Most healthy adults need at least 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For a 150-pound (68 kg) person, that works out to about 54 grams. But that baseline 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 for Sedentary Adults
The international Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 g per kg of body weight, regardless of age. This is the amount needed to meet basic nutritional requirements if you’re not particularly active. In practical terms:
- 130-pound person (59 kg): about 47 grams per day
- 150-pound person (68 kg): about 54 grams per day
- 180-pound person (82 kg): about 65 grams per day
- 200-pound person (91 kg): about 73 grams per day
To put those numbers in food terms, a chicken breast has roughly 30 grams of protein, a cup of Greek yogurt has about 15 to 20 grams, and two eggs provide around 12 grams. Hitting 54 grams isn’t difficult if you eat animal products at most meals, but it can take more planning on a plant-based diet.
If You Exercise Regularly
The 0.8 g/kg baseline undershoots what active people need. The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg per day for most exercising individuals looking to build or maintain muscle. For that same 150-pound person, the range jumps to roughly 95 to 136 grams daily, nearly double the RDA.
Where you land within that range depends on how hard you train. Someone doing moderate cardio a few times a week can stay closer to 1.4 g/kg. If you’re doing heavy resistance training or training for endurance events, aiming toward 1.6 to 2.0 g/kg makes more sense. People who are dieting while trying to maintain strength may need even more: research suggests intakes of 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg per day help resistance-trained individuals hold onto muscle during a calorie deficit.
Protein Needs After 65
Older adults lose muscle more easily and use dietary protein less efficiently than younger people. The PROT-AGE Study Group, which focused specifically on aging and muscle loss, recommends that adults over 65 eat at least 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg per day. Active older adults should aim for 1.2 g/kg or higher, and those dealing with acute or chronic illness may need 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg per day.
This matters because age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) accelerates after 65 and directly affects mobility, balance, and independence. Sticking with the standard 0.8 g/kg recommendation leaves many older adults short of what their bodies actually need to maintain strength. The one exception: people with advanced kidney disease who aren’t on dialysis may need to limit protein and should work with their care team on the right amount.
Protein for Weight Loss
When you cut calories to lose weight, your body doesn’t just burn fat. It also breaks down muscle for energy. Eating more protein is the most reliable way to counteract that. A 2024 meta-analysis found that higher protein intake significantly prevents muscle mass decline in people with overweight or obesity during weight loss. The threshold that mattered: intakes above 1.3 g/kg per day were associated with actual gains in muscle mass, while intakes below 1.0 g/kg per day raised the risk of muscle loss.
Protein also keeps you fuller for longer than carbohydrates or fat do, which makes it easier to stick with a calorie deficit. If you’re actively trying to lose weight, aiming for at least 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg per day gives you the dual benefit of protecting muscle and reducing hunger.
How to Spread Protein Across Meals
Your body can only use so much protein at once for muscle repair. Eating 100 grams at dinner and barely any at breakfast isn’t as effective as distributing your intake evenly. Research suggests a target of about 0.4 g/kg per meal across at least four eating occasions to optimally stimulate muscle rebuilding throughout the day. For a 150-pound person, that’s roughly 27 grams per meal.
If you’re aiming for the higher end of daily intake (around 2.2 g/kg), that works out to about 0.55 g/kg per meal, or roughly 37 grams per sitting for a 150-pound person. A good rule of thumb: include 20 to 40 grams of protein at each meal and don’t skip breakfast protein. A before-bed snack containing 30 to 40 grams of a slow-digesting protein like casein (found in cottage cheese or milk) has been shown to increase overnight muscle repair and slightly boost metabolic rate.
Not All Protein Sources Are Equal
Protein quality varies significantly depending on the source. What matters is how well your body can digest and absorb the essential amino acids in a food. Using the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS), a system recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization, protein sources fall into clear tiers.
Animal proteins generally score highest. Pork and casein (the main protein in milk and cheese) both score 117, eggs score 101, and whey scores 85. Among plant proteins, soy stands out at 91 and potato protein scores a surprising 100. But many common plant proteins score lower: pea protein comes in at 70, oats at 57, rice at 47, and wheat at 48. The limiting factor in most grains is an amino acid called lysine, while legumes like peas and fava beans tend to be low in sulfur-containing amino acids.
This doesn’t mean plant-based diets can’t provide enough protein. It does mean you need more variety. Combining grains with legumes throughout the day covers the amino acid gaps that either source has on its own. If you eat mostly plant protein, aiming for the higher end of daily targets (closer to 1.6 g/kg or above) helps compensate for lower digestibility scores. Getting at least 2 to 3 grams of the amino acid leucine per meal, which is the key trigger for muscle rebuilding, is particularly important. Plant-based diets modeled for athletes have achieved this at roughly 2.9 grams of leucine per meal across four meals.
Can You Eat Too Much Protein?
For healthy people with normal kidney function, there’s no strong evidence that high protein intake causes kidney damage. Most research showing kidney strain involves people who already have compromised kidney function. That said, very high protein diets can increase pressure inside the kidneys’ filtering units, leading to hyperfiltration. Whether this causes problems over decades in otherwise healthy people remains an open question, and there’s no formal consensus on a safe upper limit, though most definitions of “high protein” start somewhere between 1.2 and 2.0 g/kg per day.
As a practical matter, intakes up to 2.0 g/kg per day are well-supported for active individuals, and even intakes above 3.0 g/kg per day have been studied in resistance-trained people without apparent harm over study periods of several months. If you have existing kidney disease or a family history of it, staying closer to the RDA and getting your kidney function checked periodically is a reasonable approach.
Quick Reference by Body Weight
To find your daily range, multiply your weight in kilograms by the appropriate factor. (Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms.)
- Sedentary adult: 0.8 g/kg (minimum)
- Active adult or older adult: 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg
- Serious strength training or muscle gain: 1.6 to 2.0 g/kg
- Weight loss while preserving muscle: 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg
- Dieting while resistance training: 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg
- Adults over 65: 1.0 to 1.5 g/kg depending on health and activity