Protein
The government minimum and the amount that actually helps you build or keep muscle are two very different numbers, and almost every argument about protein comes from mixing them up.
For anyone training: 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight per day. The benefit for muscle growth largely plateaus around 1.6 g/kg, with some further gain up to about 2.2. A 75 kg person is therefore looking at roughly 120–165 g a day.
The reference intake used on food labels — about 0.75–0.8 g per kg — is the amount needed to avoid deficiency in a sedentary adult. It is a floor for not becoming ill, not a target for building anything. Applying it to someone lifting four times a week is like sizing a car park for the quietest hour of the week.
Meta-analyses of resistance training studies converge on the same picture: lean mass gains increase with protein up to roughly 1.6 g/kg/day, and the additional benefit beyond that diminishes sharply, though some individuals continue to benefit out to around 2.2 g/kg. The major sports nutrition bodies recommend 1.4–2.0 g/kg for people who train.
| Situation | Grams per kg | 70 kg person | 90 kg person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary, general health | 1.0–1.2 | 70–84 g | 90–108 g |
| Training, building muscle | 1.6–2.0 | 112–140 g | 144–180 g |
| Training, losing fat | 1.8–2.2 | 126–154 g | 162–198 g |
| Over 65, keeping muscle | 1.2–1.6 | 84–112 g | 108–144 g |
Protein goes up in a deficit, not down. Eating less total energy is exactly when the body is most willing to break down muscle for fuel, and a high protein intake plus resistance training is the combination that argues against it.
If you carry a lot of fat, base the calculation on a target weight rather than current weight — protein requirements track lean mass, and 2 g/kg of a 140 kg bodyweight is an unnecessary 280 g.
| Food | Portion | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast | 150 g cooked | ~46 g |
| Salmon fillet | 130 g | ~33 g |
| Lean beef mince (5%) | 150 g cooked | ~40 g |
| Greek yoghurt / skyr | 170 g pot | ~17 g |
| Cottage cheese | 200 g | ~24 g |
| Eggs | 3 medium | ~19 g |
| Tinned tuna | 1 tin (~110 g) | ~26 g |
| Red lentils | 200 g cooked | ~18 g |
| Firm tofu | 150 g | ~23 g |
| Whey protein | 1 scoop (30 g) | ~24 g |
Four sensible meals of 30–40 g each gets most people to 130–150 g without a single shake. Shakes are convenient, not required — they solve the problem of a day where cooking did not happen.
Far less than the total. The old thirty-minute "anabolic window" has not held up; muscle stays sensitive to protein for many hours after training. What does help slightly is spreading intake across three to five meals rather than taking 120 g at dinner, because each meal triggers its own muscle-protein-synthesis response and that response saturates somewhere around 0.4 g/kg per sitting.
Practically: aim for a solid protein source at every meal and stop thinking about the clock.
In people with healthy kidneys, there is no good evidence that high protein intakes cause damage. The concern originates in advice given to people who already have reduced kidney function, where protein restriction is genuinely part of treatment. If you have diagnosed kidney disease, that advice applies to you and this article does not.
The reason most people miss their protein target is not motivation, it is that they do not find out they missed it until the day is over. A tracker that shows protein as a running total rather than a bedtime verdict changes the 4pm decision, which is where the day is actually won. Setting macros is the same job done once for all three.
Between 1.6 and 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day, combined with resistance training. Gains in lean mass largely plateau around 1.6 g/kg, with modest additional benefit up to about 2.2 g/kg for some people.
For a sedentary adult around 70 kg, yes. For someone of the same weight training regularly or losing fat, it is short by roughly 30 to 50 grams. Scale the target to bodyweight rather than using a round number.
No. Shakes are a convenience, not a requirement. Four meals containing 30 to 40 grams of protein each will reach most targets using ordinary food. Shakes help on days when cooking did not happen.
For healthy adults, intakes in the 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg range are well tolerated and not associated with kidney harm. The practical limit is usually appetite and food budget rather than safety. People with diagnosed kidney disease should follow medical advice instead.
A protein target only changes behaviour if you can see where you stand at 4pm rather than at bedtime. NutriMacro shows protein as a running total all day.
NutriMacro is a nutrition and training tracker for iPhone and Android. It logs food by barcode, photo or search, counts food in slices and units rather than grams, and keeps strength training, GPS activities, sleep and recovery in the same daily view. It runs in the language of your phone across 108 countries.
These are general guidelines for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, under 18, managing a health condition, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a GP or a registered dietitian before changing how much you eat.
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