Protein Calculator
Your daily protein target in grams, split across your meals — and how many scoops of powder it takes to close the gap, if any.
Carrying a lot of extra body fat? Use your goal weight instead.
Your daily protein target
108 g
Range 93–123 g/day (1.2–1.6 g per kg)
36 g
per meal across 3 meals
—
scoops to fill the gap (enter food protein)
An estimate for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you have kidney disease, are pregnant, or are under 18, ask a doctor or registered dietitian for your number.
Best Protein Powder Editorial Team
Supplements Desk
Last Updated
October 16, 2026
How the calculator works
The calculator multiplies your body weight in kilograms by a range of grams per kilogram for your goal, then shows the middle of that range as your target. The ranges come from the research consensus rather than from supplement marketing: the adult RDA of 0.8 g/kg as the floor, the International Society of Sports Nutrition's position stand of 1.4–2.0 g/kg for people who exercise, and a widely cited 2018 meta-analysis by Morton and colleagues that found the muscle-building benefit of extra protein flattening out around 1.6 g/kg, with an upper confidence limit near 2.2 g/kg.
The per-meal figure simply divides your target by the number of meals you eat. If you also enter the protein you already get from food, it works out the gap and how many standard 25 g scoops of protein powder would close it. For most people eating meat, fish, dairy or soy, that gap is smaller than they expect — often one scoop or none. See how much protein you need for the full explanation.
Protein targets by goal
| Goal | Per kg | Per lb |
|---|---|---|
| General health, mostly inactive | 0.8–1.0 g/kg | 0.36–0.45 g/lb |
| Active / regular exercise | 1.2–1.6 g/kg | 0.55–0.73 g/lb |
| Building muscle | 1.6–2.2 g/kg | 0.73–1.0 g/lb |
| Losing fat while lifting | 1.8–2.4 g/kg | 0.82–1.1 g/lb |
| Endurance training | 1.2–1.6 g/kg | 0.55–0.73 g/lb |
| Age 65+ (general health) | 1.0–1.2 g/kg | 0.45–0.55 g/lb |
Using your number
Hit the daily total first; it matters far more than timing. Then spread it out — three or four meals of 20 to 40 g each beats one huge dinner for muscle building. If you want to know whether a shake belongs before or after training, read when to take protein powder.
If you do need a powder to close the gap, compare them on cost per 25 g of protein and on third-party testing rather than on the claims on the front of the tub. Our best protein powder rankings do that work, with separate guides for whey isolate and plant-based protein.
Before you change your diet
This calculator is for healthy adults. If you have chronic kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, are under 18, or have a medical condition that affects what you eat, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian for your target instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many grams of protein do I need a day?
The RDA for adults is 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight, which is a minimum to avoid deficiency rather than an optimum. People who exercise regularly generally do better at 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg, and people trying to build muscle at around 1.6 g/kg, with little evidence of extra benefit beyond about 2.2 g/kg.
Should I use my current weight or my goal weight?
If you are lean or close to a healthy weight, use your current weight. If you carry a lot of extra body fat, using your current weight overstates your needs, because fat tissue needs very little protein. Use your goal weight, or a weight in the healthy range for your height, instead.
How much protein can my body absorb in one meal?
Your gut absorbs nearly all the protein you eat; the question is how much drives muscle building at once. Research suggests about 0.4 g/kg per meal (often 20 to 40 g) maximises the response for most people, which is why spreading intake across three or four meals is a sensible default.
Do I need protein powder to hit my target?
No. Protein powder is a convenient food, not a requirement. If meat, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes or soy already get you to your number, a powder adds nothing. It earns its place when it is the cheapest or easiest way to close a gap of 20 to 50 g a day.
Is a high-protein diet safe?
For healthy adults, intakes up to around 2 g/kg have not been shown to harm kidney function in the research to date. People with existing chronic kidney disease are a different case and are usually advised to limit protein, so they should follow their doctor's or dietitian's advice rather than any calculator.
About the Author
Best Protein Powder Editorial Team, Supplements Desk
The editorial team reads the label, the certificate and the price per gram of protein before a powder gets near a ranking — and says plainly when a cheaper tub does the same job.