"How much protein do you need?" is one of the most common questions I get, and it's usually asked with a slightly anxious undertone — as if the person suspects they're doing it badly. The honest answer is that most people eating a reasonably varied diet get closer to enough protein than they think, but there are specific groups — older adults, people who are very active, people going through menopause, and people intentionally losing weight — who genuinely benefit from eating more than the bare minimum. This article is going to give you real numbers, real food examples, and cut through the noise around protein shakes and extreme high-protein trends that dominate social media.
Before we get into grams and portions, a quick honest note: your protein needs can shift with certain medical conditions — kidney disease being the main one, where protein intake often needs to be more carefully managed, sometimes lowered, under medical supervision. If you have a diagnosed kidney condition, are pregnant, or are managing a chronic illness, please talk to your doctor or a dietitian before making significant changes to your protein intake, rather than following generic online advice.
The Basic Numbers: How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?
The official minimum recommendation in most of Europe (the RDA) is around 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That's the amount needed to prevent deficiency in a sedentary adult — it is not necessarily the amount for optimal health, muscle maintenance, or how most of my clients actually want to feel and function. Research over the past decade has shifted quite a lot of dietitians, myself included, toward recommending higher intakes for most adults.
Here's how I generally break it down:
- General healthy adults, moderately active: 1.0–1.2 g/kg body weight per day
- Regularly active adults / strength training: 1.4–1.8 g/kg body weight per day
- Older adults (65+): 1.2–1.5 g/kg body weight per day, even without exercise, because muscle-building efficiency from protein declines with age
- During weight loss (any adult): 1.4–1.8 g/kg of your goal or current body weight, to protect muscle while you're in a calorie deficit
- Perimenopause and menopause: often at the higher end, around 1.2–1.6 g/kg, since hormonal changes accelerate muscle loss during this life stage
So, for example, someone weighing 70kg who is moderately active might aim for roughly 70–85g of protein a day. An active 70kg adult strength training a few times a week might aim closer to 100–125g. These aren't numbers to hit with rigid precision every single day — they're a general target to build meals around.
Why Higher-Protein Groups Need More
It's worth understanding why certain groups need more, because it makes the guidance easier to apply rather than just memorise.
Older adults experience something called anabolic resistance — the body becomes less efficient at using protein to build and maintain muscle, so a higher intake is needed to get the same muscle-preserving effect a younger body would get from less. This matters enormously for maintaining strength, mobility, and independence with age.
People losing weight are in a calorie deficit, and without adequate protein, a meaningful portion of the weight lost can come from lean muscle rather than fat. Higher protein intake during weight loss helps preserve muscle mass, which also helps preserve your metabolic rate.
People in perimenopause and menopause experience a drop in oestrogen, which is linked to accelerated muscle and bone loss. Combining adequate protein with resistance exercise is one of the most evidence-backed strategies for protecting muscle and bone health through this transition.
Very active people and athletes need more protein to repair and rebuild muscle tissue stressed by training, particularly with resistance or high-intensity exercise.
Spreading Protein Across the Day
One thing I coach almost every client on is distribution, not just total intake. Muscle protein synthesis — the process of building and repairing muscle — responds best to protein intake spread across three or four meals, roughly 25–40g per meal, rather than one large protein-heavy dinner and very little the rest of the day. A typical pattern I see, especially in busy professionals, is a low-protein breakfast (toast, coffee), a moderate lunch, and then most of the day's protein crammed into dinner. Rebalancing that — even just adding eggs or yoghurt to breakfast — tends to make a bigger difference than people expect.
