Short answer
For most adults aiming to preserve or build muscle, 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight per day (about 0.7–1.0 g per pound). Sedentary adults need less, around 1–1.2 g per kg.
Protein is the one macro worth being precise about, because it is the one that changes what you lose when you lose weight.
The numbers
| Situation | Per kg body weight | Per lb |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary, general health | 1.0–1.2 g | 0.45–0.55 g |
| Moderately to very active | 1.4–2.2 g | 0.65–1.0 g |
| In a deficit, preserving muscle | 1.8–2.2 g | 0.8–1.0 g |
The high end matters most while cutting. In a calorie deficit your body is looking for tissue to break down, and adequate protein plus some resistance training is what steers that away from muscle.
Why it is the macro worth tracking
- It protects muscle in a deficit. Lose weight without enough protein and a meaningful share of it is lean tissue, which lowers your maintenance calories and makes the next cut harder.
- It is the most filling. Gram for gram it does more for satiety than carbohydrate or fat, so hitting it makes the deficit easier to hold.
- It costs energy to digest. A modest effect, but a real one.
Hitting it without effort
Most people undershoot because protein is concentrated in a few foods and absent from most snacks. The fix is structural rather than fiddly:
- Anchor every meal with a protein source and build around it, rather than adding protein as an afterthought.
- Aim for 25–40 g per meal across three or four meals. That gets most people there without counting.
- Fix the weak meal. For most people it is breakfast, and it is the commonest reason a deficit underdelivers. Moving it from near-zero to 30 g often closes the entire daily gap on its own.
- Make snacks count. Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, a shake — the same calories doing more work.
Can you have too much?
For healthy adults, intakes in this range are well tolerated and long-standing concerns about kidney damage have not held up in people with normal kidney function. If you have existing kidney disease, this is a conversation for your doctor rather than an article.
