How much protein do you need per day?

The official minimum is 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For almost anyone reading a calorie-tracking blog, that number is too low — it's the intake that prevents deficiency in sedentary people, not the intake that supports training, preserves muscle in a diet, or keeps you full. Here are the ranges the research actually supports, and — more usefully — what they look like as food on a plate.

Targets by goal, in g/kg

Two notes on reading this table. If you carry significant excess weight, scale from your target body weight rather than current weight, or the numbers inflate. And the dieting row being the *highest* surprises people: in a calorie deficit, the body is looking for tissue to burn, and a high protein intake (plus training) is what tells it to burn fat rather than muscle. Protein is also the most satiating macronutrient per calorie, which makes a deficit dramatically easier to hold.

A round, defensible target for most active people: 1.6–2 g/kg, call it 110–140 g a day for a 70 kg person.

What 130 g of protein looks like

Grams of protein are abstract until you price them in food. These are USDA FoodData Central values — the same rows calorie.one looks up:

The right-hand column is the one to internalize. Lean animal proteins deliver 17–22 g of protein per 100 kcal; nuts and nut butters deliver 4. Both are fine foods, but if you're trying to fit 130 g of protein inside 2,000 kcal, the leverage lives at the top of that column. "I get my protein from peanut butter" means spending 1,800 kcal to get there.

A concrete 130 g day: 200 g Greek yogurt at breakfast (20 g), a tuna sandwich at lunch (28 g including the bread's protein), 150 g chicken breast at dinner (47 g), a glass of milk and a handful of almonds between (15 g), plus the ~20 g that incidentally rides along in bread, rice, and vegetables. Total: ~130 g, and notably — no powder required. Whey works and is cheap per gram, but it's a convenience, not a requirement.

Spread it or slam it?

Muscle protein synthesis responds meal by meal, and the evidence points at 20–40 g of protein per meal, three to five times a day as the pattern that gets the most out of a given daily total. The practical version: put a real protein source in every meal rather than back-loading 90 g at dinner. Breakfast is where most people run a protein deficit — a typical toast-and-coffee morning delivers under 10 g. Two boiled eggs and a glass of skim milk fix that for 240 kcal.

The ceiling matters less than the floor. Going from 1.6 to 2.4 g/kg buys little for most people; going from 0.9 to 1.6 buys a lot.

Tracking protein without the spreadsheet

Hitting a protein target used to mean logging every food twice — once for calories, once for protein macros. In calorie.one the decomposition does both at once: "chicken and rice bowl with a fried egg" becomes separate ingredient lines, and each line's protein comes from its USDA row along with its calories, so the meal's protein total is the same arithmetic as its calorie total — per-line, checkable, correctable. Pair your protein target with a calorie target from the calorie calculator, and the two numbers together — total calories, total protein — cover most of what "eating right" means. If you also lift, the chicken breast post has the portion math you'll use weekly.

FAQ

How much protein do I need per day?

Most active people want 1.6–2 g per kg of body weight — about 110–140 g a day at 70 kg. The 0.8 g/kg RDA is the intake that prevents deficiency in sedentary people, not a target to aim at.

How much protein to build muscle?

1.6–2.2 g per kg, so roughly 110–155 g a day at 70 kg. Past about 2.2 g/kg there is little left to buy; going from 0.9 to 1.6 buys a great deal.

Do you need more protein in a calorie deficit?

Yes — dieting carries the highest range, 1.8–2.4 g/kg. In a deficit the body is looking for tissue to burn, and high protein plus training is what directs it at fat rather than muscle. Protein is also the most satiating macronutrient per calorie, which makes the deficit easier to hold.

What does 130 g of protein look like in food?

200 g of Greek yogurt at breakfast (20 g), a tuna sandwich at lunch (28 g), 150 g of chicken breast at dinner (47 g), a glass of milk and a handful of almonds between (15 g), plus the roughly 20 g that rides along in bread, rice and vegetables. No powder required.

Is it better to spread protein across meals?

Yes. Muscle protein synthesis responds meal by meal, and 20–40 g of protein three to five times a day gets the most out of a given daily total. Breakfast is where most people run short — toast and coffee delivers under 10 g, while two boiled eggs and a glass of skim milk fix it for about 240 kcal.