Why Protein Matters More Than Ever in Midlife (And How to Actually Eat Enough of It)
Protein is really having a moment right now, I'm sure you've noticed it mentioned everywhere lately - you can't walk out of your house, or be online and not be bombarded with how much you need to focus on protein. I mean we have protein popcorn!!! Thanks Khloe Kardashian (ok so I'm not sure that's in Australia.. but it speaks to the ridiculousness of the protein craze right now).
So is it another fad?
Here's what I want you to know: for women in their 40s and beyond, protein isn't a fad. It's one of the most genuinely important nutritional shifts you can make right now and I promise you can get enough through a whole-foods diet, you don't need to be buying popcorn with protein added! And most women I work with aren't eating nearly enough of it.
Let me explain why, and what to do about it.
Your body's relationship with protein changes in midlife
During perimenopause, oestrogen levels begin to fluctuate and gradually decline. Oestrogen plays a far bigger role in your body than most people realise, including in how well you build and retain muscle.
Research confirms that the increase in sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) in women coincides closely with the onset of menopause. A 2026 review published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle found reductions in lean or muscle mass of around 2.5% in perimenopausal women and 5.7% in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women (1). Studies show that postmenopausal women lose approximately 0.6% of muscle mass per year without intervention (2).
This matters well beyond how your body looks or feels in the gym (although I'm not discounting aesthetics here). Muscle is metabolically active tissue - it burns energy at rest, supports blood sugar regulation, protects your bones, and underpins your strength and independence as you age. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, more unstable energy, and a significantly higher risk of osteoporosis and injury over time.
There's also a blood sugar piece. Declining oestrogen affects insulin sensitivity, making you more susceptible to energy spikes and crashes throughout the day. A protein-rich meal slows glucose absorption and keeps you steadier for longer. Fewer 3pm slumps, fewer cravings and more consistent energy.
"But we don't have a protein deficiency problem"
You might have heard this, I certainly have. It gets repeated often, usually alongside the Australian Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) - the recommended dietary intake for protein sits at 0.75g per kilogram of body weight per day for adult women (3).
And technically, that figure will keep most people out of deficiency. That is precisely what it was designed to do.
But there is an important distinction between the minimum needed to avoid a deficiency and the amount needed for optimal health, muscle maintenance, hormonal support, and healthy ageing. The NRVs were not established with active, perimenopausal women in mind. They were not designed to tell you how much protein you need to build and retain muscle as oestrogen declines, support your metabolism through midlife, or recover well from exercise. They are designed as a population based guideline to avoid deficiency.
When we look at the research, the picture looks quite different. The PROT-AGE Study Group — an international panel of scientists convened specifically to review protein requirements in older adults — concluded in their position paper that the standard RDA is too low for older people, and recommended a minimum of 1.0–1.2g per kilogram of body weight daily simply for maintenance of lean body mass and function (4). For active women, or those focused on building and retaining muscle, the evidence points to intakes closer to 1.5–2g per kilogram of body weight per day (5).
To put that in real terms: for a 70kg woman, the NRV recommendation is around 53g of protein per day. The research-supported range for an active woman her age is 105–140g. That is a significant gap and it rarely shows up as a clinical deficiency. It shows up as fatigue, muscle loss that seems to come from nowhere, blood sugar instability, brittle nails & hair, poor recovery, frequent illnesses, and difficulty maintaining a healthy weight despite doing "everything right."
I want to be clear: I am speaking specifically about middle-aged women navigating perimenopause. This is not a blanket statement for every population. But it reflects what I see consistently in clinic, and it is backed by a growing body of evidence.
Where women fall short
The pattern I see is almost universal: women are under-eating protein, often significantly. And it makes sense - many of us grew up in an era of diet culture that centred on eating less, not eating more of anything. Any 90's kid reading this will remember breakfast consisted of Vegemite toast or Wheat-Bix.
Breakfast is the biggest gap. Toast, cereal, a piece of fruit — these are carbohydrate-dominant starts that spike blood sugar early, drive up cortisol, and leave you hungry well before lunch. A protein-poor breakfast is one of the fastest ways to derail your energy for the entire day.
Lunch tends to be rushed or skipped. A salad with no protein source, a sandwich with a thin slice of something, crackers at the desk. These meals rarely hit more than 10–15g — well short of what your body needs.
