Most adults need at least 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which works out to about 0.36 grams per pound. For a sedentary 140-pound woman, that’s roughly 53 grams daily. But that number is a minimum to prevent deficiency, not necessarily an optimal target. Your actual needs depend on your age, activity level, whether you’re pregnant, and your goals.
The Baseline for Sedentary Adults
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 0.8 g/kg/day is designed for healthy adults who aren’t particularly active. To find your minimum, multiply your weight in pounds by 0.36. A 180-pound man lands around 65 grams. A 130-pound woman lands around 47 grams. Most people eating a typical Western diet meet or exceed this number without trying, since a single chicken breast contains about 30 grams and a cup of Greek yogurt has around 15 to 20.
The important thing to understand is that the RDA represents the floor, not the ceiling. It’s the amount that prevents muscle wasting in the average person doing very little physical activity. A growing body of evidence suggests that many people benefit from eating well above this baseline.
How Much Active People Need
If you exercise regularly, the RDA isn’t enough. The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg/day for most exercising individuals, whether you’re lifting weights, running, cycling, or playing a sport. For a 170-pound person, that range translates to about 108 to 154 grams per day.
Where you fall within that range depends on your training. If you’re primarily doing endurance work like distance running, the lower end is sufficient. If you’re focused on building or maintaining muscle through resistance training, aim closer to 2.0 g/kg. There’s even some evidence that going above 3.0 g/kg/day can help resistance-trained individuals lose fat, though that level of intake isn’t necessary for most people and requires deliberate planning.
Protein Needs After 65
Aging changes how your body uses protein. Older muscles become less responsive to the same amount of dietary protein, a phenomenon researchers call “anabolic resistance.” This means you need more protein to achieve the same muscle-building signal you got when you were younger. The PROT-AGE study group, an international panel focused on nutrition in aging, recommends that adults over 65 eat at least 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg/day to maintain lean body mass and physical function.
If you’re over 65 and physically active, aim for 1.2 g/kg or higher. If you’re managing an acute or chronic illness, the recommendation rises to 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg/day, since your body’s repair demands increase during illness. For a 160-pound older adult, the practical range is roughly 73 to 109 grams daily depending on health status. Spreading that across meals matters too (more on that below).
During Pregnancy
Pregnant women should aim for a minimum of 60 grams of protein per day, which typically accounts for 20 to 25 percent of total calorie intake. This supports fetal development, placental growth, and the expansion of blood volume that happens during pregnancy. Many practitioners suggest the need increases as pregnancy progresses, particularly in the third trimester when the baby is growing most rapidly. If you were already active or eating above the RDA before pregnancy, maintaining higher intake is reasonable.
Protein and Weight Loss
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, meaning it keeps you feeling full longer than the same number of calories from carbohydrates or fat. This makes it a practical tool for weight loss. In a study of women following a weight-loss program, those who ate the most protein (about 88 grams per day, roughly 34 percent of their calories) lost nearly twice as much weight as those eating less. The higher-protein group also maintained their weight loss better over the following year.
The mechanism likely involves how protein affects hunger hormones. Higher protein intake appears to improve your body’s sensitivity to leptin, a hormone that signals fullness. If you’re trying to lose weight, getting 25 to 35 percent of your calories from protein can help you eat less without feeling deprived.
How to Spread Protein Across Meals
Your body can only use so much protein at once for muscle repair and growth. Research on muscle protein synthesis shows that a serving of about 30 grams maximally stimulates the process, and eating more than that in a single sitting doesn’t proportionally increase the benefit. For people eating two or more meals above this threshold, the sweet spot appears to be 30 to 45 grams per meal.
This means eating 90 grams of protein at dinner and skipping it at breakfast isn’t as effective as spreading 30 grams across three meals, even though the daily total is the same. This is especially important for older adults, who get a smaller muscle-building response from each meal and benefit from consistent protein distribution throughout the day. A practical approach: include a palm-sized portion of a protein-rich food at every meal.
Plant vs. Animal Protein Sources
Animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) contain all the essential amino acids your body can’t make on its own, and they’re more digestible. Research comparing plant-based and animal-based foods found that animal proteins score higher on digestibility measures, meaning your body absorbs and uses a greater percentage of the protein you eat.
That doesn’t mean plant protein is inadequate. It means you need to eat a variety of plant sources (beans, lentils, tofu, whole grains, nuts, seeds) to cover all your essential amino acids. If you eat entirely plant-based, you may also need slightly more total protein to compensate for lower digestibility. A diversified plant-based diet that combines different protein sources across the day can meet your needs, though it requires more intentional planning than an omnivorous diet. Plant-based eaters should also pay attention to nutrients that tend to be lower in their diets, including vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.
Can You Eat Too Much Protein?
For people with healthy kidneys, moderate increases above the RDA are generally safe. But research has linked consistently high protein intake to faster decline in kidney filtration rates even in healthy adults. This doesn’t mean eating a couple of chicken breasts will damage your kidneys. It does mean that extreme intakes sustained over years deserve some caution, particularly if you have risk factors for kidney disease like diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney problems.
People who already have chronic kidney disease are typically advised to keep protein in the 0.6 to 0.8 g/kg/day range to reduce strain on their kidneys. Those with a single kidney or at high risk of kidney disease are generally advised to stay below 1.0 g/kg/day. If you’re healthy and active, intakes in the 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg range are well-supported by evidence, but going significantly beyond that without a specific athletic reason offers diminishing returns.
Quick Reference by Body Weight
- 130 lbs (59 kg): 47 g (sedentary minimum), 59–71 g (over 65), 83–118 g (active)
- 155 lbs (70 kg): 56 g (sedentary minimum), 70–84 g (over 65), 98–140 g (active)
- 180 lbs (82 kg): 65 g (sedentary minimum), 82–98 g (over 65), 115–164 g (active)
- 210 lbs (95 kg): 76 g (sedentary minimum), 95–114 g (over 65), 133–190 g (active)
These ranges give you a starting point. Your ideal intake sits somewhere within them based on your goals, your age, and how hard you push your body on a regular basis.