How much protein do you need? How to get enough each day

Protein is the nutrient we get the most questions about in the studio. How much is enough, when should you eat it and do you need shakes? Most people eat less than they think, and almost always too little at breakfast.

That's a shame, because protein works in three places at once: it builds and protects your muscles, it fills you up well and your body spends the most energy digesting it. In this blog you'll read how much protein you need, how to spread it across the day and how to get it without turning your life upside down.

What protein does in your body

Protein supplies amino acids, the building blocks of muscles, tendons, skin, enzymes and hormones. Your body is constantly breaking these down and rebuilding them. When you train, you ask more of that repair, and so you need more protein.

Protein also costs your body the most energy to digest. Of all the nutrients, protein has the largest thermic effect, and it contributes to feeling full¹. How that thermic effect (TEF) fits into your total expenditure is explained in our blog on your metabolism.

How much protein per day?

The Netherlands Nutrition Centre uses 0.83 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day for adults². For someone weighing 70 kilos, that's about 58 grams. See it as the minimum to avoid shortages, not as the target for someone who trains.

If you do strength training, you benefit from more. A large meta-analysis of 49 studies showed that protein increases the muscle gains from strength training, up to a total intake of around 1.6 grams per kilo per day. Above that, on average, nothing more was gained³. For that 70-kilo person, that's around 110 grams a day. According to the Nutrition Centre, up to twice the guideline is considered safe for healthy adults².

Spread it across the day

How much you eat matters most, but how you spread it matters too. Researchers advise around 0.4 grams of protein per kilo per meal, spread over at least four moments⁴. At 70 kilos, that's around 28 grams each time.

In practice, the gap is almost always at breakfast and lunch. A slice of toast with jam or a croissant provides hardly any protein, leaving dinner to make up for everything. Move some of it to the morning and the total comes closer by itself.

Protein while losing weight

When you eat less than you burn, protein becomes even more important. Studies with a higher protein intake during an energy deficit show more fat loss, better preservation of muscle mass and a slightly stronger feeling of fullness⁵. That's why, during fat loss, we aim closer to 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilo.

Combine it with strength training and you give your body a reason to hold on to muscle. How losing fat and building muscle go together is explained in body recomposition. Once the diet is over, keep your protein intake up while you return to maintenance. How that works is covered in after the diet.

How to get it in practice

1. Build every meal around a protein source. Quark, eggs, fish, chicken, tofu, tempeh or pulses. Choose the protein source first, then add vegetables and carbohydrates.
   
2. Start at breakfast. Low-fat quark with fruit or an omelette gets you to 20 to 25 grams in one go.
   
3. Combine plant sources. Plant protein is slightly less complete and less digestible. According to the Nutrition Centre, vegans need around 30 percent more².
   
4. See a shake as a tool. Handy after training or on the go, but ordinary food does the same job.
   
5. Give it extra attention as you get older. The effect of protein on muscle building declines with age³, and that's exactly when holding on to muscle matters. We wrote about that earlier in strength training after 40.

At de Werf, our nutrition and lifestyle coaching looks at what you eat now and where the gap is. In your training sessions we make sure that protein is actually put to use.

A real example from our practice

"He was 63, trained twice a week and noticed he was getting weaker rather than stronger. His day started with two crispbreads, lunch was a cheese sandwich and only at dinner did real protein reach the table. Altogether he got around 60 grams a day. We added quark to his breakfast, turned lunch into a salad with eggs or fish and kept dinner as it was. Three months later he was at over 110 grams, his weights on the squat and the row had gone up considerably and he no longer needed a rest halfway up the stairs to his study."

Want to know whether you eat enough protein, and how to fit it into your week? At de Werf in The Hague we coach you one to one with training and nutrition, at your own rhythm.

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Read also:
Our coaching in nutrition & lifestyle and physical training.

Sources:
¹ Westerterp (2004), Diet induced thermogenesis - Nutrition and Metabolism
² Protein - Voedingscentrum (in Dutch)
³ Morton et al. (2018), A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults - British Journal of Sports Medicine
⁴ Schoenfeld and Aragon (2018), How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? - Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
⁵ Leidy et al. (2015), The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition