How Much Protein Should You Eat Per Day?

In our last article we told you All About Protein and its Importance. We also talked about Amino acids.  So today I'm going to talk about How Much Protein You Should Take Per Day or how much is necessary.

Protein is incredibly important. If we don't get enough from the diet, our health and body composition suffers.

However, there are vastly different opinions on how much protein we actually need. Most official nutrition organizations recommend a fairly modest protein intake.

The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound.

What About The Average Person?

The amount of protein for any one individual depends on many factors including activity levels, age, muscle mass, physique goals and current state of health.

If you're at a healthy weight, you don't lift weights and you don't exercise much, then aiming for 0.36 to 0.6 grams per pound (or 0.8 to 1.3 gram per kg) is a reasonable estimate.

This amounts to:

56-91 grams per day for the average male.
46-75 grams per day for the average female.

So, 56 grams per day for the average sedentary
man.
                                       and

46 grams per day for the average sedentary woman.

Although this meager amount may be enough to prevent downright deficiency, studies show that it is far from sufficient to ensure optimal health and body composition.

So the bottom line is: If you want to stay healthy and young, protein is the key. Period.

Click here for the Best Protein Sources to include in your diet.