Dietary leucine requirement of older men and women is higher than current recommendations

Dietary requirements of the essential amino acid leucine increase as we age, yet the current recommendation for daily leucine intake in older adults is based on data from young adults.

The objective of this clinical trial was to directly determine the leucine requirements in healthy older adult male and female study participants aged >60 y and concluded that "estimated leucine requirement of older adults is more than double the amount in current recommendations....In view of the functional and structural role of leucine, especially its importance in muscle protein synthesis, current leucine recommendations of older adults should be revised."