S. B. (2008) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.1.150 · Cited by 1,214 · see citing works
Sarcopenia with limited mobility: an international consensus
Morley, J. E., Abbatecola, A. M., Argiles, J. M., Baracos, V., Bauer, J., Bhasin, S., Cederholm, T., Stewart Coats, A. J., Cummings, S. R., Evans, W. J., et al. (2011) · Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2011.04.014 · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works
Landi, F., Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Liperoti, R., Russo, A., Giovannini, S., Tosato, M., Capoluongo, E., Bernabei, R., & Onder, G. (2013) · Age and Ageing · doi:10.1093/ageing/afs194 · Cited by 619 · see citing works
Grip Strength Cutpoints for the Identification of Clinically Relevant Weakness
Alley, D. E., Shardell, M. D., Peters, K. W., McLean, R. R., Dam, T.-T. L., Kenny, A. M., Fragala, M. S., Harris, T. B., Kiel, D. P., Guralnik, J. M., et al. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/glu011 · Cited by 535 · see citing works
Malnutrition in the elderly: A narrative review
Agarwal, E., Miller, M., Yaxley, A., & Isenring, E. (2013) · Maturitas · doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2013.07.013 · Cited by 510 · see citing works
McLean, R. R., Shardell, M. D., Alley, D. E., Cawthon, P. M., Fragala, M. S., Harris, T. B., Kenny, R. A., Peters, K. W., Ferrucci, L., Guralnik, J. M., et al. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/glu012 · Cited by 476 · see citing works
Dietary protein distribution positively influences 24-h muscle protein synthesis in healthy adults
Mamerow, M. M., Mettler, J. A., English, K. L., Casperson, S. L., Arentson-Lantz, E., Sheffield-Moore, M., Layman, D. K., & Paddon-Jones, D. (2014) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.3945/jn.113.185280 · Cited by 438 · see citing works
Skeletal muscle atrophy during short-term disuse: Implications for age-related sarcopenia
Wall, B. T., Dirks, M. L., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2013) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2013.07.003 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
Cawthon, P. M., Peters, K. W., Shardell, M. D., McLean, R. R., Dam, T.-T. L., Kenny, A. M., Fragala, M. S., Harris, T. B., Kiel, D. P., Guralnik, J. M., et al. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/glu023 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Anabolic Resistance of Muscle Protein Synthesis with Aging
Burd, N. A., Gorissen, S. H., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2013) · Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews · doi:10.1097/jes.0b013e318292f3d5 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
An evidence-based comparison of operational criteria for the presence of sarcopenia
Dam, T.-T., Peters, K. W., Fragala, M., Cawthon, P. M., Harris, T. B., McLean, R., Shardell, M., Alley, D. E., Kenny, A., Ferrucci, L., et al. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/glu013 · Cited by 363 · see citing works
Volpi, E., Campbell, W., Dwyer, J., Johnson, M., Jensen, G., Morley, J., & Wolfe, R. (2013) · The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/gls229 · Cited by 361 · see citing works
Self-citationProtein Intake and Incident Frailty in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study
Beasley, J. M., LaCroix, A. Z., Neuhouser, M. L., Huang, Y., Tinker, L., Woods, N., Michael, Y., Curb, J. D., & Prentice, R. L. (2010) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02866.x · Cited by 337 · see citing works
Mortality as an adverse outcome of sarcopenia
Arango-Lopera, V. E., Arroyo, P., Gutiérrez‐Robledo, L. M., Pérez‐Zepeda, M. U., & Cesari, M. (2013) · The journal of nutrition health & aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-012-0434-0 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Chalé, A., Cloutier, G. J., Hau, C., Phillips, E. M., Dallal, G. E., & Fielding, R. A. (2013) · The Journals of Gerontology: Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/gls221 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Dietary protein and muscle in older persons
Paddon-Jones, D., & Leidy, H. (2014) · Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care · doi:10.1097/mco.0000000000000011 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Sarcopenia and malnutrition in acutely ill hospitalized elderly: Prevalence and outcomes
Cerri, A. P., Bellelli, G., Mazzone, A., Pittella, F., Landi, F., Zambon, A., & Annoni, G. (2014) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2014.08.015 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Kim, C.-O., & Lee, K.-R. (2013) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/gls167 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
