How Much Protein Do You Really Need?
What you need to know about what protein does in your body, the new dietary guidelines' protein recommendations, and foods that are good sources of protein
For more than 20 years, people trying to follow a healthier diet have prioritized protein, yet uncertainty about the nutrient remains. More than a third of those in the U.S. say they have increased their intake in the past year, according to a 2025 report from the International Food Information Council. But nearly 80 percent say they don’t know or aren’t sure how much protein they should be getting each day. Both the focus on the nutrient and the confusion are understandable. “Protein has become a convenient stand-in for health more broadly,” says Stuart Phillips, PhD, a kinesiology professor and protein researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “Social media and food marketing have amplified modest physiological effects into outsized claims.”
The debate over new protein recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) released earlier this year hasn’t done much to clarify the issue. “‘Eat more protein’ is the message many people took away from the DGAs,” says Amy Keating, RD, a Consumer Reports nutritionist. “But the full story is more complicated. Older adults may need more than younger people, but there’s more to a healthy diet than just the amount of protein you eat.
- What Does Protein Do?
- What Do the Dietary Guidelines Say About Protein?
- So You Should Eat More Protein, Right?
- Assessing Your Protein Needs
- Should You Bump Up Your Animal Protein Intake?
- What About Plant Protein?
- Where Else Can You Get Protein?
- Do You Need Protein Powder?
- Is It Okay to Get Most of Your Protein at Dinner?
What Does Protein Do?
Protein supplies the amino acids our bodies require to produce and maintain cells and tissues in our bodies. It’s the main component of muscle, hair, skin, nails, hormones, and enzymes, and it’s important for wound healing, cell communication, immune system function, and more.
“The proteins in our body are being constantly built and broken down, and we need sufficient quantities of amino acids to maintain this robust turnover,” says Roger Fielding, PhD, a senior scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Our bodies can make some of them, but the rest must come from food.
As we get older, we aren’t just trying to keep up with our body’s needs; we’re also trying to stay ahead of them. “After age 35 or so, muscle mass naturally starts to decline at about half a percent a year,” Fielding says. That’s up to a 20 percent drop by age 75. A reduction in muscle often comes with a loss of strength and function, which can lead to frailty, fractures, and a higher risk of illness. “Consuming enough protein may help slow or prevent that loss,” Fielding adds.
What Do the Dietary Guidelines Say About Protein?
The guidelines say to “prioritize protein foods at every meal,” with a directive to eat 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram—0.5 to 0.7 gram per pound—of body weight each day. That’s higher than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein, which is 0.8 gram per kilogram of body weight. Under the guidelines, someone weighing 150 pounds should get a minimum of 75 grams of protein a day, versus 54 grams a day based on the RDA.
So You Should Eat More Protein, Right?
Not necessarily. “The trouble with the new recommendation is that it gives people the impression that they’re deficient in protein and need to focus on getting more of it,” says Keating. Most people’s protein intake is already within the new recommended range. Men ages 19 to 50 average 96 grams per day, while women the same age get 70 grams, according to data gathered by the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Older adults average slightly less (94 grams for men; 69 grams for women).
That said, some research supports a protein intake above the RDA, especially for individuals at risk of muscle loss—such as older adults and those trying to lose weight—or those who exercise frequently. For example, in a 2020 study published in The Journals of Gerontology, researchers tracked nearly 3,000 adults for about two decades. Those with the highest daily protein intake (about 92 grams) stayed stronger and had a lower risk of falls and fractures than those with the lowest intake (about 64 grams).
“The RDA reflects a minimum intake to maintain whole-body protein balance,” says Stuart Phillips, PhD, a kinesiology professor and protein researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “This [new] range reflects where the evidence has been pointing for years, particularly from studies on muscle protein synthesis, resistance training, aging, and energy restriction.”
But simply upping your protein doesn’t do the whole job. “Protein does very little in isolation,” says Phillips. “It does not ‘supercharge’ metabolism, suppress appetite long-term, or build muscle without a stimulus such as exercise. Protein does not ‘automatically’ improve function: Context matters more than sheer quantity.”
It’s also key to balance your protein intake with your calorie needs. “Too many calories, even from protein, will lead to weight gain,” Keating says.
Assessing Your Protein Needs
Before you start eating more protein, take stock of where you are now. You may already meet or come close to your daily protein needs. This list of some common sources can help you get a rough idea of how much you’re eating or find ways to round out your intake.
About 30 Grams Per Serving
• Beef 4 ounces
• Chicken 4 ounces
• Fish 4 to 5 ounces
• Turkey 4 ounces
About 20 Grams Per Serving
• Cottage cheese ¾ cup
• Edamame 1 cup
• Shrimp 3 ounces
• Tofu 1 cup cubed
• Tuna 4 ounces
• Yogurt Greek, plain, low-fat, ¾ cup
About 10 Grams Per Serving
• Chicken bone broth 1 cup
• Peanut butter 2 tablespoons
• Pumpkin seeds 1 ounce
• Quinoa 1 cup cooked
• Red lentil pasta 1 cup cooked
• White beans ½ cup cooked
• Whole-wheat bread 2 slices
About 5 Grams Per Serving
• Almonds 1 ounces
• Asparagus 1 cup cooked
• Black bean soup ½ cup
• Buckwheat 1 cup cooked
• Cheddar cheese 1 ounce
• Egg 1 large
• Mozzarella part skim, 1 ounce
• Oats ½ cup dry
• Peas frozen, ½ cup
• Penne 1 cup cooked
• Soy milk ¾ cup
• Sunflower seeds 1 ounce
• Walnuts 1 ounce
Your Guide to Protein Powders and Shakes
See our special report on protein supplements and lead and our follow-up tests of protein powders with low levels of lead.
