How Much Protein Is Enough?

Kate Slatter

Sep 9

5 min read

Protein is having quite a moment. Protein yoghurts, protein bars, protein shakes, high-protein bread. Open Instagram or listen to a health podcast and it can sometimes feel as though everyone is suddenly obsessed with how many grams they’re eating.

One of the questions I’m asked most often by clients is actually quite simple:

“How much protein do I actually need?”

Usually followed by:

“And how on earth am I supposed to eat that much?”

Both are fair questions.

I’m a Nutritional Therapist, I’ve spent most of my life around sport and performance, and even I think nutrition can become unnecessarily complicated. There is so much information, research, opinion and advice coming at us that sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing where to start.

So, let’s make protein a little simpler.

How much protein do you actually need?

For many years, the figure most of us have heard has been around 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Here in the UK, the Reference Nutrient Intake for adults is 0.75g/kg.

That figure is useful, but it’s important to understand what it represents. A nutritional reference value designed to meet the needs of the general population isn't necessarily the same thing as the amount that might be useful for someone who exercises regularly, does resistance training or is trying to maintain muscle while losing body fat.

That is a slightly different conversation.

The British Dietetic Association recommends higher protein intakes for people taking part in strength and endurance sports, with around 1.4–2.0g/kg/day suggested for athletes. The British Nutrition Foundation gives a similar range of around 1.2–2.0g/kg/day for strength and endurance athletes.

That doesn’t mean everyone who exercises needs to head straight for the top end of that range. Your individual needs will depend on things like how much you train, what type of exercise you do and what you're trying to achieve.

For me, the useful question is less about finding one perfect number and more about making sure you're getting enough to support what you're asking your body to do.

So what does that mean in real life?

The maths is actually quite simple.

If you weigh 70kg and were working towards 1.2g/kg, for example, that would be around 84g of protein across the day.

And this is usually the moment somebody looks at me and says:

“There is absolutely no way I eat that much.”

Possibly not.

But before you race off and buy the biggest tub of protein powder you can find, remember that there isn't one perfect number that everyone needs to hit.

If you currently eat 50g of protein and suddenly decide you must eat 100g from tomorrow, there is a reasonable chance the whole exercise will last about three days.

I’m far more interested in helping someone get closer.

Could 50g become 65g? Could breakfast get a little better? Could we add a proper protein source to lunch?

Small changes are much more likely to stick.

The bigger conversation: muscle

For me, the bigger conversation here is muscle.

Muscle matters for far more than how we look. It helps us stay strong, mobile and capable, and supports the things we want to keep doing as we get older.

That might be carrying the shopping, getting up from the floor, travelling, running, rowing or simply continuing to do the things you enjoy.

Protein provides the amino acids our bodies need to maintain and repair tissue. But if maintaining or building muscle is the goal, protein needs to be considered alongside resistance exercise.

The exercise gives the muscle a reason to adapt. Protein provides the building blocks needed for repair and maintenance.

That’s why I tend to think about the whole picture rather than protein in isolation.

Don’t leave all your protein until dinner

One of the patterns I see regularly with clients is that dinner is actually pretty good.

There may be fish, chicken, meat, tofu or another decent protein source on the plate.

The problem is what happened before dinner.

Breakfast might have been toast or cereal. Lunch might have been quite light. Suddenly, most of the day’s protein has arrived in one evening meal.

So rather than only asking, “How much protein am I eating?”, I like to ask:

“Where is my protein across the day?”

One practical way of spreading your intake across the day is to include a decent source of protein at each main meal. For some people, that might mean roughly 25–30g at breakfast, lunch and dinner, depending on their individual needs.

If you were aiming for around 90g, for example, you could get there with roughly 30g at each main meal. If you don't quite reach that at one meal, you can make up the difference elsewhere during the day.

Suddenly, 90g looks far more achievable.

What I’m doing myself

I’m paying more attention to this myself at the moment.

I’m heading back to Australia in November to race with some of my old rowing teammates, which is both exciting and slightly terrifying.

So I’m back to focusing on the basics. I’m training consistently, trying to get my sleep into a better routine, eating well and making sure I’m getting enough protein throughout the day.

Even when you know what to do, actually doing it consistently is another matter entirely.

I don’t have a secret Olympic shortcut.

I’m doing the simple things again.

Try this before you change anything

Before you change your diet, spend a day or two noticing what you already do.

Where is the protein in your breakfast? What about lunch? Which meal is doing most of the work?

You might find that you're already getting more than you thought. Or you might spot an easy place to make a change.

Maybe breakfast is the easiest place to start.

Maybe lunch needs a proper protein source.

Maybe you’re getting enough already and simply needed to look.

You don’t have to overhaul your diet overnight.

Start with one meal and see what happens.

Because whether we are talking about nutrition, training or getting ourselves back on track after summer, I keep coming back to the same thing.

We don’t necessarily need more information. We need to take what we already know, make it practical and actually use it.

If breakfast is your weak spot, read How to Build a 30g Protein Breakfast.

And if you'd rather stop counting grams at every meal, read Protein Anchors & Boosters: A Simpler Way to Build Your Meals.

Thank you for taking the time to read 'How Much Protein Is Enough?'. If there are any other topics that you'd be keen to hear more about, I'd love to know. Please drop me an email at hello@kateslatter.com.