Most adults need at least 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, which is the baseline recommendation for general health. But if you exercise regularly, want to build muscle, or are over 65, you likely need significantly more. Your ideal intake depends on your goals, activity level, and age.
The Baseline: 0.36 Grams Per Pound
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, which works out to 0.36 grams per pound. For a 170-pound person, that’s roughly 61 grams of protein a day. This number represents the minimum to prevent deficiency in a sedentary adult, not the amount that’s optimal for performance, body composition, or aging well. Most people who are even moderately active will benefit from eating more.
Building Muscle: 0.7 to 1.0 Grams Per Pound
If you’re strength training and trying to gain muscle, the research points to a clear sweet spot. A large meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that protein intakes beyond 0.73 grams per pound per day (1.6 g/kg) produced no additional muscle gains in people doing resistance training. That’s roughly double the baseline recommendation.
However, because individual responses vary, the researchers noted the confidence interval stretched up to 1.0 gram per pound (2.2 g/kg). If you want to cover your bases, aiming for somewhere between 0.7 and 1.0 grams per pound per day is a well-supported range. For a 180-pound person, that’s 126 to 180 grams of protein daily.
The practical takeaway: eating more than 1 gram per pound of body weight is unlikely to help you build more muscle, even if you’re training hard. Many gym-goers overshoot this number without any measurable benefit.
Losing Fat Without Losing Muscle
When you’re eating fewer calories than you burn, your body doesn’t just pull energy from fat stores. It also breaks down muscle tissue for fuel, especially if protein intake is too low. This is why protein recommendations go up during a cut, not down.
Research on athletes losing weight recommends 0.73 to 1.1 grams per pound per day (1.6 to 2.4 g/kg) to preserve lean mass. Some studies on resistance-trained athletes in a caloric deficit suggest going as high as 0.82 to 1.2 grams per pound. Intakes above roughly 1.1 grams per pound are unlikely to provide additional muscle-sparing benefits.
The harder your deficit and the leaner you already are, the more protein you need to hold onto muscle. Someone cutting aggressively from an already lean starting point should aim toward the higher end of that range. Someone with more body fat to lose can stay closer to the middle.
Protein Needs for Endurance Athletes
Runners, cyclists, swimmers, and other endurance athletes need more protein than sedentary people but generally less than strength athletes. The typical recommendation falls between 0.5 and 0.7 grams per pound per day (1.1 to 1.5 g/kg). If you’re training for a race or logging high weekly mileage, your needs shift toward the upper end. Those who combine endurance training with regular strength work may benefit from 0.55 to 0.77 grams per pound (1.2 to 1.7 g/kg).
Adults Over 65 Need More Than the Minimum
Muscle loss accelerates with age. After about 50, you lose roughly 1 to 2 percent of muscle mass per year if you don’t actively work against it. The baseline RDA of 0.36 grams per pound is increasingly considered too low for older adults. Researchers studying age-related muscle loss recommend that adults over 65 aim for 0.45 to 0.55 grams per pound per day (1.0 to 1.2 g/kg), and even higher if they’re also exercising.
For a 150-pound older adult, that means targeting at least 68 to 82 grams daily, compared to the 54 grams the standard RDA would suggest. That difference, just an extra chicken breast’s worth of protein, can meaningfully affect mobility and independence over time.
How to Spread Protein Throughout the Day
Your body can only use so much protein for muscle repair in a single sitting. Research shows that muscle-building peaks at around 30 to 45 grams of protein per meal. Eating 80 grams in one sitting doesn’t stimulate twice as much muscle repair as 40 grams. The excess gets used for energy or other metabolic functions, but it won’t build more muscle.
Studies looking at meal patterns found that people who spread their protein across meals containing 30 to 45 grams each had greater leg muscle mass and strength than those who loaded most of their protein into a single meal. If your daily target is 140 grams, four meals with 35 grams each will likely serve you better than a small breakfast, a light lunch, and a massive dinner.
Is High Protein Intake Safe?
For healthy people, high protein diets are not known to cause medical problems. The longstanding concern about protein damaging kidneys applies primarily to people who already have kidney disease, not to healthy individuals eating more protein than the RDA.
That said, how you get your protein matters. Diets that rely heavily on red and processed meats can raise LDL cholesterol and heart disease risk over time. Very restrictive high-protein diets that cut carbohydrates drastically can lead to low fiber intake, which brings its own set of digestive issues. A mix of protein sources, including poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, and soy, avoids most of these concerns.
Quick Reference by Goal
- Sedentary adult (general health): 0.36 grams per pound (0.8 g/kg)
- Recreationally active: 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound (1.1 to 1.5 g/kg)
- Building muscle: 0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound (1.6 to 2.2 g/kg)
- Losing fat while preserving muscle: 0.73 to 1.1 grams per pound (1.6 to 2.4 g/kg)
- Adults over 65: 0.45 to 0.55 grams per pound minimum (1.0 to 1.2 g/kg)
If you’re using your total body weight and you carry significant excess body fat, these calculations can overshoot your actual needs. In that case, estimating based on your goal weight or lean body mass gives a more accurate target.