Steak, Cheese, and Chicken Are at the Top of the New Guidelines Pyramid. Should You Bump Up Your Animal Protein Intake?
No. Doing so can interfere with other sound nutrition recommendations, including some outlined in the DGAs. Meat can also be a pricey addition to your grocery haul.
The guidelines don’t explicitly say to eat more animal protein, though you can argue it’s implied in the prioritization of meat and dairy in the inverted pyramid graphic issued with the DGAs and the order in which the DGAs list protein options: “Consume a variety of protein foods from animal sources, including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat, as well as a variety of plant-sourced protein foods, including beans, peas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy.”
Source: Realfood.gov Source: Realfood.gov
Variety is a key word here, and is in line with what previous guidelines have stated. Most of the protein in Americans’ diets already comes from animal sources, and getting too much animal protein may put you above the daily saturated fat limit.
Despite the claim “we’re ending the war on saturated fat” that has been repeated in press conferences, the new guidelines still recommend that no more than 10 percent of daily calories come from saturated fat, which has been linked to higher cholesterol levels and an increased risk of heart disease.
Although, unlike previous guidelines, the new DGAs don’t distinguish between high-fat and lean sources of meat, CR’s Keating says that when choosing animal proteins, most people would benefit from sticking to seafood, poultry, and lean cuts of beef and pork (such as beef round and beef and pork loin, sirloin, and tenderloin) most of the time.
It’s also important to minimize your intake of processed meats, such as deli meats, hot dogs, and bacon. A key tenet of the new DGAs echoes advice nutrition experts have been giving for years: “Limit highly processed foods.” And research suggests that regularly eating even small amounts of processed meat can raise the risk of some types of cancer.
As for dairy, the new DGAs emphasize that whole milk products are fine, while previous guidelines recommended low-fat dairy. Newer research suggests that the fat in dairy may not impact the risk of heart disease as much as previously thought. That said, full-fat dairy contains more calories than lower-fat options, and your total overall intake of saturated fat still matters, Keating says.
What About Plant Protein?
You can eat plenty of protein and stay within your saturated fat limit by including plant-based proteins—which also include fiber, a nutrient Americans actually don’t get enough of. These include beans, tofu, nuts, seeds, soy milk, and edamame. In fact, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and the American Heart Association recommend prioritizing plant proteins over animal proteins. However, that recommendation, as well as several others from the group, were not included in the final guidelines.
Still, plenty of studies show a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk when plant proteins replace animal proteins. For example, in a 2024 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that followed more than 200,000 people for 30 years, a diet that supplied 43 percent of protein intake from plants reduced the risk of heart disease by 19 percent versus a diet with 20 percent protein from plants.
Where Else Can You Get Protein?
Not all of your protein must come from “protein” foods, like meat, beans, nuts, and tofu. “Many other foods have protein—and some have quite a bit,” Keating says. For example, quinoa has 8 grams per 1 cup cooked. There are 5 grams in a cup of cooked oats. A cup of chopped broccoli, a small baked potato with skin, and a slice of whole-wheat bread each have close to 4 grams. Even white spaghetti has about 7 grams of protein per 1 cup cooked. “It all counts toward your daily needs,” Keating says.
Do You Need Protein Powder or Fortified Foods Like Protein Bars?
No. Even if you could benefit from more protein in your diet, highly processed protein powders and fortified foods are not the best choices. The protein in protein powders is extracted in a lab from the original food source—such as peas, soybeans, or dairy (whey)—to concentrate it. They don’t have the same array of nutrients you’d get from a whole-food source of protein. “If you eat an egg, then you are getting choline, some B vitamins, and vitamin E,” says Fung. “You’ll get more bang for your buck.”
What’s more, protein powders often contain more than just protein. They can be high in added sugars or artificial sweeteners, or contain questionable additives like carrageenan, which has been linked with gastrointestinal inflammation. They can also contain troubling levels of lead. A recent CR investigation looked at heavy metals in protein powders and shakes and found that more than two-thirds contained more lead than is considered safe to have in an entire day. If you do want to use a protein powder, consider one that was low in heavy metals in our tests.
Is It Okay to Get Most of Your Protein at Dinner?
It’s not ideal, and the new guidelines emphasize getting protein at every meal. That’s because your body can only use so much protein at a time—up to 30 grams—according to research from the University of Texas Medical Branch. Yet around three-quarters of our total protein intake is consumed at lunch and dinner, according to the NHANES data. “I would like to see people switch some of their protein toward breakfast so that dinner is not a giant meal with protein at the end of the day,” says Fung. Another benefit of spreading your protein out: Protein boosts satiety; in other words, it helps you feel full after meals.
