How Much Protein Do You Actually Need After Menopause?

As oestrogen falls after menopause, muscle mass and strength decline faster than they did before, and this review examined what the research says about protein's role in slowing that down. It found that post-menopausal women should get at least the standard recommended intake, and that spreading protein across meals rather than loading it at dinner may matter as much as the total amount. The authors were unusually candid about the state of the field: the evidence is limited and not of high quality, making it genuinely difficult to say with confidence exactly how much more protein a menopausal woman needs above the general adult guideline. This honesty is useful in itself, since a lot of popular advice states a precise number with more confidence than the underlying research actually supports. For a woman noticing her strength isn't what it was, it supports a reasonable, low-risk shift, eating more protein and spreading it through the day, while being realistic that the science hasn't yet nailed down the exact target.