How Much Protein Do You Need Per Day? A Simple Guide

Protein is the nutrient most people underestimate. It keeps your muscles, keeps you full and matters even more when you’re eating less. The good news: your daily target is easy to work out.

The short answer: healthy adults need at least 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight a day. If you train, want to lose fat or are over 65, aim for 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg.

Your daily protein target

Your situation	Grams per kg of body weight	For a 70 kg person
Minimum for healthy adults	0.8 g	56 g
Adults over 65	1.0 to 1.2 g	70 to 84 g
Losing weight	1.2 to 1.6 g	84 to 112 g
Regular strength training	1.6 to 2.0 g	112 to 140 g

A few notes on these numbers:

• 0.8 g per kg is the official recommended intake. It’s the amount that prevents deficiency, not the amount that’s best for body composition.
• 1.6 g per kg is where extra protein stops adding muscle for most people who lift weights, according to a large meta-analysis of 49 studies.
• Older adults lose muscle more easily, so experts recommend at least 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, use your goal weight instead of your current weight, otherwise the target gets unrealistically high.

Why protein helps when you’re losing weight

When you eat fewer calories, your body can burn muscle along with fat. Enough protein, especially combined with some strength training, protects that muscle. Protein is also the most filling macronutrient, so the same calories keep you satisfied longer.

That’s why our calorie calculator shows a protein target next to your calories: the two work together. If you haven’t set your calories yet, start with our guide on how many calories to eat to lose weight.

Protein is one of three macronutrients. To see how it fits together with carbs and fat, read what macros are and how to calculate them.

Protein in everyday foods

Values are approximate, based on USDA FoodData Central. For a longer list with protein per calorie and plant sources, see our guide to high protein foods.

Food	Portion	Protein
Chicken breast, cooked	100 g	31 g
Canned tuna, drained	100 g	25 g
Salmon, cooked	100 g	22 g
Parmesan	30 g	11 g
Greek yogurt, 0% fat	170 g pot	17 g
Cottage cheese	100 g	11 g
Eggs	2 large	12.5 g
Lentils, cooked	150 g	13.5 g
Tofu, firm	100 g	15 g
Chickpeas, cooked	150 g	13 g
Almonds	30 g	6 g
Oats, dry	50 g	6.5 g

A day with 110 g of protein

Here’s what reaching 110 g looks like without protein shakes:

• Breakfast: Greek yogurt with oats and berries, about 25 g
• Lunch: chicken salad bowl with chickpeas, about 40 g
• Snack: two boiled eggs, about 12.5 g
• Dinner: salmon with potatoes and green beans, about 30 g

Total: about 108 g. The trick isn’t one huge portion but a good source of protein at every meal.

Spread it through the day

Your body absorbs all the protein you eat, but for building and keeping muscle it’s more effective to split it over three or four meals, each with about 0.4 g per kg of body weight. For a 70 kg person that’s roughly 25 to 30 g per meal.

Many people get most of their protein at dinner and very little at breakfast. Moving 15 to 20 g to breakfast is one of the easiest changes you can make.

Is too much protein dangerous?

For healthy people, intakes up to about 2 g per kg a day are considered safe in the long run. If you have kidney disease, protein needs are different and you should follow your doctor’s advice.

Track it without doing maths

The hardest part is knowing how much protein you actually ate. BananaCal shows protein for every meal you log, whether you snap a photo, scan a barcode or just tell the AI nutritionist what you had, so you can see at a glance if you’re on track.