How Much Protein per Pound of Body Weight? 0.54–0.73 g

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set a protein goal of 0.54–0.73 g per pound of body weight a day. That’s 1.2–1.6 g per kg. At 150 lb it works out to 82–109 g, using the range in the Guidelines. The popular “1 g per pound” sits above that range.

How much protein per pound of body weight do I need?

Multiply your weight in pounds by 0.54 for the low end and by 0.73 for the high end. Those two numbers are 1.2 g/kg and 1.6 g/kg from the Dietary Guidelines, converted at 1 lb = 0.4536 kg. The Guidelines add one condition: adjust the target to your calorie needs.

I ran five body weights. The first column is the Recommended Dietary Allowance, 0.8 g/kg. The last is the “1 g per pound” rule, so you can see the gap.

Body weight	RDA, 0.8 g/kg (0.36 g/lb)	Guidelines, 1.2–1.6 g/kg (0.54–0.73 g/lb)	Exercise, 1.4–2.0 g/kg (0.64–0.91 g/lb)	1 g per lb
130 lb (59.0 kg)	47 g	71–94 g	83–118 g	130 g
150 lb (68.0 kg)	54 g	82–109 g	95–136 g	150 g
180 lb (81.6 kg)	65 g	98–131 g	114–163 g	180 g
200 lb (90.7 kg)	73 g	109–145 g	127–181 g	200 g
220 lb (99.8 kg)	80 g	120–160 g	140–200 g	220 g

Where you land depends on calories and training. Near maintenance with light training I’d sit at the low end, and I move up when I eat less or lift. If you want the same range as a single daily figure, that’s how much protein you should eat a day.

How much protein per kg of body weight is that?

The Guidelines give the goal in metric units first: 1.2–1.6 g per kg a day. A 70 kg (154 lb) adult lands at 84–112 g. If a source quotes grams per kilogram, multiply by 0.4536 to get grams per pound.

Body weight	RDA, 0.8 g/kg	Guidelines, 1.2–1.6 g/kg	Exercise, 1.4–2.0 g/kg
55 kg (121 lb)	44 g	66–88 g	77–110 g
70 kg (154 lb)	56 g	84–112 g	98–140 g
85 kg (187 lb)	68 g	102–136 g	119–170 g
100 kg (220 lb)	80 g	120–160 g	140–200 g

No rule in the Guidelines text says which weight to use if yours is far from usual for your height. A doctor or registered dietitian can say. A calculator can’t.

Is 0.36 g per pound enough?

It’s a minimum, not a target. The adult Recommended Dietary Allowance is 0.8 g/kg, which is 0.36 g per pound. A 2017 review in Advances in Nutrition says it was derived as the least protein that avoids a loss of body nitrogen. The authors suggest calling it a recommended minimum.

UK guidance is a little lower. The British Nutrition Foundation gives the adult Reference Nutrient Intake as 0.75 g/kg, or 0.34 g per pound. Its page was last reviewed in October 2023, and the next review is due in October 2026.

Both sit under the Guidelines range.

Do I need 1 gram of protein per pound if I lift?

For most lifters, no. One gram per pound is 2.2 g/kg, which is above the usual evidence range. The International Society of Sports Nutrition says 1.4–2.0 g/kg a day is sufficient for most exercising people, which is 0.64–0.91 g per pound. At 180 lb the rule gives 180 g, while the Society’s range tops out at 163 g.

My best evidence is a meta-analysis of 49 trials. In the Morton review, protein supplements stopped adding fat-free mass once total intake passed 1.62 g/kg a day, or 0.73 g per pound. The 95% confidence interval for that break point ran from 1.03 to 2.20 g/kg. The upper end, 2.20 g/kg, is 1 g per pound. The break point itself wasn’t statistically significant (p = 0.079), and the trials covered healthy adults doing resistance training for six weeks or longer.

So 1 g per pound isn’t wrong. It buys a safety margin at the price of extra food and money. It falls short in one case: the Society says lean athletes cutting calories may need 2.3–3.1 g/kg, or 1.04–1.41 g per pound. At maintenance I’d pick 0.73 g per pound and plan for 0.91 at most.

What does 82 grams of protein look like in food?

Four ordinary servings. A 150 lb adult aiming at the low end of the Guidelines needs 82 g. I built that day from USDA records such as the chicken one.

Food	Grams	Protein	Energy
Chicken breast, roasted	100 g	31.0 g	165 kcal
Eggs, whole, large	100.6 g (2 eggs)	12.5 g	148 kcal
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	156 g (1 container)	16.1 g	95 kcal
Tofu, firm, raw	126 g (half a cup)	21.8 g	181 kcal
Total		81.4 g	589 kcal

That’s 81.4 g, a hair under the target, for 589 kcal. One bowl of high protein ramen gets close, so if you hate grazing, put most of the protein in one meal. Whatever else you eat comes on top, and the high protein low calorie snacks cost the fewest calories per gram.

Weigh meat in the state the record describes. Write it down.

How do I use this number this week?

Pick a target from the first table and round it to the nearest five grams. A high protein grocery list turns it into a week of shopping. Then log three ordinary days. Weigh the foods that carry the most protein, such as meat, fish, yogurt and tofu, and write down grams, not cups. Compare the average with your target. I call a week a hit when the average lands within a tenth of the number. One day that misses by twenty grams moves a three-day average by only about seven, so one bad day is no reason to change the plan.

To get a number from your height and weight, use the protein calculator. It applies the same 1.2–1.6 g/kg range.

Kidney disease, pregnancy and breastfeeding all change these figures, and the target then comes from your doctor. Anyone under 18 needs a different approach as well, since this guide covers adults only.

Calsa takes weight in kg, lb or stone, so I keep my target in pounds and still read protein beside calories.