Snacks fill the gaps with the wrong things. Fruit, rice cakes, muesli bars — all fine in the right context, but they don't move the protein needle.
Dinner carries too much of the load. This is one of the most common patterns I see in clinic: light eating through the day, and then a protein-rich dinner. The problem is that your body can only effectively use a certain amount of protein for muscle protein synthesis in one sitting. Spreading intake across the day — roughly 25–40g at each main meal — is far more effective than trying to catch up in the evening (4).
Protein isn't just meat
I want to be clear about this, because I work with women who eat meat and women who don't. Protein is abundant in the plant world, you just need to know where to look and how to combine sources thoughtfully. And a diet I promote with clients will have a combination of both.
Excellent plant-based protein sources include:
Legumes — lentils, chickpeas, black beans, edamame (18–20g per cup cooked)
Tempeh — around 20g per 100g, contains all essential amino acids, and takes on flavour beautifully
Tofu — firm tofu provides around 15–17g per 100g
Greek yogurt and cottage cheese — if you eat dairy, these are protein powerhouses at 15–20g per serve
Eggs — 6–7g each, highly bioavailable
Hemp seeds — 10g of complete protein per 3 tablespoons; easy to add to smoothies, yogurt, or salads
Edamame — 17g per cup, a brilliant snack or salad addition
Quinoa — one of the few complete plant proteins, around 8g per cup cooked
The key with plant-based proteins is variety and volume. Combining sources across the day: lentils at lunch, tofu at dinner, hemp seeds in a smoothie. Builds up your daily total effectively. It is also worth noting that animal proteins tend to have higher leucine content and bioavailability, which is relevant for muscle protein synthesis, so if you eat primarily plant-based, being intentional about volume and variety matters more.
Where to start? Breakfast
If I had to pick one meal to focus on first, it is breakfast - every time.
Getting 25–35g of protein in the morning does several things at once: it stabilises blood sugar from the start of the day, blunts the cortisol spike that comes with skipping or under-eating, supports muscle protein synthesis, reduces cravings well into the afternoon, and signals to your nervous system that you are fed and safe. For the women I work with that last point, safety within the nervous system is key - a protein-poor, rushed morning keeps your body in a low-grade stress state that can persist for hours.
Depending on how you're currently eating, it may feel like a big shift. At a recent talk a lady had mentioned she started eating one egg for breakfast for the protein, which is a fabulous start, however she was shocked to learn that one egg was only providing approx 6g protein. Still well short of 25-35g.
Great options include:
Eggs with some greens and sourdough or beans or legumes
Yogurt with seeds and berries
Overnight oats made with cottage cheese
A well-built smoothie with protein powder, oats, and nut butter.
These changes made at breakfast create a ripple effect across the rest of the day.
Want a practical place to start?
I've put together a free guide — Start Strong: Protein-First Mornings for Women in Midlife — that walks you through exactly how to build a protein-anchored breakfast, includes a visual plate guide, and gives you four easy recipes to try this week (including options for plant-based eaters).
It also covers how your nervous system connects to all of this. Because what you eat in the morning isn't just a nutrition decision. It's a signal to your whole body.
And if you read it and think I get the theory, but I just can't seem to make it stick — that's exactly what I'm here for. Book a free 15-minute discovery call and let's work out what protein-first mornings actually look like for your life.
References
Menzies C, Bowtell R, Shur N, Brook MS. Menopause, Female Sex Hormones, Skeletal Muscle Mass and Muscle Protein Turnover in Humans. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. 2026. doi:10.1002/jcsm.70232
Frontiers in Endocrinology. Estrogen, skeletal muscle and postmenopausal sarcopenia. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2024. doi:10.3389/fendo.2024.1494972
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. Canberra: NHMRC; 2006. Available at: eatforhealth.gov.au
Bauer J, Biolo G, Cederholm T, et al. Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2013;14(8):542–559. doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2013.05.021
Stacy Sims. Optimal protein intake for women. Dr Stacy Sims. 2023. Available at: drstacysims.com — citing: Tagawa R, et al. Dose-response relationship between protein intake and muscle mass increase: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Reviews. 2021;79(1):66–75.
