Protein is important because it provides the amino acids your body needs to build and repair muscles. Most research suggests that highly active people should eat 1, 2, or 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This means that a 150-pound person should eat 82 to 136 grams per day. The average adult who does recreational exercise needs between 0.8-1.5 g of protein per kg of body weight per day.
If you weigh 80 kg, you would need between 48 and 120 g of protein a day. And recreational exercise is a rather vague term. Here's how you can reduce it even more. However, if you exercise, your protein needs may be slightly higher, as resistance training and resistance training can quickly break down muscle proteins.
You need enough protein so that your body can carry out all the usual daily functions it depends on proteins for. Those who train for resistance training on a regular basis need between 1.2-1.4 g of protein per kg of body weight per day, while those who train to increase strength and power need between 1.4-1.8 g of protein per kg of body weight per day. This study is the first to discover and analyze whether total lean body mass influences muscle protein synthesis (response to endurance exercise combined with protein intake). For example, if you ate two grams of protein per kilo of body weight, you would eat the same amount of protein regardless of your total daily calorie count, either 1500 or 4000.
So I thought I would summarize what we know about the amount of protein needed to perform different intensities of exercise, what are the best sources of protein, and when to ingest protein optimally. Based on this information, your daily protein recommendation is between 75 and 113 g of protein, a reasonably wide range. If I were a 90 kg male bodybuilder and decided that I need 1.7 g of protein a day to maintain my muscle mass, I would need 153 g of protein a day. You would have to consume a few protein pills to get the same amounts as a serving of protein powder or a bar.
While the guidelines above give you a clear idea of where you should reduce your protein intake, calculating the amount of daily protein that's right for you can help you adjust it even more. For example, the protein found in meat, dairy products, eggs, and fish has a very different amino acid profile than the protein found in tofu, almonds, and lentils. PHD dietary whey protein powder is the best choice for smoothies, as it thickens very well and there are many different flavors to choose from. Therefore, the current reference daily protein intake is 50 g, while the recommended daily amount suggests eating a modest amount of 0.8 g of protein per day per kg of body weight.
