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General guidance for healthy adults, not medical or dietetic advice. Anyone with kidney conditions, other health conditions, or who is pregnant should get individual advice from a GP or registered dietitian.
What The Protein Intake Calculator Works Out
- Daily protein target: body weight in kg multiplied by a grams-per-kg rate for your goal: about 0.9 g for general health, 1.4 g for regular exercisers and 1.8 g for building muscle. An 80 kg person training for muscle lands at about 144 g a day. Research shows the benefits of extra protein for muscle plateau around 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg; more than that mostly buys expensive urine.
- Per meal: the target split evenly across your meals. Muscle protein synthesis responds best to 25 to 40 g per sitting spread through the day rather than a token breakfast and a huge dinner.
- Looks like: the target in palm-sized 30 g portions. For scale, 30 g of protein is roughly a chicken breast, a tin of tuna, four eggs, 300 g of Greek yoghurt or a decent serving of tofu, lentils or beans; a mixed diet hits these numbers without supplements, though protein powder is a convenient (not superior) option.
- Weight entered in (advanced): type your weight in stones (as a decimal, 12.5 for 12 st 7 lb) or pounds and it is converted to kg.
- Custom grams per kg (advanced): set any rate yourself, for example 2.0 g per kg during a hard training block, overriding the goal dropdown.
- Age group and calorie deficit (advanced): older adults benefit from the higher end of the range (1.2 g per kg or more) to counter age-related muscle loss, and anyone eating in a calorie deficit holds onto more muscle at 1.6 g per kg or above. Each option raises the rate to that floor if your goal is below it.
- Calories from protein (advanced): protein provides 4 kcal per gram; enter your daily calories to see the share. 15% to 30% of calories from protein is a normal range for active adults.
- Per kg of lean mass (advanced): with a body fat percentage the target is also expressed per kg of fat-free mass, the basis many sports nutritionists prefer for heavier individuals.
- UK reference intake (advanced): the official reference nutrient intake is 0.75 g per kg a day (about 56 g for a 75 kg adult), which most people comfortably exceed without trying; the card shows your target as a percentage of it. The food table then converts your per-meal and daily figures into grams of common foods.
- Caveats: this is general guidance for healthy adults, not medical advice; people with kidney disease or other conditions affecting protein handling, and anyone pregnant, should follow individual advice from their GP or a registered dietitian.
Source and further reading: NHS: eat well.