How much protein should you be eating?

The minimum

For healthy adults, the minimum is 0.8g/kg. For a 70kg person, this is 56g per day (PHE 2016).

It's estimated in the UK, adults eat 76g per day with older adults (65+) consuming slightly less at 67g per day (NDNS 2025). So for most, eating the minimum protein isn't so much of a concern.

The sweet spot

What about the amount of protein to support your movement? This is what the research recommends based on activity level.

For athletes looking to maximise muscle growth, protein should be split into 0.4–0.55g/kg/meal across a minimum of four meals in order to reach the 1.6–2.2g/kg/day (Schoenfeld & Aragon 2018).

In addition, older adults require slightly more protein at 1–1.2g/kg (Parker 2025). If you are 65+ and are very active, it is likely you need more than this.

How much is too much?

Whilst there is technically no safe upper limit for protein in healthy adults, there is some research which suggests higher intake of protein can place greater stress on the kidneys and puts you more at risk of kidney stones. If you are not an athlete or bodybuilder, staying below 2g/kg/day may be safer (140g for a 70kg person) (Harvard Health Publishing 2026).

Quality

It is important you are eating mostly good quality protein and by this I mean protein from whole foods vs a protein shake. One of the reasons for this is the food matrix.

The food matrix refers to the complex structure of food which you don't get in supplements where just one macro- or micro-nutrient is isolated. This means when you are eating tofu, you are not just getting protein, you are getting fats, calcium, manganese, copper, selenium, and isoflavones (Punoo et al. 2024).

Don't get me wrong, protein shakes can be useful if you are struggling to meet your protein target through food alone, but ideally, it is more beneficial for you to get your protein through whole foods.

In addition, it is recommended to try to avoid red meat or limit it to 70g/day as it is strongly associated with breast and gastric cancers (Sivasubramanian et al. 2023).

Animal protein vs plant protein

A common phrase I hear a lot from people is that plant protein is not as easily digested as animal protein. Whilst this is partly true, digestibility only varies slightly and is not as extreme as people think.

Another saying is that plant protein sources are not "complete" proteins (they don't contain all essential amino acids). There are many plant sources that contain all essential amino acids (soy, quinoa, chia seeds, buckwheat and hemp seeds) however it is recommended that eating a wide variety of plant protein can help support optimising nutritional value and better digestion (Maleky & Ahmadi 2025).

Protein sources for 20–25g

In summary

• 0.8g/kg is the minimum for healthy adults.
• The right target depends on how you train: 1–1.2g/kg if lightly active, 1.3–1.6g/kg if you strength train, 1.6–2.2g/kg if you train heavily.
• Adults 65+ need a little more, around 1–1.2g/kg.
• If you are chasing muscle growth, split it into 0.4–0.55g/kg per meal across at least four meals.
• There is no formal upper limit, but staying under 2g/kg/day is sensible unless you are an athlete.
• Whole foods first; shakes are a useful top-up, not the foundation.
• Limit red meat to 70g/day.
• Vary your plant protein sources.