Body · Reported · Evidence-based

Protein for women over 40: how much you actually need (and why the RDA is too low)

After Forty Feel Editorial · 7 min read · Updated June 2026 · Every claim links to its primary source.

If you are eating for the protein number on the back of the packet, you are probably eating for the wrong decade. The standard Recommended Dietary Allowance — 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight — was set to prevent deficiency in the average adult, not to protect muscle in a woman navigating perimenopause and beyond. After 40, your body resists building muscle more (a phenomenon called anabolic resistance), which is exactly when getting protein right matters most.

How much you actually need

An international expert position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group concluded that older adults need more protein than the RDA — at least 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg of body weight per day to maintain and regain muscle, with more (1.2–1.5 g/kg) for those who are active or managing illness.¹ For a 70 kg (154 lb) woman, that is roughly 84–105 g of protein a day, versus the ~56 g the old RDA implies. The same group recommends pairing intake with resistance exercise and getting a meaningful dose (around 20+ g of quality protein) around training.¹

But more protein isn’t magic — training is the real driver

Here is the nuance most "eat more protein" content skips. A 2017 randomized controlled trial put postmenopausal women on a 10-week resistance-training program and compared a higher-protein diet (~1.2 g/kg) against the RDA-level intake (~0.8 g/kg). The result: the higher-protein group did not gain more lean mass than the RDA group.² The lifting drove the gains. The honest read of the evidence together: get enough protein (around 1.0–1.2 g/kg — comfortably above the RDA), but don’t believe that megadosing shakes will rebuild muscle on its own. Protein supports the work; resistance training is the work.

How to actually hit it

Anchor each meal with protein — roughly 25–35 g per meal is an easy way to reach 1.0–1.2 g/kg across the day.
Prioritize whole-food sources — eggs, dairy/Greek yogurt, fish, poultry, lean meat, tofu, legumes. Supplement only to fill gaps.
Have some protein around training to support recovery.¹
Spread it out rather than back-loading it all at dinner.

When to check with a clinician

If you have kidney disease or another condition that affects protein metabolism, talk to your doctor before raising your intake — higher-protein targets are not appropriate for everyone. For most healthy midlife women, the bigger risk is eating too little protein, not too much.

Sources

Claims verified against the primary literature. Full citations:

PROT-AGE Study Group (Bauer J, et al.). Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14(8):542–559. DOI
Higher Protein Intake Does Not Improve Lean Mass Gain When Compared with RDA Recommendation in Postmenopausal Women Following Resistance Exercise Protocol: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2017;9(9):1007. DOI

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General health journalism, not medical advice. Talk to a qualified clinician about your individual needs, especially with kidney or metabolic conditions. See our medical disclaimer.