Protein: How Much You Need and Where to Get It

Protein for Lifters

After total calories, protein is the part of your diet that matters most for building and keeping muscle. It is also the part most people get wrong, usually by eating too little and sometimes by worrying about details that do not matter. Here is what the research supports and how to hit your number with normal food.

How much per day
For people who lift, 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day covers almost everyone. Most of the benefit is already there at around 1.6 g per kg. Going a bit higher is fine for healthy people and gives you some margin.

• Building muscle: 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg.
  
• Cutting: aim higher, around 2 to 2.4 g per kg. Protein helps you hold on to muscle in a deficit and keeps you fuller.
  
• Carrying a lot of body fat: base the number on your goal weight rather than your current weight.
  

So an 80 kg lifter needs roughly 130 to 175 g a day.

Spreading it out
Your daily total matters far more than timing. That said, three to five meals with a decent serving of protein each is an easy way to get there, and probably a little better than one huge meal. Around 0.4 g per kg per meal works well, which is 30 to 40 g for most lifters. You do not need a shake within 30 minutes of training. If you had a proper meal a few hours before or after, you are covered.

Good sources
Rough numbers, so you can plan without weighing everything forever:

• Chicken breast, cooked: about 30 g per 100 g
  
• Lean minced beef, raw: about 20 g per 100 g
  
• Salmon, raw: about 20 g per 100 g
  
• Canned tuna, drained: about 25 g per 100 g
  
• Eggs: about 6 g per egg
  
• Skyr and quark (kvarg): about 10 to 12 g per 100 g
  
• Cottage cheese: about 11 to 13 g per 100 g
  
• Firm tofu: about 12 to 15 g per 100 g
  
• Cooked lentils or beans: about 7 to 9 g per 100 g
  
• Whey powder: about 20 to 25 g per scoop
  

A normal day that gets there
For an 85 kg lifter aiming for about 2 g per kg:

• Breakfast: 3 eggs and 200 g of skyr, about 40 g
  
• Lunch: 150 g of cooked chicken with rice and vegetables, about 45 g
  
• After training: a scoop of whey in water, about 25 g
  
• Dinner: 150 g of salmon with potatoes, about 30 g
  
• Evening: 250 g of cottage cheese, about 30 g
  

That is around 170 g, before you count the smaller amounts in bread, rice, milk and so on.

Protein powder
Powder is food in a convenient form, nothing more. It is handy when you are busy or still short of your target in the evening, but you do not need it if you can eat enough. A plain whey from a brand that has its products tested is all you need. If dairy upsets your stomach, try a whey isolate, soy, or a blend of pea and rice protein.

Eating plant based
You can build muscle fine without meat. Mix your sources, like soy, beans, lentils, grains and plant powders, and aim for the upper half of the range, since plant protein is a little less efficient gram for gram.

Is a lot of protein bad for your kidneys?
Not in healthy people. Intakes in the ranges above have not been shown to harm healthy kidneys. If you already have kidney disease, or a doctor has told you your kidney values are off, ask your doctor how much protein is right for you.

Keep it simple
Track your food for a week or two with an app so you learn what your normal portions contain. After that most people hit their number by habit: a protein source at every meal, and something quick like skyr, cottage cheese or a shake in the fridge for the days that go sideways.

Calories, carbs and fats are covered in Nutrition Fundamentals. Questions about your own numbers go in this thread.