How much protein do you need a day? A simple guide with real numbers

Protein is the one nutrient almost every fitness goal agrees on. It helps you build and keep muscle, it keeps you full, and it makes a diet much easier to stick to. But "eat more protein" isn't a number. Here's the actual number for you.

The quick answer

• Minimum for a normal, healthy adult: 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight per day. This is the official recommended daily amount, and it's meant to prevent deficiency, not to build muscle.
• If you train and want to build muscle: about 1.6 g per kg per day. A large review of 49 studies found muscle gains kept improving up to around this amount, with some people benefiting up to about 2.2 g per kg.
• Most active people: the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg per day.
• If you're losing weight: aim for the higher end of that range. Protein helps you hold on to muscle while you're eating less, and it keeps hunger down.

Your number, by body weight

Find your weight and read across. If you're carrying a lot of extra weight, use your goal weight instead of your current weight, otherwise the number gets unrealistically high.

Using pounds? Weight in pounds × 0.73 gives you roughly the 1.6 g/kg training target in grams (for example, 170 lb × 0.73 ≈ 124 g).

Spread it across your day

Your body uses protein best when it's spread over several meals instead of all at dinner. Researchers suggest about 0.4 g per kg per meal, across at least four meals. For a 70 kg person, that's roughly 28 g of protein at breakfast, lunch, dinner and one snack.

Many people eat almost no protein at breakfast and a lot at night. Moving some of it to the morning is one of the easiest upgrades you can make.

What protein looks like on a plate

Here's roughly how much protein is in common foods. Values are approximate and depend on brand and how it's cooked.

So a day for a 70 kg person aiming for about 112 g could look like: three eggs and a glass of milk at breakfast (~26 g), a chicken and rice lunch (~35 g), a Greek yogurt snack (~16 g), and beans with fish or meat at dinner (~35 g). That's about 112 g, with no shakes needed.

Common questions

Is a lot of protein bad for your kidneys?

For healthy people, research hasn't shown that the intakes above harm the kidneys. If you already have kidney disease, though, protein needs to be managed with your doctor, so check with them first.

Do I need protein shakes?

No. Shakes are just convenient. If you can hit your number with food, that's perfectly fine.

Does plant protein count?

Yes. Beans, lentils, tofu, soy and peanuts all count. If you're fully plant-based, mixing different sources through the day helps you get a good balance of amino acids.

The short version

• Training or losing weight? Aim for about 1.6 g per kg of body weight a day (1.4 to 2.0 is a good range).
• Split it over at least four meals, about 0.4 g per kg each.
• Put protein in your breakfast; that's where most people fall short.

The hard part isn't knowing the number, it's knowing where you are at 4 pm. AIMS tracks your protein with every meal you log, so you can just ask it how much you've got left for the day.