Good Protein Sources: Animal and Plant
You don't need protein powder to hit these numbers. Here's roughly what different portions provide:
Animal sources:
- Chicken breast, 100g cooked: ~31g
- Eggs, 2 large: ~13g
- Greek yoghurt, 200g: ~20g
- Salmon, 100g: ~25g
- Cottage cheese, 150g: ~17g
Plant sources:
- Lentils, cooked 1 cup: ~18g
- Chickpeas, cooked 1 cup: ~15g
- Tofu, 150g: ~18g
- Tempeh, 100g: ~19g
- Edamame, 1 cup: ~17g
- Quinoa, cooked 1 cup: ~8g
If you're following a vegetarian or vegan pattern, combining a few plant sources across the day (legumes, tofu/tempeh, whole grains, nuts) covers your essential amino acid needs perfectly well — you don't need to obsessively "combine proteins" within a single meal, as older advice used to suggest. Just eat a reasonable variety across your week.
A Sample Day Hitting a Higher Protein Target
For a 70kg moderately active adult aiming for around 110g:
- Breakfast: Greek yoghurt (200g, ~20g protein) with berries and a tablespoon of chia seeds
- Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with chickpeas, mixed greens, and olive oil dressing (~35g protein)
- Snack: A handful of almonds and an apple, or a boiled egg (~8-10g protein)
- Dinner: Baked salmon with quinoa and roasted vegetables (~35g protein)
That adds up to roughly 100-110g across the day, spread reasonably evenly, without any powders or supplements.
Protein and Satiety: An Underrated Connection
One thing that doesn't get talked about enough is just how much protein affects fullness. Of the three macronutrients, protein has the strongest effect on satiety — more than carbohydrate or fat. Clients who aren't getting enough protein at meals often find themselves reaching for snacks an hour or two later, not because they lack willpower, but because their body genuinely hasn't received a strong "I'm full" signal. With clients working on weight management, simply adding a protein source to under-protein meals — without counting a single calorie — often reduces snacking noticeably within a couple of weeks. It's one of the simplest, most sustainable changes I make, and it doesn't require any powders or strict rules.
Common Protein Myths
"You need a protein shake after every workout or you'll lose your gains." Whole food protein works just as well as a shake for muscle repair, as long as you get enough within a few hours of training. Shakes are convenient, not magic.
"More protein is always better." Beyond a certain point (roughly 2–2.2 g/kg for most people, even athletes), extra protein doesn't add extra benefit — it mostly just adds calories. Very high intakes over long periods can also be a burden for people with underlying kidney issues.
"Plant protein is incomplete and inferior." Individual plant foods can be lower in one or two amino acids, but eating a variety of plant proteins across the day easily covers your needs. Plant-based eaters do not need to fear protein deficiency with reasonable planning.
"You should eat protein first thing, isolated from carbs and fat." Balanced meals with protein, carbs, and fat together are perfectly effective — there's no special metabolic advantage to eating protein in isolation.
When Protein Needs Are More Complicated
If you have kidney disease, a history of kidney stones, gout, or certain liver conditions, protein recommendations can look quite different, and sometimes lower intakes are medically appropriate. This is exactly the kind of situation where generic online protein calculators can do more harm than good — please work with your doctor and a dietitian to find the right target for your specific health picture.
Working With Hanzi Nutrition
I'm a dietitian, and figuring out your actual protein target — not a generic number pulled from an app, but one based on your age, activity level, health history, and goals — is exactly the kind of thing I help clients work through every week. At Hanzi Nutrition, I offer fully online counselling in English and Turkish for clients in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Turkey, so you can get properly personalised guidance without needing to visit a clinic in person.
We start with a first consultation where I look at your current eating pattern, activity level, health history, and goals — whether that's preserving muscle through menopause, supporting weight loss without losing strength, or simply eating in a way that keeps you fuller and steadier through the day. From there, I build a personalised plan with realistic protein targets and meal ideas that fit your actual life and food preferences, and if you have a health condition that affects protein needs, I coordinate with your doctor to keep things safe. Then we keep working together with ongoing support, adjusting as your needs change.
If you're ready to stop guessing and get a protein target that's actually built for you, book a consultation with me today.
Hanzi Nutrition offers dietitian-led nutrition counselling across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Turkey, fully online, in English and Turkish. This article is general education and not a substitute for individual medical care. Please coordinate any changes to your nutrition, supplements, or treatment with your doctor.
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