How Much Protein Do I Need Per Day?

Whether your goal is to gain muscle mass or lose fat, you know that nutrition is essential and that you need a good amount of protein.

You know it's essential, you probably even know the best protein-rich foods to get it, but it's important to control the amount of protein you eat per day.

Do you have any idea how much protein you need to consume daily?

This is the question you must know how to answer, and depending on your goal, your protein intake may vary.

The article is aimed at healthy people looking to gain muscle mass, or lose fat, and focuses above all on gym-goers.

Let's start with fat loss.

Protein for fat loss

You don't just need protein to gain muscle mass, it's also essential for anyone who wants to lose fat.

If you don't use enough protein, you run the risk of losing too much lean mass, and as a result, the results in the mirror will be inferior, but not only that.

The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn, so your fat burning progress will also be faster.

Another key point is the satiety effect. Protein-rich meals help you feel less hungry throughout the day, reducing the likelihood of giving in to less healthy foods or overeating.

Protein has a higher thermic effect than other macronutrients, which means your body spends more energy digesting it, thus contributing to the calorie deficit needed to lose fat.

Good sources of protein include lean meats, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy products, legumes, and of course, supplements such as whey protein when needed to meet the recommended daily amounts.

Remember that distributing your protein intake throughout the day is more effective than concentrating it in a single meal, thus maximizing muscle protein synthesis and weight control benefits.

If you're having trouble controlling your appetite on your fat loss diet, take a look in this article.

How much protein should you use when you want to lose fat?

When you want to lose fat, it makes sense that your protein intake is higher.

Why?

There are several reasons for this.

Although carbohydrates and fats are the body's main sources of energy, when you're looking to lose fat, lower your calories and follow a diet. hypocaloric diet.

To lower your calories, you need to reduce the amount of macronutrients you eat, which is why you start reducing carbohydrates and fats.

When you do this, and especially in more advanced stages, or more aggressive diets, the body starts to use more protein as an energy source, which can lead to significant loss of muscle mass.

Furthermore, cardio is normally used at this stage, which means more training, and a greater need for recovery.

This study compared the differences between a fat loss diet with 1g of protein per kilo of body weight, in relation to a diet with 2.3g of protein/kg.

The conclusion was simple, the group that used more protein lost less lean mass.

Ok, so how much protein do I use then you must be wondering.

How many grams of protein per day to lose weight?

How to calculate protein per kg of weight, in a simple way, and with a practical example from Dr. Vasco.

So let's get started.

A simple method to know how much protein you should use is to go to the nearest scale and weigh yourself.

Take that number and multiply it by something between 2.3g and 2.8g.

This is the amount of protein you should use to lose fat and maintain your muscle mass.

Example of how to calculate the amount of protein needed.

Vasco weighs 80kg and is determined to lose fat, but he doesn't want to lose the muscle mass he worked so hard to gain.

He took out his cell phone and did a simple calculation to find out how much protein he should use in his diet.

80 x 2.5 = 200

Therefore, Vasco, weighing 80kg, decided to multiply by 2.5g of protein, which means he will consume 200g of protein daily to achieve good results.

Note. Start with a lower value, between 2.3g and 2.5g, and if necessary, increase up to 2.8g.

Protein and muscle mass gain

If your goal is to gain muscle mass, you can reduce your protein consumption compared to the fat loss phase.

Yes, you read that right, you can reduce protein.

But not excessively.

This happens because the body, as we mentioned previously, uses above all carbohydrates and fats as a source of energy.

To gain muscle mass, you need a hypercaloric diet, rich not only in protein, but also in these two macronutrients.

Taking into account that the body has an excess of calories, and enough carbohydrates and fats, it will depend little on protein to give it energy.

In other words, the protein you use will mostly be used for what interests you, gaining muscle mass.

How much protein should I consume per day to gain muscle mass?

How to calculate how many grams of protein per day you need to gain muscle mass, with the calculator on your cell phone, a scale and a practical example, this time, from Dr. Tiago.

Well, you can reduce it, but not too much.

The method doesn't change, so you need to know your body weight to determine the amount of protein per day.

Once you know your weight, multiply it by a value between 1.8g and 2.3g.

This means that you will consume between 1.8g and 2.3g of protein per kilo of body weight.

Example.

Tiago, unlike Vasco, wants to gain muscle mass, he is not satisfied with his 70kg and wants more muscle.

Your account is as follows.

70 x 2.1 = 147

When using the value of 2.1g of protein, Tiago came to the conclusion that he will need 147g of protein to have good results.

In both cases, don't complicate things.

If you train more moderately, the lower values are sufficient.

If you take your training more seriously with 4 or more weekly workouts, follow the higher values.

Protein distribution throughout the day

Protein distribution throughout the day, whether for gaining muscle mass or losing fat, is also important.

What are the most important moments to consume it?

When waking up: After an overnight fast, the body needs protein to stop muscle catabolism and start protein synthesis.

A protein-rich breakfast also helps control your appetite throughout the day and get it off to a good start.

After training: The famous anabolic window.

While it may not be as important as your supplement brand's marketing would have you believe, it is still important.

Although you won't stop gaining muscle mass by not consuming protein during this period, it is still one of the most important moments.

After a good weight training session at the gym, your body has higher cortisol levels, and where the famous whey protein shake – which contain high levels of the amino acid Leucine – and carbohydrates, which not only replenish glycogen, but also significantly increase insulin in conjunction with protein.

In other words, Cortisol, a catabolic hormone, goes down, and Insulin, an anabolic hormone, goes up, affecting nutrient absorption.

In the end, your body will thank you.

Before bedtime: Consuming slow-digesting protein (such as casein) before bed can help your body stay in an anabolic state for longer.

It is also the period in which the body carries out most of its recovery processes, and when muscle mass actually increases.

You don't necessarily need to use casein, and some people even prefer solid foods due to the satiating effect.

These are just three important moments, but at the end of the day, what matters most is the total amount of protein you consume throughout the day.

Protein Supplementation

Is it mandatory?

No.

But it helps. Sometimes a lot.

If it's the difference between you hitting your daily protein goal or not, then it's important.

If it's something that sometimes adds protein when it wouldn't normally be added, then it's useful.

But if you already ingest enough through food, then you will hardly notice any difference.

That said, of the various supplements available on the market, and there are quite a few, this is one that everyone who takes the gym even remotely seriously uses.

Whether it’s for convenience, because they can’t reach their daily protein requirement without it, or because they’ve seen all their friends using it.

You can even look at protein supplements as a food – after all, it's just whey – and use it, as the name suggests, as a supplement.

Conclusion

Protein is undoubtedly essential to successfully achieving your goals, and knowing how much protein you need per day is essential to achieving the best results.

As you may have noticed from the article, it is not very complicated to calculate your daily protein needs.

Weigh yourself and multiply your weight by a value appropriate to your goal.

These values are just general suggestions that work in most cases, but they are not sacred numbers and you may need to adapt them.

This does not mean that 10g per kg is a good idea and will bring you extra results.

Finally, don't forget that your diet isn't just about proteins, and also eat enough carbohydrates and fats.