Texas A&M Study Challenges 0.8 g/kg Protein Rule With Individualized Needs

2 articles · Updated · Texas A&M Today · May 13

Texas A&M researchers say the long-used 0.8 grams-per-kilogram daily protein benchmark misses wide differences in needs tied to age, sex, activity and chronic disease.
A new stable-isotope tracer method, reported in Clinical Nutrition, measures protein loss after an overnight fast and aims to capture intracellular turnover that older blood-based methods can miss.
Using that approach, the team found protein breakdown may be significantly higher than earlier estimates, helping explain why a single universal target can understate some people’s requirements.
Dr. Nicolaas Deutz said the findings support “precision nutrition” rather than simply urging everyone to eat more protein; most healthy Americans already consume enough, while standardized targets can still leave some patients undernourished.

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