How much protein per day should you eat?

The short answer

• 0.8g/kg

  Protein a day covers the needs of nearly all healthy adults. India’s figure is 0.83.

• 1.6g/kg

  A day is where extra muscle from weight training levelled off, in a review of 49 trials.

• 1.4–2.0g/kg

  A day is what sports nutrition experts advise for most people who exercise.

• 1.2–1.6g/kg

  A day is a common target while losing weight, from a 2015 review.

Key findingStart with your weight. Most adults need about 0.8 g of protein per kg a day. If you lift weights or are losing weight, aim for about 1.2–1.6 g per kg. Up to 2.2 g makes sure you get the most from training. More than that adds little.

How much protein per day should you eat?

Protein is one of the three main nutrients in food, with carbohydrate and fat. Your body uses it to build and repair muscle, skin, bone and much more. Protein is made of 20 building blocks called amino acids. Nine of them must come from food.

Protein advice is usually given in grams per kilogram of body weight (g/kg). So if you weigh 70 kg and eat 1 g/kg, you eat 70 g of protein a day.

The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) is the amount that covers the needs of nearly all healthy adults. In the US, it is 0.8 g per kg a day. India’s RDA is 0.83 g per kg. That is about 54 g a day for a 65 kg man and 46 g for a 55 kg woman. If most of your protein comes from cereals like rice or wheat, India’s experts advise 1 g per kg.

The RDA is a floor, not a muscle-building target. Lifting weights, losing weight and older age all raise the amount that helps. The chart shows the main advice side by side.

To work out your own number, use the protein calculator.

How much protein per day for muscle gain?

This 2022 study was a meta-analysis: a study that pools the results of many earlier studies. Lean mass is everything in your body except fat. It includes muscle, but also bone, organs and water.

In adults under 65 who lifted weights, the extra protein helped most at 1.6 g per kg a day or more. In adults 65 and over, 1.2–1.59 g per kg helped, but that result leaned on one large study. No trial gave older adults 1.6 g per kg or more.

A 2018 review of 49 trials found a similar number. On top of training, protein added 0.30 kg of lean mass. It also added 2.49 kg to people’s one-rep max: the most weight you can lift once with good form. Gains levelled off at about 1.6 g per kg a day. But the likely range was wide, from 1.0 to 2.2. So the authors suggest up to 2.2 g per kg if you want to be sure of getting all the gains.

A third review, of 105 trials, looked at the pattern. The more protein a group ate, the more lean mass it tended to gain. But once intake passed about 1.3 g per kg, each extra step added only about a third as much (our calculation).

Do you need more protein if you don’t lift weights?

Probably not, if you are a healthy adult who isn’t dieting. A 2020 review pooled 18 trials in healthy adults. The higher-protein groups ate about 1.3 g per kg a day, against the RDA of 0.8. When people neither dieted nor lifted weights, the extra protein made no clear difference to their lean mass. When they ate less to lose weight, or lifted weights, it helped.

Older adults are the exception. Experts in the PROT-AGE group advise people over 65 to eat at least 1.0–1.2 g per kg a day. They advise 1.2 g or more for those who exercise, and 1.2–1.5 g for most older people who are ill.

How much protein per day to lose weight?

When you eat less, your body can lose some muscle along with fat. More protein helps you keep it. In the 2020 review, people who ate more than the RDA while dieting kept about 0.36 kg more lean mass.

A 2015 review suggests 1.2–1.6 g per kg a day while losing weight, with about 25–30 g of protein at each meal. In short, careful studies, higher-protein diets led to more fat loss. In longer studies the results were mixed, mostly because people didn’t stick to their diets.

Protein may also help with hunger. A 2016 meta-analysis pooled 5 careful studies. After higher-protein meals or snacks, people felt clearly fuller over the next 2–4 hours. But the 2015 review found that this didn’t make people eat less at their next meal. So protein can make a diet easier, but it is not magic.

To build muscle while you lose fat, see body recomposition.

How much protein per day does a woman need?