The role of dietary protein intake in the prevention of sarcopenia of aging
Beasley, J. M., Shikany, J., & Thomson, C. (2013) · Nutrition in clinical practice · doi:10.1177/0884533613507607 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Berner, L. A., Becker, G., Wise, M., & Doi, J. (2013) · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1016/j.jand.2013.01.014 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Bollwein, J., Diekmann, R., Kaiser, M., Bauer, J. M., Uter, W. J. C., Sieber, C. C., & Volkert, D. (2013) · Nutrition Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2891-12-109 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Dong, J.-Y., Zhang, Z.-L., Wang, P.-Y., & Qin, L.-Q. (2013) · British Journal Of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114513002055 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Bouillanne, O., Curis, E., Hamon-Vilcot, B., Nicolis, I., Chrétien, P., Schauer, N., Vincent, J.-P., Cynober, L., & Aussel, C. (2013) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2012.08.015 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Dietary protein requirements of younger and older adults
Campbell, W. W., Johnson, C. A., McCabe, G. P., & Carnell, N. S. (2008) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26072 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Is there a maximal anabolic response to protein intake with a meal?
Deutz, N. E., & Wolfe, R. R. (2013) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2012.11.018 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Exercise and nutrition to target protein synthesis impairments in aging skeletal muscle
Dickinson, J. M., Volpi, E., & Rasmussen, B. B. (2013) · Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews · doi:10.1097/jes.0b013e3182a4e699 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Gregório, L., Brindisi, J., Kleppinger, A., Sullivan, R., Mangano, K. M., Bihuniak, J., Kenny, A., Kerstetter, J., & Insogna, K. (2013) · The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-013-0391-2 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Rafii, M., Chapman, K., Owens, J., Elango, R., Campbell, W. W., Ball, R. O., Pencharz, P. B., & Courtney-Martin, G. (2015) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.3945/jn.114.197517 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Churchward-Venne, T., Breen, L., & Phillips, S. M. (2014) · Biofactors · doi:10.1002/biof.1138 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Arciero, P. J., Ormsbee, M. J., Gentile, C. L., Nindl, B. C., Brestoff, J. R., & Ruby, M. (2013) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.20296 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Biomarker-Calibrated Protein Intake and Physical Function in the Women’s Health Initiative
Beasley, J. M., Wertheim, B., Lacroix, A. Z., Prentice, R., Neuhouser, M., Tinker, L., Kritchevsky, S., Shikany, J., Eaton, C., Chen, Z., et al. (2013) · Journal of The American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.12503 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Beck, A. M., Kjær, S., Hansen, B. S., Storm, R. L., Thal-Jantzen, K., & Bitz, C. (2012) · Clinical Rehabilitation · doi:10.1177/0269215512469384 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Luiking, Y. C., Deutz, N. E. P., Memelink, R. G., Verlaan, S., & Wolfe, R. R. (2014) · Nutrition Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2891-13-9 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Tang, M., McCabe, G. P., Elango, R., Pencharz, P. B., Ball, R. O., & Campbell, W. W. (2014) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.042325 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Correa‐de‐Araujo, R., & Hadley, E. (2014) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · doi:10.1093/gerona/glt208 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Liu, C. K., Leng, X., Hsu, F.-C., Kritchevsky, S. B., Ding, J., Earnest, C. P., Ferrucci, L., Goodpaster, B. H., Guralnik, J. M., Lenchik, L., et al. (2014) · The Journal of nutrition, health and aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-013-0369-0 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Sarcopenia: A useful paradigm for physical frailty
Cruz-Jentoft, A., & Michel, J. (2013) · European Geriatric Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.eurger.2013.02.009 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Protein intake protects against weight loss in healthy community-dwelling older adults.
