Is Protein the Only Answer? Protein Unpacked

How Much You Actually Need — and Why More Isn’t Always Better

Protein gets a lot of airtime in the nutrition world. From gym culture to weight loss programmes to supermarket marketing, it can feel like protein is the answer to everything. And it is important — but it’s not the whole picture.

This guide cuts through the hype. Whether you’re training for performance, trying to manage your weight, or just want to understand how much protein your body actually needs, you’ll find clear, evidence-based answers here.

What Protein Does in Your Body

Protein is a macronutrient made up of amino acids. Your body uses amino acids to build and repair muscle tissue, produce enzymes and hormones, support immune function, and maintain the structure of skin, hair, and connective tissue.

Muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is the process by which your body builds new muscle tissue. MPS is stimulated by both resistance exercise and dietary protein intake. The amino acid leucine — found in high concentrations in dairy, eggs, meat, and soy — is the primary trigger for MPS. A meal needs to contain approximately 2.5–3g of leucine to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis.

Protein also has the highest thermic effect of any macronutrient. Your body uses approximately 20–30% of the energy from protein just to digest and absorb it — compared to 5–10% for carbohydrates and 0–3% for fats. This means protein-rich meals increase your metabolic rate slightly more than equivalent meals built around carbohydrates or fat.

How Much Protein Do You Actually Need?

The answer depends on your age, activity level, health status, and goals.

General population

The Australian Nutrient Reference Values set the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for protein at 0.84g per kilogram of body weight per day for adult men and 0.75g/kg/day for adult women. For a 70kg person, that’s roughly 53–59g per day. This is the minimum to prevent deficiency — not the optimal amount for most people’s goals.

Weight management

During weight loss, adequate protein protects lean muscle mass and supports satiety. Research supports 1.2–1.6g/kg/day+ for people in an energy deficit who want to preserve muscle while losing fat. For a 75kg person, that’s approximately 90–120g of protein per day. Our guide on weight loss that doesn’t feel like punishment covers how protein fits into a sustainable, non-restrictive approach.

Strength and muscle building

Research from the University of Stirling and others has established that muscle protein synthesis is maximally stimulated when 20–40g of high-quality protein is consumed after resistance training. The range depends on the amount of muscle mass activated during the session — full-body workouts require the higher end.

For muscle building, a minimum of 1.6g/kg/day is required in healthy, non-dieting adults. Protein intake above this level doesn’t appear to produce additional muscle gains. The excess is used for non-muscle tissue synthesis or converted by the liver into glucose or fatty acids. Consuming very high protein intakes — well above 2.2g/kg/day — offers no further benefit for muscle building and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

Endurance athletes

Endurance athletes have elevated protein needs for muscle repair, immune function, and recovery from training volume. The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1.4–2.0g/kg/day for athletes engaged in regular training.

Older adults

Older adults need more protein per kilogram than younger adults to achieve the same muscle-building response — a phenomenon called anabolic resistance. Current evidence supports 1.0–1.2g/kg/day for healthy older adults, and 1.2–1.5g/kg/day for those who are malnourished, recovering from illness, or at risk of sarcopenia. For more on nutrition for older adults, our guide on dietitian support for adults covers aged care pathways and home visits.

Best Food Sources of Protein

You don’t need supplements to meet your protein targets. Whole foods provide protein alongside other nutrients — iron, zinc, calcium, B vitamins, and dietary fibre — that supplements can’t replicate.

Animal sources

• Chicken breast (cooked) — 31g protein per 100g
• Lean beef mince (cooked) — 26g per 100g
• Tinned tuna — 25g per 100g
• Salmon fillet (cooked) — 25g per 100g
• Eggs — 6g per egg
• Greek yoghurt — 10g per 100g
• Cottage cheese — 11g per 100g
• Cow’s milk — 3.4g per 100ml

Plant sources

• Tofu (firm) — 13g per 100g
• Tempeh — 19g per 100g
• Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) – 52g per 100g (uncooked)
• Soy Protein Crisps – 55g per 100g
• Lentils (cooked) — 9g per 100g
• Chickpeas (cooked) — 8g per 100g
• Edamame — 11g per 100g
• Natural Peanut butter — 25g per 100g (though also high in fat — portion-aware)
• Rolled oats — 13g per 100g

Soy protein (from tofu, tempeh, and soy milk) is a complete protein — meaning it provides all nine essential amino acids. Most other plant proteins are incomplete individually but can be combined across the day (legumes + grains, for example) to cover all essential amino acids. You don’t need to combine them at every single meal — just across your day.

Protein Timing — Does It Matter?

Spreading protein intake across the day works better than loading it all into one meal. Research shows that consuming 20–40g of protein per meal across three to four eating occasions produces a greater muscle protein synthesis response than eating the same total amount in one or two large meals.

Most Australians eat very little protein at breakfast and lunch, then have a large protein-heavy dinner. Rebalancing this — aiming for a palm-sized portion of protein at each main meal — supports more consistent satiety, energy, and muscle maintenance throughout the day.

A practical daily pattern might look like:

• Breakfast: Eggs on wholegrain toast, or Greek yoghurt with fruit and nuts — 20–25g
• Lunch: Tinned tuna salad with chickpeas, or chicken wrap with salad — 25–30g
• Snack: Cottage cheese with crackers, or a handful of almonds and a piece of fruit — 10–15g
• Dinner: Salmon with vegetables and brown rice, or lentil curry with yoghurt — 30–35g

That pattern delivers roughly 85–105g of protein per day — well within the range that supports both weight management and muscle health for most adults.

Protein Is Important — But It’s Not the Only Answer

A fixation on protein can lead to the displacement of other nutrients that are equally important for health and performance.

Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel source for high-intensity exercise — the type of training that stimulates muscle growth. Insufficient carbohydrate intake impairs training quality, reduces glycogen stores, and compromises recovery. Athletes and active people need adequate carbohydrates alongside protein to support their goals.

Dietary fibre, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals all play roles that protein alone cannot fill. A diet built around a variety of whole foods — rather than protein supplements alone — provides the full spectrum of nutrients your body needs. For more on the food-first approach, our guide on why supplements shouldn’t be your only source covers when real food is enough and when a supplement might help.

If you’re training regularly, our sports dietitians [Page: Sports Dietitian — confirm URL] can build a fuelling plan that balances protein with everything else your body needs.

A weight loss dietitian at Accelerate Nutrition can help you figure out how much protein suits your body, your goals, and your lifestyle — without overcomplicating things.