How much protein in grams do I need at 95 kg on 900 kcal a day?

Stated plainly: 95 kg · 900 kcal.

I have worked this out and I would like someone to find the error, because I suspect there is one.

My working so far, for the record, is below, and I am fairly sure the error is in the unit conversion rather than the algebra.

Is my approach right even if my number is wrong?

152 to 209 g a day. The range the resistance-training literature supports is 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilogram, which at 95 kg is 152–209 g. At 4 kcal per gram that is 608–836 kcal, or 68–93 per cent of a 900 intake — which is why protein has to be planned first at this energy level rather than fitted in afterwards. Split it across three or four servings; roughly 0.4 g/kg per meal saturates the synthetic response and the surplus in one large serving does not carry over.

Start with which body weight the target is calculated from, because using total weight in someone with substantial adiposity inflates the number without benefit.

A practical construction: 30 to 40 grams at each of three meals plus a 20 to 30 gram snack covers most targets without any protein powder at all.

Put another way, appetite suppression makes protein-rich foods harder to eat because they are satiating. Liquid protein and leaner, less voluminous sources are the usual practical workaround.

Stable-isotope feeding studies establish the per-meal saturation of muscle protein synthesis at around 0.4 g/kg in young adults and higher in older ones.

Plan protein first in the day; with suppressed appetite it will not happen otherwise.

Answering this needs to know whether appetite is suppressed, because in this class the practical problem is achieving intake rather than choosing a target.

Hydration requirements rise modestly with protein intake because urea excretion increases, which is a real effect and a small one.

In practice, the leucine threshold for triggering the response is around two and a half to three grams per meal. Thirty grams of most animal protein reaches it; thirty grams of many plant proteins does not, which is why plant-based targets run higher.

Nothing here is dietetic or medical advice.

Per-meal saturation is real. One enormous serving does not do the job of three.

The short version: total daily protein first, per-meal distribution second, timing a distant third.

Per meal, roughly 0.4 grams per kilogram saturates the synthetic response in most adults, which is about 30 to 40 grams for a typical person. Beyond that the surplus is oxidised or used for other purposes rather than adding to synthesis.

Use reference or adjusted body weight rather than total weight where adiposity is substantial: a common approach is ideal body weight plus a quarter of the excess, which avoids targets that no one could eat.

Leucine threshold effects are documented across protein sources and explain the difference in per-serving requirements between animal and plant proteins.

Plant-based patterns need a higher total and more attention per serving.

Mechanically, plant-based patterns need somewhat higher totals and more attention to leucine content per serving to produce an equivalent response.

Older adults need more per meal to overcome anabolic resistance, with 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg daily commonly quoted for maintenance and more in a deficit.

1.6 to 2.2 g/kg of reference weight, split three or four ways. That is the answer.

edited 20 Jul 2025 by rhian_prydderch — corrected a unit error in the worked example

On the detail: this is one of the better-evidenced areas in nutrition and the disagreements are about the top of the range, not the bottom.

High protein intakes do not damage healthy kidneys in the published evidence; existing kidney disease is a genuine exception and is a clinical question.

Research-use compounds are not approved for human use, and no supplement substitutes for total intake.

Healthy kidneys tolerate this fine. Diseased ones are a clinical question.

edited 6 Apr 2025 by e_dziedzic — expanded the table to cover the lower concentration