The Protein Guide
The average American eats less protein than the new US range, and little of it at breakfast. Here's your number, what each meal needs, and the foods that get you there.
Updated November 15, 2026. 21 guide pages, 31 questions, 9 myths, from 136 published sources.
Your range1.2 to 1.6 g per kg a day
Your meal line0.4 g per kg at every meal
Breakfast firstwhere the missing grams are
Lift twice a weekso the protein has a job
How much protein do I need?
Your protein range
100to130 ga day
The typical range for 180 lb. Under 100 g is too low.
Too lowTypical 100 to 130 gAbove typical
- Each of three meals
- 35 to 45 g
- Your meal line
- 35 g at every meal
The Gyroscope app personalizes yours. These are typical ranges to show you if you're too low, and many people are.
The American day
About 15 g at breakfast, and twice that at dinner
US adults eat 19% of their protein at breakfast and 42% at dinner. Against a 30 g meal line, only dinner gets there, and one Greek yogurt in the morning changes that.
Meal line, 30 g
15 g
21 g
32 g
10 g
Protein for your situation
Foods, ranked and charted
The questions people ask
Your number
Am I eating enough protein?Probably not if breakfast is a bagel or just coffee. US adults average about 1 g per kg, under the new range. Count three normal days or take the quiz.
How much protein do I need a day?1.2 to 1.6 g per kg, about 100 to 130 g at 180 lb. Under that is too low, and many people are. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
Is 100 g of protein a day enough?For anyone from about 135 to 185 lb, yes. Lighter, it's plenty. Heavier, or lean and lifting hard, it's short. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
Is 150 g of protein a day too much?No, not for healthy kidneys, and it's typical from about 205 to 280 lb. At 150 lb it's 2.2 g per kg, the top of what helped lifters in a big review.- Is 200 g of protein a day too much?More than most people need. At 180 lb it's 2.4 g per kg, past where gains leveled off. Healthy kidneys showed no harm, in short trials.
Should protein be based on goal weight or current weight?Today's weight, unless you have more than a fifth of it to lose. Then count from your goal plus a fifth of today's: 250 lb aiming for 180 counts as 230.- Someone said X grams of protein is enough. Is it?Turn it into grams for your weight and check it against 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg. The 50 g on food labels is low for most adults, and 1 g per pound is more than most need.
Per meal and timing
Can I get enough protein eating in an 8-hour window?Yes, in two or three bigger meals. 100 g at once kept muscle building going for over 12 hours in a 2023 trial (Trommelen 2023).- How many meals should I split my protein into?Three or four. In a 12-hour study, four 20 g doses built more muscle protein than eight 10 g doses or two 40 g doses (Areta 2013).
How much protein should I eat at breakfast?Your meal line, about 25 to 35 g for most adults. Americans average about 15 g at breakfast and twice that at dinner. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.- How much protein should I eat per meal?About 0.4 g per kg at each meal, so about 35 g at 180 lb, over three or four meals. Bigger meals aren't wasted. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
Should I eat protein before bed?Only if you're short for the day. Protein at night beat no protein, but casein by day did just as well as casein at night in a 10-week trial (Joy 2018).
Losing weight and GLP-1
- Can eating more protein make you gain weight?Only through its calories, like any food. 100 g of protein is 400 calories, and digesting it uses up 20 to 30% of them.
- How much protein should I eat on Ozempic or Mounjaro?The same typical range, counted near your goal, in small meals with protein first, and lift. The 2025 GLP-1 advisory also allows a flat 80 to 120 g a day.
- How much protein should I eat to lose weight?The typical 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg, counted near your goal if you have a lot to lose. Lean lifters on a hard diet go to 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean mass.
What should I eat on Ozempic when I'm not hungry?Protein first, in small dense foods: nonfat Greek yogurt, 1% cottage cheese, eggs, tuna, shrimp, or a shake if it sits well.- Why can't I hit my protein on 1,200 calories?100 g of protein is 400 calories, a third of the day. Every meal needs one food with 15 g or more per 100 calories.
