Protein Needs & Food Sources Handout — Editable Template for Dietitians

Digital download only. No physical item will be shipped, and no shipping charge applies.

The 0.8 g/kg figure everyone quotes is a floor, not a target — the amount set to prevent deficiency, never intended to describe what an aging, training, healing or dieting body needs. This handout gives the real ranges by situation, sourced to PROT-AGE, ESPEN, the ISSN position stand and the Academy/ACSM joint statement rather than to anyone's opinion, with a worked example so clients can find their own number.

It covers anabolic resistance and why older adults need more per meal rather than less, the distribution question answered honestly rather than as a rule, a food table at realistic household servings, and the observation that makes it click for most clients: hitting 25 to 30 grams at dinner is easy, and breakfast is where nearly everyone falls short.

Five pages in Word. Four client-facing plus a practitioner page you remove, carrying full sourcing, the renal caveat that is deliberately kept off the client copy, the 1.62 g/kg ceiling from Morton's meta-analysis, and the tension between the aging literature and the ADA position on protein in diabetes, in case a client is holding both handouts.

Unbranded, with a practice name placeholder in the header. Fully editable .docx. Written by Kristen Spang, MS RDN LD.