Protein seems to be everywhere right now.

It’s on food packaging, in podcasts and all over social media. Somewhere along the way it stopped being something athletes talked about and became one of the biggest conversations in women’s health.

I’ve been wondering whether it’s genuinely worth paying attention to or simply the latest wellness trend.

So this week I’ve been digging into the questions women keep asking about it.

01. Do women really need more protein after 40?

Probably.

As we get older, it becomes harder to maintain muscle and the hormonal shifts of perimenopause can make that feel even more noticeable. Protein helps support not only muscle, but also strength, balance and bone health.

What surprised me most while researching this was just how much of the conversation around healthy ageing comes back to muscle. Protein isn’t the whole story, but it seems to be one of the most important pieces of it.

02. Will eating more protein help me lose weight?

Not directly.

Protein isn’t a weight-loss food, but it can make eating well feel easier. It tends to keep you fuller for longer, which means you’re less likely to be reaching for snacks an hour later.

So no, protein won’t magically make weight fall off. But it may help support the habits that make maintaining a healthy weight feel less like a constant battle.

03. How much protein do I really need?

This is where things start to get confusing.

Depending on who you ask, you’ll hear recommendations ranging from 60g a day to well over 100g.

The general consensus seems to be that many women in midlife would benefit from more protein than the minimum recommendations suggest, particularly if staying strong, active and healthy is the goal.

Rather than getting caught up in calculations, I find it easier to think about meals. Aiming for around 25 - 30g of protein at each meal feels like a practical place to start, especially at breakfast and lunch, where many of us tend to under-eat it.

04. Will eating more protein make me bulky?

This comes up a lot, and the short answer is no.

Eating more protein won’t suddenly make you look like a bodybuilder. Building a lot of muscle takes years of intentional training, progressively lifting heavier weights and consistency.

For most women, eating enough protein simply supports strength, recovery and maintaining the muscle we already have.

05. What if I don’t eat much meat?

You can still get enough protein without eating meat.

Eggs, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, tofu, tempeh, edamame, lentils, beans, chickpeas, soy milk and protein-rich grains can all help.

It may take a little more intention, but it’s absolutely possible and there’s a bonus here too: many natural plant-based protein sources bring fibre with them, which is something most of us could do with more of.

The takeaway, for me, isn’t that we all need to become obsessed with protein.

It’s that many women over 40 probably need to give it a bit more attention than we used to. Not because protein is trendy or because every meal needs to become a calculation, but because this stage of life asks different things of our bodies and food is one of the ways we can support that.

Aiming for roughly 25 - 30g of protein per meal feels like a sensible, non-obsessive place to start, but I’d also add this: protein shouldn’t push everything else off the plate. Fibre, colourful plants, healthy fats and carbohydrates still matter.

A high-protein diet that forgets fibre isn’t the goal. The goal is feeling strong, nourished and steady.

Take a look at your breakfast this week. Does it contain a decent amount of protein? If not, this might be the easiest place to experiment.

Emma Bardwell on Protein & Fibre

Nutritionist Emma Bardwell talks about protein stacking, why muscle matters so much as we age, and why fibre deserves just as much attention as protein.

What I’m taking from this is that protein isn’t just a fitness topic.

It’s part of a much bigger conversation about strength, ageing, hormones, energy and how we want to feel in our bodies as we move through the middle of life.

Not something to obsess over, but definitely something worth understanding.

Until the next edition,

Jasmine
Editor, MIDLIFE