How Much Protein Do You Need a Day?

By NutriCalc Hub. Published October 13, 2026, updated October 21, 2026. 2 min read.

There isn't one right amount of protein for everyone. The number that keeps a sedentary adult healthy is lower than what helps someone build muscle or hold on to it while losing weight. The good news is that working out your own target takes about a minute.

The minimum: 0.8 g per kilogram

The US Recommended Dietary Allowance for adults is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day. For a 70 kg (154 lb) adult that's 56 grams. This is the amount set to cover the basic needs of nearly all healthy adults. It's a floor, not a target for performance.

If you train or are losing weight: 1.2 to 2.0 g per kg

Sports nutrition research supports higher intakes for people who exercise regularly. The International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests about 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg a day for most exercising people. Higher protein also helps protect muscle when you eat in a calorie deficit, which is why many weight-loss plans aim for the upper half of that range.

For the same 70 kg person, that's roughly 100 to 140 grams a day.

Older adults may need more, not less

Muscle becomes less responsive to protein with age. Expert groups focused on older adults suggest about 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg for healthy people over 65, and more for those who are active or recovering from illness.

Spread it out

Your body uses protein better when it arrives in several decent-sized portions than in one big dinner. A practical pattern is three or four meals or snacks with roughly 20 to 40 grams each. A breakfast like our high-protein overnight oats gets you over 25 grams before you've left the house.

Not all protein counts the same

Grams on a label don't tell you how much of that protein your body can use. Collagen, for example, lacks an essential amino acid, so its protein doesn't count fully toward your needs. Our protein quality calculator adjusts for this, and we explain the science in protein quality explained.

Work out your number

The macro calculator sets protein from your body weight at 1.2, 1.6 or 2.0 g per kg and builds your calorie and carb and fat targets around it.