Dr. Rhonda Patrick

Skeletal muscle makes up around 30 to 40% of our lean body mass.

More muscle doesn't just mean more strength.

It means better metabolism, enhanced insulin sensitivity, and a pretty good defense against type 2 diabetes.

It also dramatically decreases frailty and the risk for sarcopenia, one of the main risk factors for falls and fractures in older adults.

Research has shown that individuals who suffer from a fragility fracture are twice as likely to die compared to those without such fractures.

And between 22 to 58 percent of people with a hip fracture pass away within just 12 months after the injury.

In old age, falling and breaking a hip can literally be a death sentence.

A better body composition dramatically improves quality of life and reduces disability risk.

There are a few factors that play a role in this, but a big player here is a phenomenon called

anabolic resistance.

So as we age, our muscles become less responsive to amino acids, meaning they don't trigger muscle protein synthesis in response to protein intake as effectively.

So for older individuals, the same amount of protein results in a smaller increase in muscle protein synthesis compared to younger people.

Some studies have shown that an older person requires almost twice as much protein for the same response.

For example, around 0.24 grams of protein per kilogram body weight or 0.1 grams per pound.

That's 20 grams of protein for about an 80 kilogram man.

maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis in someone young.

But this dose is higher for older adults who need about 0.4 grams of protein per kilogram or 0.18 grams per pound of protein per dose.

An older adult man weighing about 80 kilograms would need about 32 grams of protein to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

By the way, for anyone taking notes, this suggests

that the optimal amount of protein per dose is between 20 and as high as 35 grams of protein, depending on your personal level of anabolic resistance.