A healthy adult needs at least 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day: about 48 g at 60 kg, 56 g at 70 kg and 68 g at 85 kg. That is the official minimum (the RDA), not a target for everyone. If you do regular strength training, the International Society of Sports Nutrition considers 1.4–2.0 g per kg a day sufficient for most exercising people. When you are losing weight, reviews of higher-protein diets describe benefits at about 1.2–1.6 g per kg, and people over 65 are advised to get at least 1.0–1.2 g per kg. So the practical answer is: pick the range that fits your goal, multiply it by your weight, and spread the result over your meals.
Protein is not separate from calories. Each gram gives about 4 kcal, so your protein target is part of your daily calorie budget, not something added on top of it.
How much protein per day: table by weight and goal
The table turns the ranges above into grams for three body weights. Find the row that describes you and read across to the weight closest to yours.
| Goal or situation | Grams per kg a day | 60 kg | 70 kg | 85 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum for a healthy adult (RDA) | 0.8 | 48 g | 56 g | 68 g |
| Adults over 65 | 1.0–1.2 | 60–72 g | 70–84 g | 85–102 g |
| Losing weight on a calorie deficit | 1.2–1.6 | 72–96 g | 84–112 g | 102–136 g |
| Regular strength training | 1.4–2.0 | 84–120 g | 98–140 g | 119–170 g |
The numbers are the same for women and men: protein needs are calculated per kilogram, so the difference comes from body weight, not from sex. A woman of 60 kg who is losing weight and a man of 60 kg doing the same need about the same amount.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, multiplying your current weight by 1.6 can give a figure that is hard to eat within a calorie deficit. In that case many people calculate from the weight they are aiming for, or start at the lower end of the range. Either way, the minimum of 0.8 g per kg of your current weight still applies.
How to calculate your daily protein in five steps
- Weigh yourself. Use a morning weight. If it changes a lot from day to day, take the average of a few mornings.
- Choose the factor for your goal. Use 0.8 if you just want to cover the minimum, 1.0–1.2 if you are over 65, 1.2–1.6 if you are losing weight and 1.4–2.0 if you train with weights. If you are unsure, start at the lower end.
- Multiply. Weight × factor = grams of protein a day. For a woman of 65 kg losing weight at 1.4 g per kg: 65 × 1.4 = 91 g.
- Check it against your calories. Multiply the grams by 4 and divide by your daily calories. In the example, 91 × 4 = 364 kcal, which is about 24% of a 1,500 kcal day. The US Institute of Medicine's acceptable range for adults is 10–35% of calories from protein, so this fits. If you do not know your calories yet, start with the guide to how many calories you need a day.
- Split it across meals. Three or four meals of about 25–30 g each are easier to reach than one large protein dinner. The ISSN suggests 20–40 g per serving, spread every 3–4 hours; 91 g a day is three meals of about 25 g plus a protein snack.
The macro calculator sets protein as a share of your calories. If its figure differs a lot from your grams per kg, use the grams per kg for protein and let carbs and fat fill the rest of the calories.
Protein-rich foods: grams per 100 g
Values from USDA FoodData Central. Meat and fish are cooked weights, legumes and buckwheat are boiled. The last column shows roughly how much of each food gives 25 g of protein, the amount in one protein-focused meal.
| Food | Protein per 100 g | kcal per 100 g | About 25 g of protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, roasted | 31.0 g | 165 | 80 g |
| Tuna, canned in water, drained | 25.5 g | 116 | 100 g |
| Salmon, cooked | 25.4 g | 182 | 100 g |
| Tofu, firm | 17.3 g | 144 | 145 g |
| Eggs, whole | 12.6 g | 143 | 200 g (about 4 eggs) |
| Cottage cheese, 1% fat | 12.4 g | 72 | 200 g |
| Greek yogurt, plain, low-fat | 9.95 g | 73 | 250 g |
| Lentils, boiled | 9.0 g | 116 | 280 g |
| Chickpeas, boiled | 8.9 g | 164 | 280 g |
| Buckwheat, boiled | 3.4 g | 92 | 740 g |
Two things stand out. Lean meat, fish, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt give 25 g of protein for roughly 115–185 kcal, which matters when calories are limited. Lentils and chickpeas need more food and more calories for the same protein, but they bring fibre and work well combined with other sources. Grains such as buckwheat add some protein to the day, yet they are not a main source on their own.
Packaged foods vary, especially yogurts and cottage cheese. Check the label: the protein per 100 g is printed there, and products with similar names can differ by several grams.
What 100 g of protein a day looks like
Here is one way to reach about 100 g with ordinary food, using the values from the table:
- Breakfast: 200 g cottage cheese (1% fat) with fruit, about 25 g of protein.
- Lunch: 100 g roasted chicken breast with 200 g boiled buckwheat and salad, about 38 g.
- Snack: 150 g plain Greek yogurt, about 15 g.
- Dinner: 100 g salmon with vegetables, about 25 g.
That adds up to about 103 g of protein from foods that together give about 785 kcal. Bread, fruit, vegetables and oil fill the rest of the day's calories and add a few more grams of protein. For a complete menu with every portion weighed, see the high-protein meal plan.
Protein when you are losing weight
In a calorie deficit the body loses some lean mass along with fat. The review by Leidy and colleagues found that, in tightly controlled studies, higher-protein energy-restricted diets led to greater weight and fat loss and better preservation of lean mass than lower-protein ones. It also describes a modest effect on fullness: people felt fuller after higher-protein meals, although this did not reliably reduce what they ate at the next meal. Over longer periods, the benefits were seen mainly in those who actually kept to the diet.
In practice that means: set your calories first, with a moderate calorie deficit, and then make sure protein inside that budget is at least 1.2 g per kg. Extra protein does not cancel a calorie surplus; if the calories are too high, weight will not go down whatever the share of protein.
Common mistakes when counting protein
- Mixing dry and cooked weights. 100 g of dry lentils or buckwheat is not 100 g of boiled. Log the food in the state you weighed it.
- Counting the whole weight of meat as protein. 100 g of chicken breast is about 31 g of protein, not 100 g.
- Leaving it all for dinner. A breakfast with 5–10 g of protein makes the daily target hard to reach. Add a protein food to each meal.
- Trusting product names. "Protein" bars and desserts can contain less protein and more sugar than you expect. Read the grams on the label.
- Judging by one day. Look at the weekly average. Being 10 g under on one day is not a problem if the week is close to target.
If you already keep a food diary, add a protein column and look at it before dinner: that is when you can still correct the day. The guide on how to count macros shows the same method for carbs and fat.
When to ask a doctor first
The ranges in this guide are for healthy adults. If you have kidney disease or have been told to limit protein, follow your doctor's advice; the PROT-AGE group notes that older people with severe kidney disease who are not on dialysis may need to limit protein. Needs are also different during pregnancy and breastfeeding, for children and teenagers, and with some medical conditions. In those cases ask your doctor or a registered dietitian before raising your protein.