The baseline recommendation for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, or about 0.36 grams per pound. For a 150-pound person, that works out to roughly 54 grams daily. But that number is a minimum to prevent deficiency, not an optimal target, and most people benefit from eating more. Your ideal intake depends on your age, activity level, and goals.
The Baseline: 0.8 Grams per Kilogram
The Recommended Dietary Allowance of 0.8 g/kg/day was set for generally healthy, sedentary adults. At that level, protein supplies only about 10% of total daily calories. This is enough to maintain basic bodily functions and avoid muscle wasting in someone who isn’t particularly active, but it leaves little margin for building or even preserving muscle over time. Most nutrition researchers now view this number as a floor rather than a goal.
Protein Targets by Goal
Building or Maintaining Muscle
If you lift weights, run, cycle, or do any regular structured exercise, your protein needs jump significantly. People who regularly lift weights or train for endurance events need 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram per day. The International Society of Sports Nutrition sets a slightly wider range of 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg/day as sufficient for both building and maintaining muscle mass in most exercising people. For a 180-pound (82 kg) person, that translates to roughly 115 to 164 grams of protein daily.
There’s even some evidence that intakes above 3.0 g/kg/day can help resistance-trained individuals lose fat mass, though those levels aren’t necessary for most people and represent the far end of the spectrum.
Losing Fat While Keeping Muscle
When you’re eating fewer calories than you burn, your body is more likely to break down muscle for energy. Protein counteracts this. Current recommendations for athletes cutting weight sit at 1.6 to 2.4 g/kg/day. A systematic review of resistance-trained athletes found effective ranges as high as 1.8 to 2.7 g/kg/day during an energy deficit. That said, intakes above roughly 2.4 g/kg/day are unlikely to provide additional muscle-sparing benefit. If you’re dieting, prioritize the higher end of normal protein ranges rather than going extreme.
Adults Over 65
Nearly half of all protein in the body is stored in muscle, and muscle mass naturally declines with age. This gradual loss, called sarcopenia, increases protein needs for older adults. Researchers recommend 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram per day for people over 65, paired with regular resistance and endurance exercise to support muscle health. That’s 25 to 50% more than the standard RDA, and the difference matters: older adults who stick to just 0.8 g/kg often lose muscle faster than those who eat more.
Pregnancy and Lactation
Pregnant and lactating women need about 1.1 g/kg/day, up from the standard 0.8 g/kg. The increase supports fetal growth, placental development, and milk production. For a 140-pound (64 kg) woman, that’s roughly 70 grams daily instead of 51.
How to Spread Protein Across the Day
Your body can only use so much protein at once for muscle repair. Research points to 20 to 40 grams of high-quality protein per meal as the effective range for stimulating muscle protein synthesis. That works out to about 0.25 g/kg of body weight per sitting. Eating below that threshold at a given meal means you’re leaving some muscle-building potential on the table, even if your total daily intake looks fine on paper.
Spacing protein evenly across three to four meals, roughly every three to four hours, appears to be more effective than loading most of it into dinner (which is what many people do). Each protein-rich meal should contain enough of the amino acid leucine, found abundantly in animal proteins, dairy, and soy, to trigger the molecular signal that kicks off muscle repair. For older adults especially, hitting at least 20 to 30 grams per meal matters because the body becomes less efficient at using protein with age.
A protein-rich snack before bed, in the range of 30 to 40 grams, has been shown to increase overnight muscle protein synthesis and slightly boost metabolic rate without interfering with fat burning. Slow-digesting proteins like those found in cottage cheese or casein-based supplements work best for this purpose.
Is High Protein Intake Hard on Your Kidneys?
This is one of the most common concerns, and the answer depends on your starting kidney health. About 90% of protein’s metabolic waste products are filtered through the kidneys, so higher intakes do increase the kidneys’ workload. In healthy adults, the kidneys adapt to this increased demand through a process called hyperfiltration, and studies show this adaptation doesn’t cause damage. One clinical trial found that increasing protein intake from about 91 to 108 grams per day actually increased kidney filtration rate and kidney volume in healthy overweight adults, with no harmful effects.
The picture changes for people with existing kidney disease. Clinical guidelines recommend that individuals with chronic kidney disease who aren’t on dialysis stick to 0.8 g/kg/day, the same as the general RDA, to avoid accelerating kidney decline. If you have normal kidney function, protein intakes in the 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg range are well-supported by evidence and not a cause for concern.
Quick Reference by Body Weight
To make these ranges practical, here’s what the numbers look like for common body weights at different activity levels:
- 130 lbs (59 kg): Sedentary minimum is 47 g; active range is 71 to 118 g; fat loss range is 94 to 142 g
- 155 lbs (70 kg): Sedentary minimum is 56 g; active range is 84 to 140 g; fat loss range is 112 to 168 g
- 180 lbs (82 kg): Sedentary minimum is 66 g; active range is 98 to 164 g; fat loss range is 131 to 197 g
- 210 lbs (95 kg): Sedentary minimum is 76 g; active range is 114 to 190 g; fat loss range is 152 to 228 g
The “active range” uses 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg, suitable for anyone exercising regularly. The “fat loss range” uses 1.6 to 2.4 g/kg, appropriate when you’re in a calorie deficit and want to preserve muscle. If you’re over 65 and sedentary, aim for at least the 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg range rather than the 0.8 g/kg minimum.