How Smaller Protein Intake for Elderly People Can Improve Quality of Life

Individuals who are over 60 years old may experience decreased appetite and reduced physical capabilities as they age. These bodily changes make it a bit more difficult to ingest sufficient amounts of food and other supplements. That’s why it’s important to look at protein intake for elderly people and find ways to make the benefits of protein consumption as efficient as possible. In other words, we want to ensure that elderly people get MORE nutritional benefit from comparatively less protein because their diets are not as calorically dense as a younger audience. Pronativ has been clinically shown to offer this combination of more efficiency with less consumption.

Finding the right timing of protein ingestion.

Studies show that it’s beneficial to consume only 15g of native whey protein instead of 30g of traditional whey protein isolate to get the same nutritional benefits. The timing of protein intake, however, is another important factor that elderly people should pay close attention to. A 2016 clinical trial performed in healthy elderly (Schenbelen-Berthier, 2016), people were asked to take a supplement with either 0g, 5g, or 8g of native whey protein after a meal. The leucinemia was then measured. The study showed that taking 8g of protein after a meal increases leucinemia and could potentiate MPS. Based on scientific evidence, Pronativ® supplementation in elderly might be a good opportunity to improve MPS, muscle function, and quality of life.

The right timing will have a positive influence on muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and healthy aging overall. And that ideal time is directly after a meal to potentiate the nutrients in the food.

How Pronativ® increases Muscle protein synthesis

In age-related loss of MPS, the enhancement of MPS will hence trigger several functional benefits. In elderly, one of the goals is to increase MPS with a lower food quantity intake due to decrease of appetite. As described earlier, less native whey protein is needed to induce MPS compared to caseins (Gyrson, 2013). So formulating products targeted for healthy aging already has a nutritional advantage over caseins.

How Pronativ® optimizes muscle function.

Increasing MPS can help rebuild muscle and restore their functions.

By consuming only 15g of native whey protein, this age group experienced a faster muscle power recovery and greater muscle mass restoration. This came after cast immobilization and improved contracting capacity during a rehabilitation period (Verney et al., 2017). When associated with multicomponent training, native whey protein consumption (10g/day) for 16 weeks, improved muscle resistance to fatigue (Gryson et al., 2014). In aging rats, Pronativ® consumption increases spontaneous locomotor activity and improves walk parameters, therefore suggesting the functional benefits of Pronativ® supplementation (Lafoux, 2016).

Since less native whey protein is needed to induce MPS and supports muscle function compared to caseins, formulating products targeted for healthy aging already has a nutritional advantage over caseins.

Learn more from the experts.

How Pronativ positively impacts muscle protein synthesis and overall quality of life.

Our latest technical paper Pronativ® | The New Standard for Protein Ingredients features over a dozen studies from worldwide experts. The scientific data explores the different ways in which nutrient-rich protein products can improve the quality of life of athletes and active lifestyle consumers, and how native whey protein can be incorporated into the food matrix.

Fill out the form below to receive an emailed copy of Pronativ® |The New Standard for Protein Ingredients