How much protein do you need to lose weight?

Key takeaways

• Studies of higher-protein weight loss diets mostly used 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day, about 0.55 to 0.73 grams per pound, above the RDA of 0.8 grams per kilogram.²¹
• In lifting studies, gains leveled off above about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight a day.⁴
• Without a training program, higher-protein diets with the same calories led to 0.43 kilograms less loss of fat-free mass across 24 trials.⁹
• Longland's 2.4 grams per kilogram and Schoenfeld and Aragon's 0.4 grams per kilogram per meal are per kilogram of total body weight, not lean mass. Only Helms 2014 gives a per-lean-mass range, and it comes from lean athletes.⁶⁸⁷
• After exercise, 100 grams of protein produced a larger and longer response, over 12 hours, than 25 grams.¹³

The short answer

Studies of higher-protein weight loss diets mostly used 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day, about 0.55 to 0.73 grams per pound. That is above the RDA of 0.8 grams per kilogram. In lifting studies, protein above about 1.6 grams per kilogram added little more muscle. Protein helps most alongside resistance training, and on its own it spares only a small amount of lean mass.²¹⁴⁹⁶

How much protein per day while losing weight?

The numbers below are what studies used or concluded, and who they studied. Most are per kilogram of total body weight.¹²⁴⁵⁶⁷

Another review put a better target for adult health at 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram a day.³

For a made-up 200-pound person, 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram works out to about 110 to 145 grams a day.²³

How much protein per pound of lean body mass?

Only one source in the table expresses its range per unit of lean mass. Helms and colleagues reviewed 6 studies of resistance-trained athletes in a calorie deficit, men at 23 percent body fat or less and women at 35 percent or less. They concluded these athletes likely need 2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of fat-free mass, which is about 1.0 to 1.4 grams per pound of lean mass, scaled up with a bigger deficit and lower body fat.⁷

Two numbers often get mixed up here. Longland's 2.4 grams per kilogram and Schoenfeld and Aragon's 0.4 grams per kilogram per meal are per kilogram of total body weight, not lean mass.⁶⁸

Should you base protein on body weight or lean mass?

For lean people the two give similar numbers. As body fat rises, they split apart. A body-weight target grows with every pound, fat included. A lean-mass target doesn't.²⁷

Take two made-up people who both weigh 200 pounds. One has 160 pounds of lean mass and the other has 120. At 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight, both get about 145 grams. Measured against lean mass, the same 145 grams is about 2.0 grams per kilogram for the first person and 2.7 grams per kilogram for the second.²⁴

The per-lean-mass range in Helms 2014 comes from lean athletes. None of the studies above tested a per-lean-mass target in people carrying more body fat. So there is no tested lean-mass number for that group yet. Body-weight ranges are what most trials used. A registered dietitian can help set a number for your body.⁷²

Does protein protect muscle if you don't lift?

A little. A meta-analysis of 24 trials with 1,063 people compared higher-protein and standard-protein diets with the same calories, over about 12 weeks on average. The higher-protein diets led to 0.79 kilograms more weight loss, 0.87 kilograms more fat loss, and 0.43 kilograms less loss of fat-free mass. Resting burn also dropped less. These trials compared diets, not training programs.⁹

In another trial, 61 older adults with overweight cut calories by 25 percent for 12 weeks on either 1.7 or 0.9 grams per kilogram of protein. Lean mass fell by 1.8 kilograms and 2.1 kilograms, a difference too small to rule out chance. Leg strength fell about the same in both groups.¹⁰

Training changes the picture. In Longland's trial, both groups did resistance training and interval training 6 days a week. The 2.4 grams per kilogram group gained 1.2 kilograms of lean mass and the 1.2 grams per kilogram group gained 0.1 kilograms, with more fat lost on higher protein. Across 49 lifting studies, adding protein raised fat-free mass gains by about 0.3 kilograms.⁶⁴

How much protein per meal?

