Nutrition

How Much Protein You Really Need After 40

July 14, 2026 · 4 min read

If I could change one thing about how the average man over 40 eats, it wouldn’t be cutting sugar or going low-carb or any of the usual advice. It would be protein. Getting enough of it is the closest thing to a cheat code I know, and almost nobody does it without paying attention.

Why protein matters more as you age

Protein is what your body uses to build and repair muscle. After 40, when you’re naturally fighting muscle loss, that job becomes more important, not less. On top of that, your body actually becomes a little less efficient at using protein as you age, which means you need a bit more of it than a younger man to get the same effect.

Protein does three big things for you:

It protects and builds muscle, especially when you’re training and when you’re losing fat.
It keeps you full, so you eat less without feeling like you’re being starved.
It takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat, so it quietly helps with fat loss.

How much you actually need

Forget the tiny official minimums designed to stop deficiency. For a man over 40 who wants to build muscle, lose fat and recover well, a good target is roughly 1.6 to 2 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day. For a lot of men that lands somewhere around 140 to 180 grams a day.

When I tell men that, the usual reaction is surprise, because they’re often eating half of it. A bit of milk in the coffee, a sandwich at lunch, a normal dinner, and they’re nowhere near. The gap between what they think they eat and what they actually eat is enormous.

The simplest way to hit it

You don’t need to weigh everything or live on chicken and rice. The easiest rule I give men is this: build every meal around a proper serving of protein first, then add the rest. A palm-to-two-palms sized portion of meat, fish, eggs, dairy or a protein-rich vegetarian option at each meal gets most men most of the way there.

Practical anchors that work in real life:

Eggs or Greek yoghurt at breakfast instead of just toast or cereal.
A real portion of meat or fish at lunch and dinner, not a token amount.
A protein shake as a convenient top-up on busy days, not as a replacement for food.
Snacks that carry protein, like yoghurt, cheese, biltong or a handful of nuts with it.

What changes when you get it right

The men I coach who finally start hitting their protein notice it fast. They’re less hungry between meals. Their strength in the gym climbs more steadily. They recover better, so they’re not as sore and beaten up. And when they’re losing fat, they hold onto their muscle, so they end up looking tighter rather than just smaller. It’s not glamorous advice, but it’s the single most reliable nutrition change I’ve seen.

Don’t overcomplicate the rest

Once your protein is handled, the rest of your nutrition gets much easier. Fill the plate out with vegetables, have carbs sensibly around your training and your busy days, don’t fear healthy fats, and keep an honest eye on the drinks. You don’t need to demonise carbs or go keto. You need a solid protein base and a bit of consistency.

How this fits into coaching

Inside my coaching, nutrition is never a crash diet handed to you on a sheet. It’s built around your life, your tastes and your schedule, and protein is always the foundation. I’d rather teach you to eat in a way you can keep for good than put you on something you’ll abandon in a fortnight.

If numbers and grams aren’t your thing, here’s an even simpler test you can use for the rest of your life. Look down at your plate at every meal and ask one question: where’s the protein? If the honest answer is “there’s a little” or “there isn’t really any,” you’ve just found what to fix, three times a day. Do it at breakfast especially, which is the meal most men completely neglect, defaulting to toast, cereal or just coffee. Swap in eggs, Greek yoghurt or a shake and you’ve closed most of the gap before the day’s even started, without weighing a thing or opening an app.