Your target
For healthy adults. If you have a kidney condition, follow clinical advice instead.
The target depends on what you are doing
For an adult who barely exercises the reference intake is about 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight. Train regularly and 1.4–1.8 g is the usual range; building muscle, or protecting it during a deficit, pushes it to 1.6–2.2 g. A range describes this better than a single number ever could.
Spread it across the day
There is a ceiling on how much protein a single meal can put towards building muscle, so dividing the daily target across three or four meals works better than one large serving. The per-meal figure below is there for that.
Some people need less, not more
Kidney disease can require protein to be restricted. These figures assume a healthy adult; if you have a medical condition, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, the right number comes from a clinician rather than a calculator.
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Frequently asked questions
Q. Is more protein always better?
No. Above roughly 2.2 g per kilogram the extra brings no additional muscle in healthy trained adults — it simply gets used for energy, and it displaces other food from the plate.
Q. Does it matter whether protein is animal or plant?
Mostly through the amino acid profile. Plant sources vary more, so a varied diet across the day covers it; a slightly higher total is sometimes suggested on a fully plant-based diet.
Q. Should I use body weight or lean mass?
Body weight is the usual basis and what this uses. At high body fat, lean mass gives a more sensible target, since fat tissue does not need feeding with protein.