How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?
Protein advice online ranges from "just eat balanced meals" to "you need a gram per pound of bodyweight or you're wasting your time." Neither extreme is quite right. Here's the general picture, broken down by activity level.
The baseline: sedentary adults
General nutrition guidelines for a sedentary adult typically land around 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day — enough to prevent deficiency, but not optimized for building or preserving muscle.
If you strength train regularly
Sports nutrition organizations generally recommend a higher range for people who train — commonly cited figures fall around 1.4 to 2.0 g per kilogram of body weight per day. Within that range, people actively trying to build muscle or in a calorie deficit (trying to lose fat while keeping muscle) tend to benefit from the higher end.
| Goal | Rough daily target |
|---|---|
| Sedentary, general health | ~0.8 g/kg |
| Regular strength training, maintenance | ~1.4–1.6 g/kg |
| Muscle building or fat loss while training | ~1.6–2.0 g/kg |
For a 70kg person training regularly, that works out to roughly 100–140g of protein per day — spread across meals rather than eaten all at once, since your body uses protein more effectively in moderate doses throughout the day.
Do you need a specific timing or supplement?
Total daily intake matters far more than timing. Whole foods — chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, tofu — can get most people to their target without any supplement. Protein powder is a convenience tool for hitting your number, not a requirement.