Total Protein

Total protein measures the combined amount of albumin and globulins in the liquid part of your blood. Albumin helps keep fluid in your blood vessels and carries hormones, vitamins and drugs. Globulins include many immune proteins that help you fight infection and transport nutrients. Together, they reflect how your body is making, using and losing proteins, especially through the liver, immune system and kidneys.

Total protein can shift for several reasons. A higher result is most often from dehydration concentrating the blood, but can also reflect increased immune proteins from chronic inflammation or certain bone-marrow conditions. A lower result can occur with low protein intake, poor absorption, liver disease, kidney protein loss, or ongoing inflammation where albumin falls as a “negative acute-phase” response.

Because total protein blends albumin and globulins, tracking it over time alongside related markers like albumin, globulin or the A/G ratio helps you spot trends early, such as chronic inflammation, nutrition gaps or fluid balance shifts, well before symptoms appear.

These strategies can help move total protein toward the optimal range and make your numbers more stable over time:

• Prioritise quality protein, spaced through the day. Most healthy adults do well meeting at least the daily requirement, and many older adults benefit from a slightly higher intake to maintain muscle and albumin production. A commonly cited expert consensus suggests about 1.0–1.2 g per kg body weight per day in older adults, paired with activity. Choose lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy or soy, plus legumes, nuts and seeds.
  

• Tame chronic inflammation. Since albumin falls when inflammation is active, an eating pattern rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil and oily fish, regular physical activity, good sleep and stress reduction can support a healthier inflammatory profile, which indirectly supports albumin and total protein.
  

• Support your liver and kidneys. These organs make and balance blood proteins. Limit heavy alcohol intake, maintain a healthy waistline, stay active and keep blood pressure and blood sugar in a healthy range. These habits help preserve the body’s ability to make albumin and manage globulins over the long run.
  

• Stay well hydrated day to day. Low fluid intake, intense heat or heavy sweating can concentrate the blood and nudge total protein upward temporarily. Consistent daily hydration patterns make your results easier to interpret over time.
  

• Build and protect lean mass. Progressive resistance training stimulates protein turnover and, alongside adequate dietary protein, helps sustain muscle and the raw materials needed for albumin production as you age.
  

• Note context when reviewing results. Recent illness, hard training in heat, rapid weight loss, or changes in diet can all shift total protein for short periods. Tracking results over months helps separate one-off fluctuations from true trends.

• Optimal: 60–80 g/L

• Mildly low: 55–59 g/L

• Low: <55 g/L

• Mildly high: 81–90 g/L

• High: >90 g/L

1. MedlinePlus. Total Protein and Albumin/Globulin (A/G) Ratio Test. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2024. Available from: https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/total-protein-and-albumin-globulin-a-g-ratio/ MedlinePlus

2. Testing.com. Total Protein, Albumin-Globulin (A/G) Ratio Test. Testing.com, 2022. Available from: https://www.testing.com/tests/total-protein-albumin-globulin-ag-ratio/ testing.com

3. StatPearls. Physiology, Acute Phase Reactants. NCBI Bookshelf, 2023. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519570/ NCBI

4. Bauer J, et al. Evidence-based Recommendations for Optimal Dietary Protein Intake in Older People, a Position Paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 2013. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23867520/ PubMed

5. Pathology Tests Explained (Australia). Total Protein (TP). The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, accessed 2025. Available from:https://pathologytestsexplained.org.au/ptests.php?q=Total+Protein+%28TP%29