The Scoop on Protein: A Visual Guide to How Much You Need Each Day (2024)

FAQs

How do I calculate how much protein I need a day? ›

The number of scoops of protein powder you should take to gain muscle depends on your needs and goals. As a general guideline, it's recommended to consume 1-2 scoops of protein powder per day, combined with a balanced diet and exercise program, to support muscle growth and recovery.

Anywhere from 10% to 35% of your calories should come from protein. So if your needs are 2,000 calories, that's 200–700 calories from protein, or 50–175 grams. The recommended dietary allowance to prevent deficiency for an average sedentary adult is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Most active people drink one protein shake per day, which contains a single scoop of protein, meaning that you are receiving nearly half of your daily recommended protein intake from this shake. It's recommended that you try to only consume somewhere between 25 to 50 grams of protein from protein powder each day.

Assuming this partial specific volume (v₂ = 0.73 cm³/g), we can calculate the volume occupied by a protein of mass M in Dalton as follows. V ( n m 3 ) = ( 0.73 c m 3 / g ) × ( 10 21 n m 3 / c m 3 ) 6.023 × 10 23 D a / g × M ( D a ) = 1.212 × 10 − 3 ( n m 3 / D a ) × M ( D a ) .

To consume 100 grams of protein per day, divide 100 by the number of meals you eat on an average day. If you generally eat 3 meals, that means you're aiming for about 33 grams of protein per meal. If you have a couple snacks throughout the day, you might shoot for 25 grams per meal and 12 or 13 per snack.

Adults need about 5-7 'ounce equivalents' per day depending on sex, height, weight, and level of physical activity. Most of us eat more protein than is necessary. A serving size is 2 to 3 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) of poultry, beef, or fish.

How Much Protein is Needed? MyPlate recommends that most adults should eat between 5 and 6 1/2 ounce equivalents of protein daily, depending on your age, gender, and level of physical activity (Table 1). For more information, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.

How much protein do I need? Most adults need around 0.75g of protein per kilo of body weight per day (for the average woman, this is 45g, or 55g for men). That's about two portions of meat, fish, nuts or tofu per day. As a guide, a protein portion should fit into the palm of your hand.

The number of grams in a scoop of protein powder depends on the type of powder being used and its consistency. Generally speaking, most non-plant-based proteins contain between 20-25 grams per scoop, while plant-based ones tend to contain around 15-20 grams per scoop ( and are much healthier for you, besides ).

Is 3 protein shakes a day too much? ›

And if you're not that active, you likely don't need more than one protein shake per day. If you're extremely active (more than one workout per day, or extremely long training sessions), three protein shakes per day might be appropriate, Byrd says. The bottom line? Protein shakes are supplements, not food.

For the average person, it's recommended to consume no more than 40-50g of protein powder per day, or about 2 heapy single-serving scoops (assuming one scoop is 20-25g of protein). But if you're a highly active person, that limit could be stretched to 50-60g of protein powder per day, or about 3 scoops.

A weightlifter or strength athlete looking to add muscle mass and who will be using their muscles more than the average person will naturally require more protein – between 1.4-2g/kg of body weight per day. The recommended daily amounts of protein for endurance athletes is 1.2-2.0g/kg of body weight.

In general, 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish; 1/4 cup cooked beans, peas or lentils; 1 egg; 1 tablespoon of peanut butter; or 1/2 ounce of nuts or seeds can be considered as 1 ounce-equivalent from the Protein Foods Group.

Here's a sample day of meals with approximately 60 grams of protein: Breakfast: 2 eggs (12g protein), 1 slice whole wheat toast (4g protein), 1 cup sliced fruit (1g protein) Morning snack: Greek yogurt (12g protein) Lunch: Grilled chicken breast (30g protein), mixed greens salad with vinaigrette dressing (2g protein)