Protein After 40: How Much Protein Do You Need?
Protein after 40 matters for strength and healthy ageing. Learn how much you need and discover practical ways to add more protein to everyday meals.
NUTRITION & PROTEIN
Morgan S. Wallis
10/12/20266 min read
Protein matters at every stage of life, but from our 40s onwards it becomes especially useful to pay attention to both how much we eat and how we spread it across the day. As we get older, maintaining muscle becomes more important for strength, mobility and healthy ageing. Protein provides the building blocks our bodies need to support that muscle.
The good news is that getting enough protein doesn't have to mean dramatically changing the way you eat, relying on supplements, or putting chicken breast on the menu seven days a week. A few practical changes to everyday meals can make a surprisingly big difference.
Why does protein become more important as we get older?
Muscle mass and strength naturally tend to decline as we get older. Staying active, especially with resistance or strength-based exercise, helps protect muscle, but nutrition matters too.
Protein supplies amino acids that the body uses to build and repair tissues, including muscle. It also plays important roles throughout the body, from supporting normal immune function to producing enzymes and other essential structures.
This doesn't mean everyone suddenly needs a high-protein diet when they turn 40. In fact, the UK Reference Nutrient Intake for adults remains 0.75 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. What changes with ageing is the context. Maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important, and research has led some expert groups to suggest higher protein intakes for older adults.
How much protein do you actually need?
There isn't one perfect protein target for every woman over 40. Your needs depend on factors such as your body weight, age, activity level and overall health.
In the UK, the Reference Nutrient Intake for adults is 0.75 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For someone weighing 70 kg, that works out at around 52.5 g of protein a day. This is a population reference intake designed to meet the needs of most healthy adults, rather than a personalised target for achieving a particular fitness or body composition goal.
As people get older, some expert groups recommend higher intakes. The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, for example, recommends at least 1.0 g per kilogram of body weight per day for older adults. Its guidance notes that 1.0 to 1.2 g per kilogram per day has been suggested for healthy older people. That would be around 70 to 84 g per day for someone weighing 70 kg.
There is an important distinction here. These higher recommendations are aimed at older adults, so they should not simply be treated as a rule for every woman as soon as she turns 40. For women in midlife, the more useful message is to make protein a regular part of a balanced diet and to consider individual needs rather than chasing a single number.
What does that look like on your plate?
Protein doesn't need to dominate every meal. A more practical approach is to include a good source of protein with every meal and build the rest of the meal around foods you enjoy.
Breakfast is often the meal where people overlook protein. Eggs, Greek-style yoghurt, cottage cheese or a combination of smaller protein-rich ingredients can make breakfast more substantial without making it complicated.
At lunch, think beyond a token slice of ham or a sprinkling of cheese. Chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon, eggs, tofu, beans, lentils and dairy foods can all help turn a light lunch into something more satisfying.
Dinner is usually the easiest meal to include protein in. Fish, lean meat, poultry, tofu, tempeh, beans, and pulses can form the foundation of the meal, with vegetables, salads, and other sides adding variety.
Snacks can contribute too. Yoghurt, cottage cheese, boiled eggs, nuts, and seeds are simple options when they suit your diet and appetite.
You don't have to live on chicken and protein shakes
Eating more protein is sometimes associated with repetitive meals, but there is no reason it has to be that way.
Protein can come from meat, poultry, and fish, but also from eggs, dairy foods, beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts, and seeds. Different foods bring different nutrients to the table, which is one reason variety matters.
Protein shakes can be convenient, particularly when time or appetite makes a meal difficult, but they are not a requirement. For most people, everyday food can do much of the work.
That is also why variety became such an important part of the High-Protein Low-Carb Cookbook for Women Over 40. With 265 recipes across breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the aim is not to prescribe one rigid way of eating. It gives you enough choice to find meals that work in real life.
Should you spread protein throughout the day?