Per kg of body weight, the advice is the same for women and men. India’s RDA is 0.83 g per kg for both. Women often weigh less, so they need fewer grams. For a 55 kg woman, the RDA is about 46 g a day. The sports nutrition advice of 1.4–2.0 g per kg applies to active women too.

Needs rise during pregnancy and breastfeeding. India’s nutrition institute adds 9.5 g a day in the middle three months of pregnancy and 22 g in the last three. They add about 17 g a day in the first six months of breastfeeding. If you are pregnant, ask your doctor or midwife about your diet.

Many protein trials studied only men. But in the 105-trial review, about half the people were women (our calculation).

How much protein per day is too much?

For healthy people, high protein looks safe in the studies we have. A 2018 review pooled 28 trials in 1,358 adults without kidney disease. Many had overweight, and some had type 2 diabetes. Over 4 days to 2 years, kidney function changed the same way on higher- and lower-protein diets.

Kidney function here means how fast your kidneys filter your blood. After the higher-protein diets, it was a tiny bit higher. The authors see this as the kidneys’ normal response to more protein, not as damage. But the evidence was of low quality.

The sports nutrition panel describes small trials in trained people. Some ate 4.4 g per kg a day for 8 weeks. Others averaged 3.3 g per kg for a year. The trials found no harm in kidney or liver tests. The US Institute of Medicine’s range, quoted by the panel, is 10–35% of your calories from protein. On 2,000 calories (kcal) a day, 35% is 175 g of protein (our calculation).

If you have kidney disease, talk to your doctor before eating more protein. People with kidney failure often need less protein, not more. Older adults with severe kidney disease may need to limit it, unless they are on dialysis (a treatment where a machine cleans the blood).

Can you get enough protein from food?

Yes, for most people. India’s 2024 dietary guidelines say most athletes can get enough protein from food alone. They call protein powders unnecessary for normal healthy life. The chart shows how much protein different foods give, before cooking.

A bowl of cooked dal is mostly water, so it holds less protein than you might think. For paneer, curd, eggs and soya, see protein in paneer. To compare powders, see whey vs plant protein. Your daily total matters most. For how to split it across meals, see how much protein per meal.

Claims and evidence

• ClaimThe more protein you eat, the more muscle you build.

  EvidenceGains levelled off at about 1.6 g per kg a day in a review of 49 trials. Above 1.3 g per kg, each extra 0.1 g went with about a third as much extra lean mass.

• ClaimExtra protein builds muscle even if you don’t train.

  EvidenceIn adults who neither dieted nor lifted weights, eating more than the RDA made no clear difference to lean mass. One review did see small gains without weights, but many of its trials were weight-loss diets.

• ClaimHigh-protein diets damage healthy kidneys.

  Evidence28 trials tested adults without kidney disease. About 1.8 g per kg a day changed kidney function no differently from about 0.9 g. People who already have kidney disease should follow their doctor’s advice.

• ClaimWomen need less protein per kg than men.

  EvidenceIndia’s RDA is the same for both: 0.83 g per kg a day. Women often need fewer grams only because they tend to weigh less.

What this means for you

What the research can’t tell you yet

• The long term. Most trials lasted about two to three months. We don’t know as much about years of high or low protein.
• Muscle itself. Most trials measured lean mass, which includes water and organs as well as muscle.
• Who was studied. Few trials tested older adults at high intakes. Most gave animal protein, such as milk or whey.
• Kidney safety. The kidney trials were short and of low quality. They don’t apply to people who already have kidney disease.
• Industry links. Several authors have had funding from the dairy, meat or food industries.

How Bodyvault uses this research

Bodyvault sets your daily protein target from your body weight and goal. It starts at 1.6 g per kg for general health or endurance. It uses 1.8 g for building muscle or strength, and 2.0 g when you’re losing fat. You can change it anywhere from 0.8 to 3.0 g per kg. Say you’re trying to lose fat, but your protein and your workouts both fall well short for a few weeks. Then Coach warns you, because that mix tends to cost muscle.

General information about fitness and nutrition, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, talk to your doctor before changing your diet or training.