A worked example
At 75 kg and 1.6 g per kg, the daily target is 120 g of protein, or about 40 g at each of 3 meals. The general adult reference at that weight would be 62 g.
Which protein number should you use?
EFSA’s population reference intake for adults is 0.83 g per kg of body weight a day. That covers the needs of nearly everyone who doesn’t train. The ISSN position stand recommends 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg for most people who exercise, and a bit more during a calorie deficit to hold on to muscle.
So neither number is “right”. They answer different questions: one is the floor for general health, the other is what helps if you’re building or keeping muscle.
| Body weight | Adult reference (0.83 g/kg) | Training, low (1.4 g/kg) | Training, high (2.0 g/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg (110 lb) | 42 g | 70 g | 100 g |
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 50 g | 84 g | 120 g |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | 58 g | 98 g | 140 g |
| 80 kg (176 lb) | 66 g | 112 g | 160 g |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 75 g | 126 g | 180 g |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | 83 g | 140 g | 200 g |
| 110 kg (243 lb) | 91 g | 154 g | 220 g |
What that looks like on a plate
The food list shows how much of one food alone would cover a meal’s protein, from USDA figures for each. Real meals mix them, so read it as a sense of scale: 40 g of protein is about one chicken breast, 400 g of Greek yogurt, or 230 g of tofu.
Across your meals
The per-meal figure is the daily target split evenly. Your meals don’t have to match it. Many people eat light at breakfast and heavy at dinner, and the day’s total matters most. Spreading it out a little helps if a single meal would otherwise need an uncomfortable amount.
Protein for women, and after 65
The per-kilo targets are the same for women and men. Women usually end up with a smaller daily number simply because they tend to weigh less: 65 kg at 1.2 g per kg comes to 78 g a day.
After 65, needs go up rather than down, because muscle responds less to the same amount of protein. The PROT-AGE group recommends 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg a day for healthy older people, more than the reference for younger adults, and 25 to 30 g at each main meal rather than most of it at dinner.
Questions people ask
Can you eat too much protein?
For healthy adults, intakes of up to about 2 g per kg haven’t shown harm in studies. If you have kidney disease, talk to your doctor before raising it.
Should I use my current weight or a goal weight?
Your current weight, unless you carry a lot of body fat. Then a goal weight gives a more realistic target.
Does it matter where the protein comes from?
For hitting a number, not much. Plant sources count too, though mixing a few of them (beans with grains, for example) covers the amino acids better than relying on one.