Yes, it’s the same protein powder your grandkid uses. Here’s why that’s not a problem.
Protein powder isn’t a different product for older Australians — it’s the same powder. What changes is how much you need, and the company it keeps.
There’s a fair chance you’ve seen a tub of protein powder in your grandchild’s kitchen — or your own son or daughter’s. Big plastic tub, vanilla or chocolate, scoop in the lid. Maybe you’ve thought, half-amused, "Is that what young people are doing now?"
It is. And here’s the part most people don’t realise: the protein powder your dietitian or GP might suggest for you is, in chemistry terms, the same thing.
That isn’t a problem. It’s actually the point.
Some people think of supplements as a sign of decline. Actually, it’s the opposite.
Using a daily top-up of protein, or a clinically formulated nutrition shake, isn’t a marker of being unwell. For most older Australians it’s the opposite — it’s a practical way to stay strong, recover faster from the small bugs and stumbles, and keep doing the things that matter at home.
The stigma is real, well-documented, and worth naming so we can move past it. "Shakes are for sick people" is a feeling, not a fact. The fact is closer to this: protein powder is a useful tool at the gym, and a useful tool in older age, for the same underlying reason — the body sometimes needs a bit more protein than meals alone are providing.
You need more protein as you age — not less
This is the part most older Australians haven’t been told.
Australia’s Nutrient Reference Values, set by the NHMRC, list the daily protein need by age and sex. After 70, the figure goes up — not down:
Source: NHMRC Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand (2006, current edition).
More recent clinical guidance pushes the figure higher still. The PROT-AGE Study Group (Bauer et al., 2013) and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN, Volkert et al., 2019) both recommend at least 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilo per day for healthy older adults — and 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilo per day for older adults recovering from illness, surgery, or a hospital stay.
Why this happens
The reason is well-established. As we age, the body’s response to protein softens — a phenomenon called anabolic resistance. The same amount of protein produces less muscle-maintenance effect than it would have done in a younger body. So we need a bit more of it to hit the same target.
What that looks like in grams — two examples
Margaret, 80, weighs 65 kilograms. Using the PROT-AGE guidance for healthy older adults (1.0–1.2 g/kg), her daily protein target is roughly 70 grams.
Bob, 80, weighs 80 kilograms. On the same guidance, his daily protein target is roughly 90 grams.
Those numbers feel abstract until you compare them to a day’s eating.
What 70 grams of protein looks like in a day
Take Margaret. To comfortably hit 70 grams in a typical day, the eating might look like this:
- Breakfast: two eggs on whole meal toast, with a cup of tea — about 20 g protein
- Lunch: a small chicken sandwich with salad — about 25 g
- Dinner: a small piece of grilled fish with vegetables — about 20 g
- Afternoon: a small tub of Greek yoghurt — about 9 g
Total: roughly 74 g. Comfortably on target.
Now take a more typical day for someone with a reduced appetite:
- Breakfast: tea and a slice of toast with butter — about 8 g
- Lunch: a cup of vegetable soup with crackers and a bit of cheese — about 10 g
- Dinner: a small portion of fish and vegetables — about 15 g
Total: roughly 33 g. Less than half of Margaret’s target.
That gap — between what someone needs and what a quieter appetite actually delivers — is what most older Australians don’t realise they’re carrying.
What if Margaret has meals delivered?
Many older Australians, particularly those on Support at Home, use a home-delivered meal service for dinner. Lite n’ Easy’s My Choice Dinners range, for example, is designed by their dietitians specifically for older Australians and the SAH program. The meals are smaller portions but built around higher protein.
Across the current menu, the average My Choice dinner provides around 27 grams of protein — and the range goes up to about 37 grams for the higher-protein dishes (lamb, schnitzels, Asian-style curries).
If Margaret swaps her small home-cooked dinner for a typical Lite n’ Easy My Choice dinner, her reduced-appetite day improves:
- Breakfast: tea and toast — about 8 g
- Lunch: soup with crackers and cheese — about 10 g
- Dinner: Lite n’ Easy My Choice — about 27 g
Total: roughly 45 g.
Still 25 grams short of her 70-gram target, but a meaningful step up — and one many SAH-eligible clients can put in place without changing anything else.
Where a top-up like Protein Plus for Seniors fits
A serve of Eat Well Health’s Protein Plus for Seniors is 40 grams of powder (two heaped scoops). It provides:
- 20 grams of protein when mixed with water (the protein content of the powder itself, per the on-pack Nutrition Information Panel).
- About 27 grams of protein when mixed with a standard 200 ml glass of milk (the powder contributes 20 g; a 200 ml glass of regular dairy milk contributes another 7 g of its own protein).
If Margaret adds one serve in milk to her improved (delivered-dinner) day, her total goes from 45 g up to around 72 grams — on target.
The arithmetic is the practical case for a top-up. Meals alone — cooked or delivered — get most older Australians close to where they need to be, but the gap of 20 to 30 grams is real for many. A top-up closes it without changing anything else they’re doing.
(For Bob — at 80 kg with a target of around 90 grams — the same arithmetic applies at a higher scale: a delivered dinner plus a serve in milk takes him from a reduced-appetite ~33 g to around 72 g, still 18 g short. A second serve through the day, or a higher-protein breakfast like eggs on toast, closes the gap.)
The product itself is the same kind of whey-based protein your grandchild’s tub contains. What’s different is how it’s used: a smaller daily dose, taken consistently alongside meals, often inside a clinically supervised plan with dietitian advice.
Eat Well Health sits inside that pathway — screening, dietitian review, the product where it’s helpful, funding navigation under Support at Home for clients who are eligible.
Three things to try this week
- Look at one day’s eating. Add up roughly how much protein you had — eggs, meat or fish, dairy, beans, nuts, dairy, the lot. If you’d like a quick reference for the grams in common foods, your GP or a dietitian can hand you one.
- Aim for some protein at every meal. Spread across the day works better than a single big serve, because each meal is a separate chance for the body to build and repair.
- If your eating is light and your strength feels off, ask the right question. Not "should I be on a shake?" — but "am I getting enough protein for someone my age?" Your GP, pharmacist, or a dietitian can tell you in five minutes.
Staying strong at home
The category isn’t different. The conversation is. Protein powder is a tool — your grandkid uses it to build, you’d use it to maintain. Both are legitimate uses of the same stuff.
The skill, at this stage of life, is knowing how much you need, working out where the gap is, and choosing what to put alongside your meals.
Want to know if a daily nutrition top-up could help you stay strong at home?
There are three easy ways to find out — pick whichever suits you.
- Take the Eat Well Health nutrition screening questionnaire. A few quick questions about appetite, weight, and how you've been feeling lately.
It'll tell you whether a daily top-up is worth a conversation. No obligation. → Start the questionnaire
- Give us a ring. Have a chat with someone who knows this stuff — no script, no pressure. Call (08) 6119 3698, Monday to Friday.
- Ask us to call you back. Tell us a time that suits and we'll ring you. → Request a callback
Eat Well Health is a dietitian-backed service helping older Australians stay strong at home. For eligible Support at Home clients, the nutrition top-up is fully funded through your existing package.