Living longer
Deepening knowledge about health and disease coupled with advances in medical technology is helping people live longer than ever before.
Meanwhile, the population aged 60 and older in the WHO European Region is rapidly growing – from 215 million in 2021 to a projected 247 million by 2030, and over 300 million by 2050. The number of people aged 80 and over – those most likely to need support – is expected to more than double by 2050, placing additional demands on health and care systems2.
Improve muscle health
Ageing brings with it many changes in health status, one of which is sarcopenia – a natural decline in skeletal muscle mass and function. Sarcopenia can have devastating effects on mobility, overall quality of life and life expectancy.
Fortunately, people can slow In fact, three separate human clinical trials3,4,5 show that our hydrolysed whey ingredient, Lacprodan® HYDRO.Rebuild, can help counteract sarcopenia in resistance-trained elderly women.
The trials document significant health improvements in women consuming whey, including:
- Increased muscle mass
- Improved muscle strength
- Improved mobility
- Slimmer waist
- Reduced body fat
What makes whey so special? Whey protein is superior to other protein sources for muscle synthesis in the elderly678. This is due to its higher leucine content and fast absorption rate. Further, it provides all of the essential amino acids (EAAs) in a highly accessible form.
Staying strong with proteins
The current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 g/kg/day; however, a substantial proportion of older adults do not meet recommended intake levels. Meta-analytic evidence suggests that ~20% fall below the RDA, while nearly half fail to reach higher intake thresholds (≥1.0 g/kg/day) commonly proposed to support healthy ageing9.
High-quality protein and exercise to counteract sarcopenia
Scientific evidence increasingly suggests whey protein may be taken as a high-quality protein supplement to maintain muscle mass and strength during ageing10. An intake of at least 1.2g protein/kg body weight/day in combination with an active lifestyle may help to counteract 11.
Quality over quantity
We’ve all heard the saying “quality over quantity” and this is certainly true with protein. Protein quality is measured using the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS), which reflects the amino acid content of a protein plus its bioavailability to humans. A score of one or above means that the dietary protein source supplies a highly available and digestible form of all the amino acids that are indispensable to the human body (the
Protein quality can also be measured through the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). In this case, the highest possible score is 1.0. A protein source with a score of 1.0 offers 100 percent or more of the EAAs per unit of protein according to human requirements.
These scores demonstrate that whey delivers higher quality protein when compared with other common dietary protein sources.12, 13, 14,15
Protein quality of common protein sources12, 13, 14,15
1. United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA (Asia & The Pacific)
2. WHO 2026
3. Junior PS, Ribeiro AS, Nabuco HCG, et al. Effects of Whey Protein Supplementation. Associated With Resistance Training on Muscular Strength, Hypertrophy and Muscle Quality in Pre-Conditioned Older Women. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2017;(January):1-27. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0253.
4. Nabuco HCG, Tomeleri CM, Sugihara Junior P, et al. Effects of whey protein supplementation pre- or post-resistance training on muscle mass, muscular strength, and functional capacity in pre-conditioned older women: A randomized clinical trial. Nutrients. 2018;10(5):1-14. doi:10.3390/nu10050563.
5. Silva AM, Barbosa DS, Fernandes RR, et al. Effects of Protein Intake Beyond Habitual. Intakes Associated With Resistance Training on Metabolic Syndrome- Related Parameters, Isokinetic Strength and Body Composition in Older Women. J Aging Phys Act. 2019:1-25. doi:10.1123/japa.2018-0370.
6. Pennings B, Boirie Y, Senden JMG, Gijsen AP, Kuipers H, van Loon LJC. Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;93(5):997-1005. doi:10.3945/ajcn.110.008102
7. Burd NA, Yang Y, Moore DR, Tang JE, Tarnopolsky MA, and Phillips SM. Greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis with ingestion of whey protein isolate v. micellar casein at rest and after resistance exercise in elderly men. Br J Nutr. 2012 Sep 28;108(6):958-62.
8. Yang Y, Breen L, Burd NA, Hector AJ, Churchward-Venne TA, Josse AR, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Resistance exercise enhances myofibrillar protein synthesis with graded intakes of whey protein in older men. Br J Nutr. 2012. pp. 1–9.
9. Hengeveld et al. Prevalence of protein intake below recommended in community‐dwelling older adults: a meta‐analysis across cohorts from the PROMISS consortium. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2020 Jun 16;11(5):1212–1222. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12580
10.Li ML, Zhang F, Luo HY, Quan ZW, Wang YF, Huang LT, Wang JH. Improving sarcopenia in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of whey protein supplementation with or without resistance training. J Nutr Health Aging. 2024 Apr;28(4):100184. doi: 10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100184. Epub 2024 Feb 12. PMID: 38350303; PMCID: PMC12877251.
11.Deutz NE, Bauer JM, Barazzoni R, Biolo G, Boirie Y, Bosy-Westphal A, Cederholm T, Cruz-Jentoft A, Krznariç Z, Nair KS, Singer P, Teta D, Tipton K, Calder PC. Protein intake and exercise for optimal muscle function with aging: recommendations from the ESPEN Expert Group. Clin Nutr. 2014 Dec;33(6):929-36. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2014.04.007.
12.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33133540/
13.Mathai JK, Liu Y, Stein HH. Values for digestible indispensable amino acid scores (DIAAS) for some dairy and plant proteins may better describe protein quality than values calculated using the concept for protein digestibility-corrected amino acid scores (PDCAAS). Br J Nutr. 2017;117(4):490-499. doi:10.1017/S0007114517000125.
14. Rutherfurd SM, Fanning AC, Miller BJ, Moughan PJ. Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Scores and Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Scores Differentially Describe Protein Quality in Growing Male Rats. J Nutr. 2015;145(2):372-379. doi:10.3945/jn.114.195438.
15. Bindari YR, Lærke HN, Nørgaard JV. Standardized ileal digestibility and digestible indispensable amino acid score of porcine and bovine hydrolyzates in pigs. J Sci Food Agric. 2018;98(6):2131-2137. doi:10.1002/jsfa.8697
