How much protein should I have? (1)

We hear this question all the time “How much protein should I have?” As a general rule of thumb bodybuilders world wide have stuck by consuming 2.2g of protein per kg of weight, as  good way to calculate your daily protein intake if your working out to build lean muscle mass. Protein will make you feel fuller than carbs for longer, but how much should you actually consume?

 

Why is protein important?

Protein is incredibly essential to have in your diet. It helps support your entire body. It lowers factors for disease, keeps muscles strong, helps with weight loss, reduces fatigue and hunger, improves brain function, increases injury recovery, looks after tendons, lowers blood pressure and so much more! You can read an in-depth article on the benefits of protein here.

 

The Truth on “How Much Protein I should have?”

From what research has found, it all depends on your age, muscle mass, activity level, goals and overall your health.

 

What we recommend

Although there is conflicting studies on “How much protein should I have”, we have done our research to come up with a chart below where we have average recommendations for how much protein you should eat, although the best way to figure out exactly how much protein you need for your goals is to see your nutritionist or trainer to get advice.

 

  1. For losing weight
  2. For gaining muscle
  3. To stay at the same body weight

 

How much protein should I have?

1. For losing weight

This is higher than the amount of protein you will need to have if you want to stay the same weight as you will be burning more calories. Protein will help you keep fuller than consuming lots of carbs.

1.76g - 2.2g per kg

2. For gaining muscle

If you are wanting to tone up, work on your lean muscle mass or you are doing high intensity workouts this is the amount of protein you want to be consuming per day.

2.2g - 2.6g per kg

3. To stay at the same body weight

If you are doing light exercise and just want to stay at the same physique level. This amount is recommended for people who are not doing intense training.

1.1g - 1.5g per kg

 

How to calculate your intake from the above table

If you’re 65 kg and you want to gain lots of muscle or tone up, then you should be using the number 2 chart, which is the amount of kilos you weigh times the grams of protein per kg, which is 143-169 grams of protein per day.

How much protein should I eat to stop muscle loss?

Protein not only helps creates muscle mass but it also helps with maintaining it, if you aren’t consuming enough protein then your body will start to break down your muscle in order to fuel your body and brain. Luckily most people have no problem getting enough protein from their diet to reach the minimum. For example if 1 x 30g serve of protein powder has the nutritional value of 21.2g of protein and the recommended daily intake for a woman aged 19-70 years old is 46g of protein per day, then she can reach her daily protein intake with little more than 2 serves (or 2 protein shakes) per day. But as mentioned above if you are working out you want to increase your intake of protein as this means you will be burning fat instead of muscle mass.

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