What is the Optimal Amount of Protein to Support Post-Exercise Skeletal Muscle Reconditioning in the Older Adult?
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing physiological evidence and offering dosing recommendations without systematic review methodology.
PubMed 26894275 · doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0504-2
What was done
This narrative review examined the dose-dependent relationship between dietary protein ingestion and skeletal muscle protein synthesis during recovery from resistance-type exercise in older adults compared with younger adults, providing dosing recommendations to support muscle reconditioning.
What was found
In younger adults, post-exercise muscle protein synthesis responds in a dose-dependent manner and is maximally stimulated by ~20 g of protein. Older adults show an attenuated muscle protein synthesis response to doses below ~20 g. However, older muscle retains the capacity for robust stimulation when ingesting higher doses of ~40 g of protein.
Why it matters
Older adults exhibit age-related anabolic resistance to dietary protein, meaning standard post-exercise nutrition guidelines developed in younger populations are likely insufficient for maximizing muscle reconditioning in older adults.
Limits
The abstract describes a narrative review without systematic search or meta-analytic methodology. It does not report precise sample numbers, statistical effect sizes, or chronic clinical outcomes such as long-term hypertrophy or functional strength changes.
Cited by
- supports Older adults exhibit anabolic resistance, showing less stimulation of muscle protein synthesis in response to 20 grams of protein compared to young adults.