Protein power: Fueling vitality in ageing Australians
Understanding the multifaceted benefits of protein for older people is not just a matter of nutrition science, but an essential requirement to sustain vitality and quality of life among Australia’s ageing population.
Within the realm of ensuring adequate food and nutrition for an ageing population, the significance of protein cannot be overstated.
Beyond mere sustenance, protein plays a pivotal role in maintaining muscle mass, bone density and prevention of chronic disease.
Protein inadequacy increases risk of sarcopenia, low bone mass, falls ,fractures, infection and non-healing ulcers, contributing to increased mortality and care costs.
For aged care providers and healthcare professionals, a strong focus on protein is imperative to support optimal ageing and preserve functional independence.
Protein requirements in older people
Older adults aged over 65 require a protein intake of 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body mass per day to optimise muscle health and function.
People in residential aged care often have multiple acute or chronic illnesses that would require additional dietary protein to offset inflammatory and catabolic conditions with protein intakes of 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body mass per day recommended.
However, a recent survey of 572residents from 60 aged care homes in Australia found that average protein intakes are much lower, at around 0.8g per kilogram of body mass per day.
Without muscle people lose function, and without function they are more dependent on others.
How to increase protein intake
Increasing the amount of food provided to residents to achieve protein adequacy is unlikely feasible given low appetites and capacity to consume large amounts of food.
Adequate daily protein intake should therefore be achieved by distributing protein evenly across daily meals and snacks, as muscle protein synthesis (MPS) can be stimulated by providing 25 to 30 grams of high quality protein a teach meal.
The type of protein is important as essential amino acids, especially the branched chain amino acids such as leucine, are potent stimulators of MPS, and can help combat age-related muscle loss.
In designing diets to support MPS in older people, a combination of high quality animal and plant protein sources can offer a diverse array of nutrients and ensures a comprehensive spectrum of essential amino acids for optimal muscle health.
Think about protein diversity
While sufficient consumption of foods from the meat and dairy food groups is often associated with protein adequacy, menu planning for residential aged care should consider the role of plant-based proteins that provide additional nutrients such as fibre, micronutrients and unsaturated fat.
Although historically some plant-based proteins possessed a lower protein quality than animal-derived proteins due to lower digestibility and deficiencies
in some essential amino acids, food processing innovation has significantly improved the quality of plant-based proteins, and a recent systematic review of randomised controlled trials concluded that plant proteins may be beneficial in older adults to maintain muscle mass.
The Harvest B range of complementary proteins offers a diverse range of versatile, sustainable and complete protein food solutions that meets aged care nutritional benchmarks.
With growing interest in flexitarian-style diets – which are centred on plant food with limited or occasional inclusion of meat – innovative complementary protein products offer food service professionals and chefs versatility to create simple, highly nutritious meals that contribute to both physical wellbeing and cultural appreciation in an ageing population.
The Harvest B proteins are neutrally flavoured and can be easily added into a range of vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals suitable for residential aged care, such as a chicken-style veggie soup or a boosted ‘mac n cheese’. Offering over20 grams of high quality protein and 1.5 grams of leucine per serve (to support optimal muscle protein synthesis), these complementary protein options help ensure higher protein needs are met within a smaller volume of food, without affecting taste or texture.
Within the current context of the Aged Care Quality Standards, this is the optimal time for reform to menu guidelines to include high-protein alternatives and protein enrichment of regularly consumed menu items, to promote protein adequacy of older adults in residential aged care homes.
