How the calculator works
It multiplies your body weight in kilograms by a grams-per-kilogram range that matches your situation:
| Situation | Protein per kg per day | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly sitting | 0.8 g | The RDA, the amount that covers basic needs for almost all healthy adults |
| Age 65+ | 1.0–1.2 g | PROT-AGE study group position paper (Bauer, 2013) |
| Exercise regularly | 1.4–2.0 g | International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand (Jäger, 2017) |
| Building muscle | 1.6–2.2 g | Meta-analysis of 49 trials: gains plateaued near 1.6 g, upper confidence limit 2.2 g (Morton, 2018) |
The RDA is a floor, not a target. It was set to prevent deficiency, so most people who train, or who are older and want to keep muscle, do better above it.
Spreading it across the day
The per-meal figure divides your total across four meals. Muscle protein synthesis responds to each protein feeding, and a review of the meal-timing research suggests roughly 0.4 g per kg per meal across at least four meals as a practical way to reach the higher targets (Schoenfeld and Aragon, 2018). Three bigger meals work too if that fits your life better; the daily total matters most.
What 120 g of protein looks like
- 200 g Greek yogurt, about 20 g
- 3 eggs, about 19 g
- 150 g cooked chicken breast, about 46 g
- 1 cup cooked lentils, about 18 g
- 30 g scoop of whey, about 20–24 g
When to be careful
If you have chronic kidney disease, your protein target is a clinical decision, and higher intakes are usually not advised. The ranges above are for healthy adults.