What’s the Big Deal with Not Eating Enough Protein?
Not eating enough protein might not feel like a big deal right now — but over time, it has a powerful ripple effect that impacts nearly every system in your body. Why? Because inadequate protein leads to muscle loss, and muscle loss is the real problem. It’s the silent driver behind everything from fatigue, joint pain, and weight gain to insulin resistance, osteoporosis, and poor recovery. Losing muscle doesn’t just make you weaker — it makes you sicker.
Muscle Is Your Health Insurance
Your muscles aren’t just for lifting things or looking toned. They’re metabolically active tissue that help regulate blood sugar, support your joints, strengthen your bones, protect your balance, and burn calories — even at rest. But once you hit your 30s, you begin to naturally lose muscle each decade unless you actively eat enough protein and resistance train to maintain it. This process, called sarcopenia, is the beginning of a health spiral — and most people don’t realise it’s happening until they start to feel the effects.
What Happens When You Lose Muscle?
1. Blood Sugar Becomes Harder to Control (Risk of Type 2 Diabetes)
Muscle tissue is where a large portion of glucose is stored and burned. Less muscle = less space for sugar to go. The result? Your blood sugar stays elevated longer, and over time this leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes — especially if your diet is high in carbohydrates and low in protein.
2. Your Bones Get Weaker (Osteoporosis)
Muscles pull on bones during movement, which stimulates bone growth and density. If you’re losing muscle, you’re also not stimulating your bones, making them more fragile. Inadequate protein also means fewer amino acids available for bone repair, further increasing your risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis — particularly after menopause.
3. You Gain More Body Fat as You Age
Muscle mass keeps your metabolism running high. When you lose muscle, your resting metabolic rate drops, meaning you burn fewer calories at rest. Even if you don’t eat more, fat starts to creep on — often around the belly. Many midlife women feel like they’re gaining weight “for no reason,” when really, it’s the result of invisible muscle loss.
4. Joint Pain and Injuries Become More Common
Without strong muscles to support your skeleton, your joints bear the brunt of everyday movement. Weak glutes, quads, and core muscles cause poor movement patterns, leading to overuse injuries, arthritis, and chronic back pain. You’re not falling apart — your muscles are simply too weak to hold everything together.
5. Hormonal Health Starts to Decline
Muscle loss also affects your hormonal balance. Without enough protein, your body struggles to make and regulate hormones like thyroid hormone (which controls metabolism), growth hormone (which supports recovery), and mood-regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Low protein = low mood, poor energy, and slow recovery.
Protein, Muscle, and Menopause
During menopause, hormone levels — especially estrogen — drop, accelerating muscle loss and increasing insulin resistance. That means sugar is more easily stored as fat, and it becomes harder to hold onto lean muscle unless you're intentional about your training and nutrition. With less muscle, women experience more fatigue, fat gain, brain fog, joint pain, and loss of strength — all commonly (and mistakenly) accepted as “just aging.” But they’re not just aging. They’re muscle loss in action.
Beyond its physical benefits, protein plays a crucial role in appetite regulation. Unlike quick-burning carbs, protein digests slowly and stimulates the release of key satiety hormones like peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which signal to the brain that you’re full and satisfied. This helps reduce the urge to snack mindlessly or overeat later. If you often find yourself craving something sweet in the afternoon or battling nighttime hunger, inadequate protein at breakfast or lunch could be to blame. By stabilising blood sugar and boosting these fullness signals, protein makes it easier to manage cravings and stick to healthier, more balanced eating habits.
SO how much protein should you be eating? As a general rule of thumb - for an active person - you are aiming for 2g per kg of bodyweight per day spread across regular meals throughout the day. I suggest you start tracking and calculating your current intake because the outcomes of being consistently under are not appealing.
Final Word: Prioritise Muscle. Prioritise Protein.
If you’ve been struggling with stubborn weight gain, back pain, fatigue, blood sugar issues, or a lack of strength — take a closer look at your protein intake and your muscle mass. You can’t fix what you don’t fuel. Prioritising protein and strength training is one of the most powerful things you can do to protect your health — not just for how you look and feel today, but for how you’ll live in 10, 20, or 30 years’ time.