Gray-donald, K., St-Arnaud-Mckenzie, D., Gaudreau, P., Morais, J., Shatenstein, B., & Payette, H. (2014) · Journal of NutriLife · doi:10.3945/jn.113.184705 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Velázquez-Alva, M. C., Irigoyen‐Camacho, M. E., Delgadillo‐Velazquez, J., & Lazarevich, I. (2013) · PubMed · doi:10.3305/nh.2013.28.2.6180 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Protein Requirement of Elderly Women: Nitrogen Balance Responses to Three Levels of Protein Intake
Morse, M. H., Haub, M. D., Evans, W. J., & Campbell, W. W. (2001) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/56.11.m724 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Tang, M., Armstrong, C. L. H., Leidy, H. J., & Campbell, W. W. (2013) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.20078 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
The importance of dietary protein for muscle health in inactive, hospitalized older adults
Thalacker-Mercer, A., & Drummond, M. (2014) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/nyas.12509 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., & Sayer, A. A. (2019) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)31138-9 · Cited by 3,905 · see citing works
The Role of Inflammation in Age-Related Sarcopenia
Dalle, S., Rossmeislova, L., & Koppo, K. (2017) · Frontiers in Physiology · doi:10.3389/fphys.2017.01045 · Cited by 668 · see citing works
Exercise and nutrition strategies to counteract sarcopenic obesity
Trouwborst, I., Verreijen, A., Memelink, R., Massanet, P., Boirie, Y., Weijs, P., & Tieland, M. (2018) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu10050605 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Protein intake and physical function in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Coelho-Júnior, H. J., Calvani, R., Tosato, M., Landi, F., Picca, A., & Marzetti, E. (2022) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2022.101731 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Porter Starr, K. N., Pieper, C. F., Orenduff, M. C., McDonald, S. R., McClure, L. B., Zhou, R., Payne, M. E., & Bales, C. W. (2016) · The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · doi:10.1093/gerona/glv210 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Overweight in elderly people induces impaired autophagy in skeletal muscle
Potes, Y., de Luxán-Delgado, B., Rodriguez-González, S., Guimarães, M. R. M., Solano, J. J., Fernández-Fernández, M., Bermúdez, M., Boga, J. A., Vega-Naredo, I., & Coto-Montes, A. (2017) · Free Radical Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2017.05.018 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Rondanelli, M., Rigon, C., Perna, S., Gasparri, C., Iannello, G., Akber, R., Alalwan, T. A., & Freije, A. M. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12020307 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Dietary Protein and Muscle in Aging People: The Potential Role of the Gut Microbiome
Ni Lochlainn, M., Bowyer, R. C. E., & Steves, C. J. (2018) · doi:10.20944/preprints201806.0152.v1 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Kuczmarski, M. F., Pohlig, R. T., Stave Shupe, E., Zonderman, A. B., & Evans, M. K. (2018) · The Journal of nutrition, health and aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-018-1006-8 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Al-Rawhani, A. H., Adznam, S. N., Abu Zaid, Z., Md. Yusop, N. B., M. Sallehuddin, H., & Alshawsh, M. A. (2024) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2024.08.033 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
- Authors
- Deer, R. R., & Volpi, E.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
- Corresponding author
- Volpi, Elena
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care
- Published
- 2015-05
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 248-253
- ISSN
- 1363-1950 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4394186
- OpenAlex
- W2009987429
- Cited by
- 206
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 9
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG030070, P30AG024832)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Keywords
- protein intake, sarcopenia, older adults, muscle function, muscle mass, muscle strength, muscle protein synthesis, protein distribution, RDA
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aging, Body Composition, Diet, Dietary Proteins, Humans, Muscle Proteins, Nutritional Requirements, Muscle, Skeletal, Sarcopenia
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
