Introduction: current dietary protein requirement recommendations

the current mean dietary protein requirement for healthy adult men and women of all ages, as set by the 1985 joint fao/who/unu expert consultation, is estimated to be 0.6 g protein/kg/d, with a suggested safe level of intake set at 0.75 g protein/kg/d. these protein requirements and allowance estimates were established using a standard method of nitrogen (n) balance in young men, and making extrapolations for older adults and the elderly. while acknowledging that various changes (including progressive changes in body composition, physiological functional capacity, physical activity, total food intake, and frequency of disease) occur with advancing chronological age, all of which might be expected to contribute to altered protein requirements, the consultation felt that insufficient data were available from studies conducted with elderly subjects to determine protein requirements with confidence. it noted that the suggested safe level of protein intake should not be lower than the recommendations for younger adults and suggested that the elderly may utilize dietary protein less efficiently..

Correspondence to: William J. Evans, Noll Physiological Research Center, 119 Noll Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.