Protein Intake - How much do we actually need?

What is your daily recommended protein intake? It's the big question that's been asked and answered many times with differing responses. So now what? There is a simple formula that can be used to work approximately how much protein your body actually needs and I'll get to that in just a sec. First let's go through the top three things that may affect this.

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1. Your Goal

The first and most obvious is your goal. If you’re a 90kg male or female looking to gain some serious muscle then you are definitely going to need a lot more protein than a 65kg male or female who wants to loose 5kgs.

2. Your Size and Body Make-up

Meaning if you have been working out for a while, there is a good chance you have developed some lean muscle mass. An increase in muscle mass would also lead to an increased consumption of protein your body needs.

3. Your Exercise Routine

Someone doing very little or no exercise a week will not need as much as someone doing 4 workouts a week. Generally, the more you workout, the more protein your body needs for your muscles to recover.

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The Protein Intake Formula

There's a pretty straight forward formula you can follow to work out how much Protein you should be consuming. Of course it might not work for everyone, but here at the Protein Bread Co we find it's a great rough guide. For every 1kg of bodyweight, your body ideally needs to consume between 0.8g and 1.2g of Protein each day. Where you sit on this scale is determined by your goal, body make up and training routine. For example if a 68kg female working out once or twice a week with the goal of losing 5kg of body fat - she would sit at the lower end of the scale. Around 0.8g of protein per 1kg of bodyweight per day. This would work out to be around 55g of Protein. And if a 80kg male was trying to gain 5kgs of lean mass while working out 4-5 times a week, he would sit at the higher end of the scale. Aiming for 1.2g of protein per 1kg of bodyweight per day. This would equal around 96g of protein per day. Sounds easy right? It sure is!