Protein is important during perimenopause - here's how much you need and why

Elaine De Silva has spent many hours researching how to look after her body during perimenopause.

The 48-year-old from South Perth/Whadjuk Noongar country says there's been one big takeaway from her doctor's visits, women's health podcasts and books — consuming adequate amounts of protein is a must.

"I'm trying as much as I can to incorporate protein, both animal and vegetable in my diet," she says.

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"I eat protein for lunch and dinner, and I eat one to two boiled eggs every day.

"I'm always looking for protein fortified foods."

Why is protein important during perimenopause and how much should we be consuming each day? We looked to three dietetic and nutrition experts to find out.

There are a couple of reasons, according to Shelley Wilkinson, a dietitian and senior research fellow at the University of Queensland's School of Pharmacy, in Meanjin/Brisbane.

"It helps maintain our muscle mass and also promote feelings of fullness or satiety," she says.

She says during perimenopause, oestrogen levels begin to drop which decreases bone density as well as lean tissue, which is our muscle.

"By having enough protein in our diet, it helps with maintaining that muscle mass, and then it also helps us feel full, which might prevent that weight gain that generally occurs in perimenopause," she says.

"We want to maintain muscle mass to keep our metabolism strong and our body running well, it also keeps us feeling strong and stable as we go into older age."

She says women with strong muscle mass are less likely to have falls as they get older, and keeping bones strong also helps prevent osteoporosis.

Dr Wilkinson says you don't have to know whether you're experiencing perimenopause to assess your protein intake.

"When we look at the national guidelines, they say 0.6 grams per kilogram each day for women between the ages of 19 and 70," she says.

"The daily protein recommendation say for a woman weighing 60 kilos, is 60 multiplied by point six, which is 36 grams a day.

"If they were 70 kilos, it's 42 grams a day."

She says once women reach 50 years of age, the food groups they require change to include more calcium rich foods, which can also be a source of protein.

"It goes up to four serves of dairy a day and then meat and [protein] alternatives — you want two serves a day."

She says people should be aiming to hit the five food groups every day with a balance of lean meats and poultry as well as plant protein.

"Half of the protein that people eat should come from those plant sources," she says.

"So that's nuts and seeds, a lot of legumes and lentils, red kidney beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, tofu, soya beans, edamame, cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans."

She says instead of using processed protein powders, adding skim milk powder is the cheapest and most nutritious way to increase protein.

And be cautious of over-consuming; Dr Wilkinson says if you're taking too many calories in your body, it will store any extra food as fat.

A 2023 study by the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that active women in perimenopause and menopause may need slightly more protein, and have it distributed evenly across meals every three to four hours.

The work includes research by Stacy Sims, an internationally renowned exercise physiologist and nutritional scientist based in New Zealand.

"For [these] perimenopausal and menopausal women, daily protein needs increase to about 2-2.3g per kg of body weight," Dr Sims says.

"As we age, our bodies become more resistant to the muscle-building effects of protein and exercise, requiring higher doses of both."

She says that another study found that after eating, older women experienced a smaller increase in muscle protein synthesis (the metabolic process where amino acids are incorporated into new muscle protein), with some studies showing a drop of up to 40 per cent compared to younger women.

"To achieve the same training responses, an older woman may require a greater quantity of protein to achieve the same result."

Ms De Silva credits feeling strong and healthy during perimenopause to the combination of extra protein and exercise.

"I'm doing strength exercising with weights, which I never used to do, I used to love cardio," she says.

Dr Wilkinson says if you need guidance on what's right for you, consult your GP.

She says GPs can write a chronic disease management plan which includes five subsidised visits a year to practitioners such as dieticians and exercise physiologists.

"Dietitians are really skilled at going, 'Okay, well, what's your budget? What are your food interests? And how can we change the dietary guidelines to adapt to you?'" she says.

Stephen Simpson, the former academic director of the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre, has been studying the impacts of protein on women experiencing perimenopause.

He recommends women consume healthy protein sources where possible to avoid what he calls the "protein leveraging effect" — when our body is craving protein, but we instead consume foods with lower concentrations of protein (processed foods).

"That combination means that our protein appetite is going to drive us to eat more to get to our protein target, and in so doing, you eat more calories than you need," he says.

Stephen Simpson says women experiencing perimenopause can be at greater risk of overeating and weight gain. (Supplied: University of Sydney)

"How it interacts, specifically with women during perimenopause, is that during that period … the hormonal changes that are happening start to break down lean tissue.

"That rides your protein appetite, and unless you increase the concentration of protein in the diet, you're going to be prone to eat even more calories to gain your now increased protein requirements and that's a bad combination."

He says the good news is that you can make small dietary changes to ensure you're consuming foods with a high concentration of protein.

"The evidence suggests it's only about nine or 10 grams of protein extra required a day, so that's a relatively small amount," he says.

"They can be plant-based foods, obviously, the legumes, chickpeas.

"Or increasing your intake of dairy and animal-based proteins as well, they're both going to give you that little bit extra, and to do it in main meals rather than snacking."