Are you eating enough protein to support your lifestyle? How much protein should you eat daily? That is the question in the world of nutrition. It shouldn’t be a controversial topic, but of course, everyone has the right answer.
The problem is the difference between how much you need to eat, and how much you should eat. One will support basic life functions and one will support the needs of bodybuilders and athletes. And no, your kidneys won’t explode.
What Is Protein?
Protein is one of our 3 macronutrients with the other two being fat and carbs. All this means is we need to eat large amounts of these nutrients daily to ensure optimal function. Compare this to our micronutrients, which includes vitamins and minerals, that you only need a few mg every day.
The term “protein” simply refers to a long strand of amino acids, 50+ to be specific. There are 20 different proteogenic amino acids which, while all having their own specific functions, work together to form muscle.
What Does Protein Do?
While most people associate protein with muscle repair and muscle growth, it has many other functions. Some of these include;
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Provide structural support
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Involved in all tissue growth (i.e. skin, cartilage, hair)
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Immune function
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Transportation of essential substances (hemoglobin transfers oxygen in the blood)
However, as mentioned above, the primary function of people talking about protein so much is its crucial role in muscle health.
How Much Protein Per Day Should You Eat?
So we know we need protein to support our muscles, but how much do we actually need to eat? Here are the different views.
RDA Recommendation For Daily Protein Intake:
The low-protein crowd will say that you don’t need to eat that much protein because the RDA is 0.8g/kg. This is significantly less than what’s found in your typical bodybuilding diet.
So what is the RDA?
Set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, RDA stands for the Recommended Dietary Allowances and is defined as:
“The daily dietary intake level of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the requirements of 97.5% of healthy individuals in each life-stage and sex group.”
Basically, it’s the amount of a nutrient that 97.5% of the world’s population needs to live a healthy, functional life. However, this is going to include everyone;
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Sedentary population
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Elderly
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Young
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Non-Athletes
And this is the issue. These numbers are not meant to optimize performance and recovery, it’s simply to maintain basic life functions.
Let’s say you’re going to the gym 5 times a week and training hard – do you think you need the same amount of protein as your grandparents and a sedentary person who has never been to the gym?
So how much should bodybuilders eat?
How Much Protein Should Bodybuilders Eat Daily?
As you’re putting significantly more stress on your muscle, in an attempt to elicit growth, you’re going to need more protein. Luckily, there has been quite a bit of research on this.
The numbers may vary slightly, but numerous leaders in nutrition and sport nutrition have given a pretty broad range of 1.2–2.0 g/kg per day.¹. These groups include;
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The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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Dietitians of Canada
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American College of Sports Medicine
In addition, The International Society For Sports Nutrition (ISSN), the authority on sports nutrition, promotes a protein intake of 1.4 – 2.0 g/kg daily.²
We know that Dr. Jose Antonio, the ISSN Founder, is a huge proponent of high protein diets. Check out this video where he goes over some basic, yet important info on protein.
Still, all of the organizations suggest higher intakes of protein could be necessary during specific times, such as when losing weight or cutting.
We could go on and on, but when it comes to athletes and bodybuilders wanting to promote muscle gain muscle, the vast amount of sports researchers recommend a protein intake much higher than the RDA with doses in the range of 1.4-2.2g/kg a day.
How Much Protein Should I Eat When Losing Weight Or Gaining Weight?
The amount of protein you eat can depend on if you’re trying to lose weight or trying to bulk.
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Protein during weight loss - Daily intake of protein goes up (2.0g/kg+)
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Protein during weight gain - Daily intake of protein can go down (1.6g/kg-2.0kg)
To be clear, you don’t have to eat less during times of weight gain. It’s just that eating more becomes more important during weight loss.
That might seem contradictory but it makes sense.
When you’re gaining weight, that means you’re in a caloric surplus. Therefore, the extra protein has one job, to repair and build muscle.
On the other hand, when you’re trying to lose weight, protein actually has a harder job. Since you’re in a caloric deficit, your body could try to break down muscle for fuel – you don’t want that. Therefore, the extra protein is to support the existing muscle and prevent breakdown.
As a bonus, higher protein has other benefits for weight loss including;
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Protein has the highest satiety effect - This means eating more protein will keep you feeling full.
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Protein has the highest TEF of your macronutrients - TEF (Thermal Effect of Food) means your body burns more calories to break it down – it’s like free calories!
Does Excess Protein Cause Kidney Damage?
The major criticism of a high protein intake is that it can be harmful to the kidneys. When we hear this, we like to compare it to this scenario to help illustrate the problem.
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Is jogging bad for your feet? In general, no.
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Is jogging with a broken foot going to make it worse? Yes.
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Does this mean that jogging is bad, or that jogging with a broken foot is bad?
And that’s basically the protein and kidney argument.
It’s true that protein can cause stress to your kidneys but everything we eat does; it’s the kidneys job. Therefore, if you’re healthy, this shouldn’t be an issue.
There have been numerous studies that used high protein diets with zero signs of stress to the kidneys.
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One had participants eat 2.8g/kg per day and saw no influx in the filtration rate, indicating no added stress
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Another had participants eat 3.3g/kg per day for a year and saw no decrease in kidney or liver function.⁶
The “studies” used to support the claim that protein is bad for your kidneys have all been case-studies or taken out of context. In general, they use individuals who already suffer from kidney damage to see the effect of protein.
Therefore, if you do have issues, you should speak to your doctor first.
However, if you’re a healthy, active individual eating more than the RDA is not going to cause problems.
Last Word On Protein Consumption:
Be aware that everyone handles protein differently. Even if you don’t have kidney issues, you may experience stomach distress when eating so much. Or maybe it makes you feel sluggish.
The point being is to be mindful of how you feel. If you experience discomfort, you may need to lower the dose or switch protein powders (there’s many great lactose-free protein powders on the market if you are lactose intolerant!).
However, assuming you’re primarily eating a whole food diet, this is actually pretty uncommon. Find what works for you and work it!
Now you know how much protein to eat per day, check out how much protein you should eat each serving! And once you've got that down, you can dig even further and determine the best timing for taking protein shakes.
Looking for more great protein powder content? Check out the Best Protein Powders on the Market and our article: Does Protein Powder Go Bad?
References:
- https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2016/03000/Nutrition_and_Athletic_Performance.25.aspx
- https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-4-8
- https://www.acsm.org/blog-detail/acsm-certified-blog/2020/09/14/how-much-protein-for-muscle-repair-growth-maintenance
- https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/16/2/article-p129.xml
- https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/10/1/article-p28.xml
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2016/9104792
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15438627.2018.1523167
Sam Coleman
Author