The common per-meal numbers come from lab studies of muscle building after a workout.¹¹¹²

A 2023 study challenged the idea of a per-meal cap. After exercise, 100 grams of protein produced a larger and longer response, over 12 hours, than 25 grams. With no clear per-meal cap, the daily total is what most of the ranges above are built around. Spreading it across meals is how most of these studies did it.¹³

• In 6 young men after leg exercise, muscle protein building rose with dose and peaked at 20 grams of egg protein over the next 4 hours.¹¹
• With 80 grams of whey spread over 12 hours, 4 servings of 20 grams every 3 hours beat 8 servings of 10 and 2 servings of 40.¹²
• A review concluded about 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per meal across at least 4 meals reaches 1.6 grams per kilogram a day, with up to 0.55 grams per kilogram per meal for higher totals. For a made-up 180-pound person, 0.4 grams per kilogram is about 33 grams.⁸
• The ISSN gives 20 to 40 grams per serving, spread every 3 to 4 hours. The weight loss review suggests at least 25 to 30 grams per meal.⁵²

Does protein help with hunger?

Modestly. Higher-protein meals raise fullness ratings and fullness hormones, but in short feeding studies they didn't lower how much people ate at the next meal. In the Wycherley meta-analysis, 3 of 5 studies that measured it reported more fullness on higher protein.²⁹

Is a high-protein diet safe?

One review found no evidence-based link between higher-protein diets and kidney disease or poor bone health. People with chronic kidney disease have their own protein guidance from the kidney nutrition guideline. If you have kidney disease, ask your doctor or dietitian before raising protein.³¹⁴

How to track it

Protein is easy to guess wrong because it is spread across many foods. Logging each meal shows two things at once, your daily total and how it is split across the day. Check the total first, then look for meals that come in light. Labels list protein per serving, so the portion you actually ate is what matters.

Describe each meal in TrueCal to see its protein, carbs and fat, plus the running total for the day.

Common myths

• Myth, your body can only use 20 to 30 grams per meal. That figure came from short post-workout studies. Later work found larger doses still go to use, and 100 grams gave a longer response than 25.⁸¹³
• Myth, more protein always means more muscle. In lifting studies, gains leveled off above about 1.6 grams per kilogram a day.⁴
• Myth, protein alone keeps your muscle while dieting. Trials that changed only the diet show a small effect, about 0.4 kilograms in one meta-analysis.⁹
• Myth, Longland's 2.4 grams per kilogram is per kilogram of lean mass. It is per kilogram of total body weight.⁶

A note on medical advice

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. Talk with your clinician about your own situation.

Worked example

Take a made-up 180-pound person, who weighs about 81.6 kilograms. At 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per meal, 0.4 times 81.6 is about 32.6 grams, or about 33 grams of protein a meal. Across 4 meals, 4 times 32.6 comes to about 130.6 grams a day. That is the same as 1.6 grams per kilogram times 81.6 kilograms, the daily total the review said at least 4 meals at that level reach.⁸

A closer look

Higher protein without training did little for lean mass in one trial. In 61 older adults with overweight who cut calories by 25 percent for 12 weeks on either 1.7 or 0.9 grams per kilogram of protein, lean mass fell by 1.8 kilograms and 2.1 kilograms, a difference too small to rule out chance, and leg strength fell about the same in both groups.¹⁰

Questions and answers

Related guides

• Track protein with ChatGPT
• Track macros with ChatGPT
• TDEE calculator
• Calorie deficit calculator

Sources

1. Nutrients. Weiler. 2023.
2. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Leidy. 2015.
3. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. Phillips. 2016.
4. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Morton. 2018.
5. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Jäger. 2017.
6. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Longland. 2016.
7. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Helms. 2014.
8. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Schoenfeld, Aragon. 2018.
9. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Wycherley. 2012.
10. International Journal of Obesity. Backx. 2016.
11. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Moore. 2009.
12. Journal of Physiology. Areta. 2013.
13. Cell Reports Medicine. Trommelen. 2023.
14. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. Ikizler. 2020.