3 Silent Signs You’re Not Eating Enough Protein After 40
Are you over 40 and have suddenly started noticing sudden unexplained changes in your body such as sudden fatigue, thinning hair, or that the clothes lying in your closet that you have not worn for some time now suddenly fit tighter when you have not changed your dietary habits and have been “eating less,” it might not be the number of calories it could be that your body is protein deficient.
For the time being, keep your bodybuilding myths aside. Once the body starts aging naturally, and crosses the age of 40, the role of protein as a nutrient in the body isn’t only about building muscle, it’s more about preserving the body’s strength, energy, and resilience levels as you start aging naturally.
And yet, many women quietly fall short on managing the protein levels in their bodies, due to their eating habits, especially if they’ve cut back on meat, dairy, or eggs in their daily diet without replacing the protein levels thoughtfully.
The good news? You don’t need to invest in expensive protein powders or perfection in your diet plan. All that is required are just a few smart, real-food shifts that can restore the nutrient balance in the body in a natural and sustainable manner without having to resort to crash diets and weight loss boot camps.
Let’s explore the 3 silent signs of low protein after 40 that are killing your body and the simple fixes that have actually worked for women of all ages all over the world
Sign #1: Unexplained Weight Gain or Stubborn Belly Fat
You assume that you’re eating “healthy,” yet the scale won’t budge, or worse, for that matter, you’re gaining weight without you even realising it. Your favourite clothes that you loved to wear some time ago, have suddenly started getting tighter. Why?
The reason lies in your study of biology. The human body, after the age of 40, naturally starts losing 3–5% of muscle mass per decade on an average, through a biological process in the body called “sarcopenia”.
The muscles in the body contain metabolically active tissues and the higher the level of tissues that you have in the body, the more the number of calories that the body burns when at rest.
That is why you may have observed many times that some people keep eating all the time, yet never seem to gain weight beyond a certain level. To understand that you need to understand how your body functions once it receives the level of nutrients that it needs.
Are you over 40 and have suddenly started noticing sudden unexplained changes in your body such as sudden fatigue, thinning hair, or that the clothes lying in your closet that you have not worn for some time now suddenly fit tighter when you have not changed your dietary habits and have been “eating less,” it might not be the number of calories it could be that your body is protein deficient.