What is the recommended protein intake?

For a practical target, several guests recommend roughly 1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight per day (about 0.7 g per pound); for a higher intake aimed at supporting muscle, they describe about 1 g per pound of ideal body weight (about 2.2 g/kg) as a useful target. 1 2

• Adjust for your goal and protein source: Gabrielle Lyon suggests aiming at ideal body weight, and says people eating plant-based protein may need closer to 1.6 g/kg. 3
• The RDA is a minimum, not an optimal muscle-building target: Christopher Gardner explains it as 0.8 g/kg/day, set with a safety buffer to cover nearly all healthy adults. 4

So, about 1.6 g/kg/day is a reasonable general target; around 2.2 g/kg/day is a higher, muscle-focused option, with ideal body weight useful when adjusting for body size. 5 6