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Protein Need: Grams per Kilogram, Then Real Food
Food & Nutrition · 5 min read · Last updated September 2026
The bands
| Profile | g/kg | 70 kg person |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 0.8 | 56 g |
| Active / fitness | 1.6 | 112 g |
| Athlete / muscle gain | 2.0 | 140 g |
Worked example: 70 kg × 1.6 = 112 g/day. In food: chicken breast ≈ 31 g/100 g → 361 g; eggs ≈ 6.3 g each → ~18; lentils ≈ 9 g per cooked cup → 12 cups (why plant-based eaters combine sources — the Vegan Protein tool does that math).
Distribution beats totals (slightly)
Muscle protein synthesis responds per-meal; roughly 20–40 g per meal across 3–4 meals uses the day's total more effectively than one dinner-sized load. 112 g across four meals = 28 g each — a palm of chicken, a cup of dal plus yogurt, or a shake.
Try the calculators
Worked example: Vegan Protein Sources at its default inputs
This is the answer Vegan Protein Sources gives before you touch anything — the defaults as shipped, computed live rather than copied from a sample.
| Input | Default |
|---|---|
| Weight (kg) | 70 |
Result: 126 g/day
Sensitivity: Weight (kg) from half to one-and-a-half times
Hold every other field still and move only weight (kg).
| Weight (kg) | Result |
|---|---|
| 35 | 63 g/day |
| 70 | 126 g/day |
| 105 | 189 g/day |
If the rows barely differ, weight (kg) is not your lever — change a different input. If they swing widely, get that number right before trusting the total.
Related guides
Where the 1.6 g/kg figure comes from
The 0.8 g/kg in the table is the RDA — the intake that keeps almost everyone in nitrogen balance, i.e. the floor that prevents deficiency. It was never a target for people who train. Meta-analyses of resistance-training trials put the point where extra protein stops adding muscle at roughly 1.6 g/kg per day, with a confidence interval that reaches about 2.2.
That gap matters when reading contradictory advice: a dietitian quoting 0.8 and a coach quoting 2.0 can both be right about different questions. Deficiency prevention and muscle gain are separate targets with separate evidence bases.
Protein quality is a second variable
Grams are only half the story. Digestibility and amino-acid profile decide how much of those grams the body can actually use, which is why plant-based eaters are usually advised to aim 10-20% higher than the bands above and to combine sources across the day rather than in one meal.
Leucine is the switch most often discussed: roughly 2.5 g in a sitting is the threshold associated with triggering muscle protein synthesis, which is why 30 g of whey and 30 g of rice protein are not interchangeable even though the labels match.
Cooked weight versus raw weight
Food databases disagree about protein because they disagree about water. Chicken breast is about 23 g of protein per 100 g raw and about 31 g per 100 g cooked, because cooking removes water and concentrates everything else. Weighing cooked food against a raw-weight table inflates your total by a third.
Pick one basis and stay on it. If you weigh food as it goes on the plate, use cooked values; if you portion before cooking, use raw values. The same trap applies to rice, lentils and pasta, where the water gain is far larger than in meat.
What this calculator cannot know
Kidney disease, pregnancy, liver conditions and some medications change protein targets, and none of them are inputs here. Intakes up to about 2 g/kg are well studied in healthy adults; that sentence does not transfer to someone with reduced kidney function, whose target belongs to a clinician.
It also cannot tell you whether you are eating enough overall. Protein targets are usually set inside a calorie target, and a person in a large deficit will lose muscle on a "correct" protein number if the deficit is too aggressive. Treat the grams as one constraint, not the whole plan.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein do I need per day?
Weight × activity factor: 0.8 g/kg sedentary, ~1.6 g/kg active, ~2.0 g/kg for heavy training. A 70 kg active person needs about 112 g/day.
Is too much protein harmful?
For healthy people, intakes up to ~2 g/kg are well studied and safe. Existing kidney disease is the standard exception — those targets belong to a clinician.
Can I eat all my protein in one meal?
You can, but spreading 20–40 g across 3–4 meals uses it more efficiently for muscle maintenance and satiety.
What food equals 100 g of protein?
About 320 g of chicken breast, 16 eggs, or a mix: 200 g Greek yogurt (20 g) + 100 g lentils (9 g) + 150 g paneer (27 g) + 2 eggs (13 g) + whey scoop (25 g). The Protein per Dollar tool compares costs too.
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