It is easy to eat relatively little protein earlier in the day and then rely on dinner to provide most of it. A more balanced approach is to include protein across your meals rather than saving most of it for the evening.
This does not mean weighing every ingredient or hitting an exact amount at every meal. Start with something simpler. Look at breakfast, lunch and dinner and ask whether each contains a meaningful source of protein.
If breakfast is mostly toast or cereal, you might add eggs or yoghurt. If lunch is usually a light sandwich or salad, you could add chicken, tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, tofu, beans or lentils. At dinner, build the meal around a protein source you enjoy and add vegetables and other foods around it.
Small changes repeated consistently are often much easier to live with than completely redesigning your diet overnight.
Simple ways to eat more protein
Add Greek-style yoghurt or cottage cheese to breakfast.
Keep boiled eggs ready for an easy meal or snack.
Add chicken, tuna, salmon, tofu or beans to salads.
Include beans or lentils in soups, stews and casseroles.
Choose a protein-rich filling for sandwiches and wraps.
Add yoghurt, nuts or seeds when they fit naturally into a meal.
Cook an extra portion of your main protein source for lunch the following day.
Keep a few simple high-protein meals available for days when you have less time to cook.
You do not need to make all of these changes at once. Pick one or two that fit the way you already eat. Once they become normal, you can decide whether anything else needs changing.
What about protein during perimenopause and menopause?
Perimenopause and menopause can bring changes that affect how women think about food, exercise, and their long-term health. Body composition can change during this stage of life, and maintaining muscle and bone health becomes increasingly important as we get older.
Protein plays a role because it supports muscle growth and maintenance and helps maintain normal bone health. But it is only one part of the picture. Regular physical activity, particularly muscle-strengthening exercise, together with a varied and balanced diet, remains important.
It is also worth separating protein from some of the bigger claims made about menopause online. Eating more protein is not a treatment for menopause, and no single menopause diet works for everyone.
A more useful approach is to focus on what you can realistically influence: eating well, staying active, including good sources of protein in your meals, and building habits you can maintain.
Do you need to count every gram?
For most people, probably not.
Tracking protein for a short period can help if you are curious about how much you currently eat, but food shouldn't become a permanent maths exercise. You can make meaningful improvements simply by becoming more aware of where the protein in your meals comes from.
Start with your normal diet. Look for the meals where protein is already well represented, then look at the gaps. Breakfast or lunch may need more attention than dinner. Once you know where those gaps are, improving them becomes much easier.
If you have a medical condition, have been advised to restrict protein, or have particular nutritional needs, individual advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional or dietitian is more useful than following a general target from an article.
Make protein work for your life
Eating more protein doesn't have to mean following a rigid meal plan, giving up the foods you enjoy, or eating the same handful of meals every week.
Start with what you already eat. Look at where protein might be missing, make a few practical changes, and build from there. The aim is not perfection. It is finding an approach that gives you plenty of variety, fits your lifestyle, and feels realistic enough to keep doing.
And remember, turning 40 does not suddenly change the rules of nutrition. It simply makes this a good time to think about the habits that can support your strength and health in the years ahead.
Looking for more high-protein meal ideas?
High-Protein Low-Carb Cookbook for Women Over 40 brings together 265 recipes designed to give you more choice across breakfast, lunch and dinner, without relying on complicated ingredients or repetitive meals. Explore the cookbook, launching 26 October 2026
The book also includes access to the 90-Day High-Protein Masterplan, created to help you turn individual recipes into a practical longer-term approach.
You can explore the book and the wider Ageless Warrior series here at Indigo Woo.
Sources
British Nutrition Foundation
Protein: nutrition information and dietary requirements
European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN)
ESPEN practical guideline: Clinical nutrition and hydration in geriatrics
NHS
Things you can do to help menopause and perimenopause symptoms
Further reading
NHS
How to improve your strength and flexibility
NHS
Food for healthy bones
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