Foods and powders
Do I weigh chicken raw or cooked?Either, as long as the number matches. The raw figure on a cooked weight undercounts by about a quarter. 4 oz raw is about 3 oz cooked.
Does protein powder count as real protein?Yes, a gram from a shake counts like a gram from food. A scoop of whey has about 25 g, enough to fix most breakfasts.- How much protein is in an egg?About 6 g in a large egg (6.3, USDA), and 43% of it is in the yolk. Four large eggs make about 25 g.
- How much protein is in chicken breast?About 31 g per 100 g cooked and 22.5 g raw. A 4 oz raw breast cooks down to about 3 oz with about 25 g.
- How much protein is in Greek yogurt?About 15 g in a 5.3 oz cup of plain nonfat, about three times regular yogurt ounce for ounce. Whole milk Greek yogurt has about 13.5 g a cup.
Is pea protein as good as whey?Close, with a bigger scoop. Pea is about 7% leucine against whey's 11%, so about 38 g of pea matches 25 g of whey. Soy matched milk in trials.
What's the cheapest way to get protein?Dried beans, about 43 cents for 25 g at October 2026 US prices, then eggs at 77 cents. Chicken breast is about a dollar.
Over 50, women and plants
How much protein do vegans need?The same range. Soy or a pea and rice mix closes most of the gap, and a vegan diet matched for protein built the same muscle in a 10-week trial.- How much protein do you need after 50?At least the typical range, with bigger meals. Men around 71 needed about 0.4 g per kg in one meal, against 0.24 at 22. Start with breakfast.
How much protein should a woman eat a day?The same 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg as anyone, about 75 to 100 g at 140 lb. The hard part is fitting it into fewer calories. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
Too much and kidneys
- How much protein should I eat with kidney disease?Your doctor sets it, so this site gives no range. The 2024 kidney guideline suggests 0.8 g per kg for stages 3 to 5, and a dietitian fits it to you.
- Is protein dangerous?Not for healthy kidneys in the trials so far, which were short. Kidney disease and stones are different, and a 2025 advisory says to avoid over 2 g per kg for long.
What are the signs you're not eating enough protein?Usually none you'd notice. The reliable check is counting three normal days against your range. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
Myth or fact?
No Your body can only use 30 g of protein at a meal
Sort of You need 1 g of protein per pound
No A high-protein diet damages your kidneys
No You have to eat protein within 30 minutes of a workout
Not the way you think Plant protein can't build muscle like meat
No You need less protein as you get older
Quick calculators
How much protein do I need?
Your weight and goal set a typical range in grams, split into meals and shown as food.
Does my meal clear the line?
Build your usual breakfast from food pictures and see if it reaches your meal line.
Which foods have the most protein per calorie?
49 foods ranked by protein per 100 calories, and the Higher or Lower game.
Is my number enough?
Any daily gram figure placed on your range, as meals, calories and food.
Raw or cooked?
Chicken or beef weighed raw or cooked: the protein either way, and the mistake in grams.
What does 25 g of protein cost?
Dried beans, eggs, milk, chicken and cheddar at US average prices, per 25 g and per day.
Which plant foods complete each other?
Pick two plant foods and see their essential amino acids together against the adult pattern.
A two-minute quiz
Am I eating enough protein?
Eight taps with pictures. Your three meals against your meal line, your day against your range, a verdict and the one fix.
Start the quiz
The guide
Everything you need to know
How much protein you need, and how to get it
Most adults need 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg a day and fall short at breakfast and lunch. How protein works, food first, and the simple plan to get enough.
Daily protein intake by age, goal and body size- How to get enough protein without protein powder
How much protein per meal, and does breakfast matter?
What does protein actually do?
How much protein do you need to build muscle?
How much protein is too much, and who sets their own number?
How much protein do you need when pregnant or breastfeeding?
How do you keep muscle while you lose weight?- How much protein on a GLP-1 like Ozempic or Mounjaro?
Photograph a meal. Calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, sugar and a grade, in seconds. Open Gyroscope