Here’s what you need to know about how protein works in your body, how much you need according to the new guidelines, and what foods are good sources of protein.
You can get protein from a variety of sources, including grains and some vegetables.
By Rachel Meltzer Warren
For more than 20 years, people trying to follow a healthier diet have prioritized protein; However, uncertainty still persists around this nutrient. More than a third of Americans say they have increased their intake over the past year, according to a 2025 report from the International Food Information Council. But almost 80% say they don’t know or aren’t sure how much protein they should consume daily. Both the interest in this nutrient and the confusion are understandable. “Protein has become a convenient substitute for health in a broader sense,” says Stuart Phillips, PhD, PhD, Kinesiology and protein researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “Social media and food marketing have magnified modest physiological effects into outsized claims.”
The debate that has arisen due to the new protein recommendations included in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) published earlier this year has not done much to clarify the issue. “’More protein,’ that’s the message a lot of people took away from the DGA,” says Amy Keating, registered dietitian and nutritionist at User Stories. However, the reality is much more complex. Older people may need more than younger people, but a healthy diet involves much more than just the amount of protein you eat.
What function does protein serve?
Protein supplies the amino acids that our body requires to produce and maintain the cells and tissues of our body. It is the predominant component of muscles, hair, skin, nails, hormones and enzymes; and plays an important role in wound healing, cellular communication, immune system function, and much more.
“Our body’s proteins are constantly being synthesized and broken down, and we need sufficient amounts of amino acids to maintain this dynamic turnover process,” explains Roger Fielding, PhD, senior scientist at the USDA Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. Our body is capable of producing some of these amino acids, but the rest must be obtained through diet.
As we age, we don’t just try to meet our body’s needs; but we also try to get ahead of them. “From approximately the age of 35, muscle mass begins to decline naturally at a rate of around 0.5% per year,” says Fielding. This can represent a loss of up to 20% when you reach age 75. Reduced muscle mass is often accompanied by a loss of strength and function, which can lead to frailty, fractures, and an increased risk of disease. “Consuming enough protein can help slow or prevent this loss,” adds Fielding.
What do the dietary guidelines say about protein?
The guidelines say to “prioritize protein foods at each meal,” with the guideline to consume between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram (or 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound) of body weight per day. This figure is higher than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of protein, which is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. According to these guidelines, a person weighing 150 pounds should eat a minimum of 75 grams of protein per day, compared to the RDA’s 54 grams per day.
Previous dietary guidelines did not provide a formula for calculating daily grams. In the appendix, older guidelines stated that getting 10% to 35% of daily calories from protein was a reasonable goal for adults. This is equivalent to between 50 and 175 grams of protein for a person who spends 2,000 calories a day.
“The recommendation of 1.2 to 1.6 [g/kg] It is, in fact, within that range; So in that sense, it’s not really a big change,” says Teresa Fung, PhD, registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at Simmons University and adjunct professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, both located in Boston.
So should you consume more protein?
Not necessarily. “The problem with the new recommendation is that it gives people the impression that they are deficient in protein and that they need to focus on consuming more,” says Keating. Most people’s protein intake is already within the new recommended range. Men between the ages of 19 and 50 consume an average of 96 grams a day, while women of the same age consume 70 grams, according to data collected by the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Older people consume a slightly contaminated average (94 grams for men; 69 grams for women).
That said, some research supports protein intake higher than the recommended daily intake (RDA), especially in people at risk of muscle loss—such as older people and those trying to lose weight—or those who exercise frequently. For example, in a 2020 study published in The Journals of Gerontology, researchers followed nearly 3,000 adults for about two decades. Those with the highest daily protein intake (about 92 grams) remained stronger and had a lower risk of falls and fractures than those with the lowest intake (about 64 grams).
“The RDI reflects a minimum intake necessary to maintain whole-body protein balance,” says Stuart Phillips, PhD, PhD, Kinesiology and protein researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “This [nuevo] “This range reflects the direction that scientific evidence has been pointing for years, particularly from studies on muscle protein synthesis, resistance training, aging and energy restriction.”
However, simply increasing your protein intake is not enough on its own. “Proteins accomplish very little in isolation,” Phillips notes. “They do not ‘speed up’ metabolism, suppress long-term appetite, or build muscle without adequate stimulation, such as physical exercise. Protein does not ‘automatically’ improve functionality: context matters more than quantity.”
It is also traditional to balance protein consumption with your caloric needs. “Excess calories, even if they come from protein, will lead to weight gain,” warns Keating.
Assessment of your protein needs
Before you start consuming more protein, evaluate how much you currently consume. You may already be meeting or getting close to your daily needs. This list of some common sources of protein can help you get a rough idea of how much you’re consuming or find ways to supplement your intake.
Approximately 30 grams per serving
• Beef: 4 oz
• Chicken: 4 oz
• Fish: 4 to 5 ounces
• Turkey: 4 oz
Approximately 20 grams per serving
• Cottage cheese: ¾ cup
• Edamame: 1 cup
• Shrimp: 3 ounces
• Tofu: 1 cup (cubed)
• Tuna: 4 oz
• Greek yogurt (pure, low fat): ¾ cup
Approximately 10 grams per serving
• Chicken bone broth: 1 cup
• Peanut butter: 2 tablespoons
• Pumpkin seeds: 1 ounce
• Quinoa: 1 cup (cooked)
• Red lentil pasta: 1 cup (cooked)
• White beans: ½ cup (cooked)
• Whole wheat bread: 2 slices
Approximately 5 grams per serving
• Almonds: 1 ounce
• Asparagus: 1 cup (cooked)
• Black bean soup: ½ cup
• Buckwheat: 1 cup (cooked)
• Cheddar: 1 ounce
• Egg: 1 (large)
• Mozzarella cheese (partially skim): 1 ounce
• Oatmeal: ½ cup (dry)
• Peas (frozen): ½ cup
• Penne pasta: 1 cup (cooked)
• Soy milk: ¾ cup
• Sunflower seeds: 1 ounce
• Walnuts: 1 ounce
Beef, cheese and chicken sit at the top of the new food pyramid. Should you increase your consumption of animal proteins?
No. Doing so may interfere with other sound nutritional recommendations, including some of those outlined in the DGA. In addition, meat can represent a high expense in your food purchase.
The guidelines do not explicitly state that you should consume more animal-based protein, although this could be interpreted by the priority given to meat and dairy products in the inverted pyramid graphic that accompanies the DGA, as well as by the order in which they present protein options: “I enjoy a variety of animal-based protein foods, including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat, as well as a variety of plant-based protein foods, such as beans, peas, lentils, legumes, fruits dry goods, seeds and soybeans.”
Source: Realfood.gov
Variety is a key word in this context, and is aligned with what is established in the previous guidelines. Most of the protein in the American diet already comes from animal sources, and consuming too much animal protein could lead to exceeding the recommended daily limit for saturated fat.
Despite the claim that “we are ending the war on saturated fat” reiterated at various press conferences, the new guidelines still recommend that no more than 10% of daily calories come from such fats, which have been linked to high cholesterol levels and an increased risk of heart disease.
While unlike previous guidelines, the new DGA does not distinguish between high-fat and lean meat sources, CR’s Keating notes that when choosing animal-based proteins, most people would benefit from opting for seafood, poultry, and lean cuts of beef and pork (such as beef round and beef and pork loin, sirloin, and filet cuts) most of the time.
It is also important to minimize the consumption of processed meats, such as I eat cold cuts, sausages and bacon. A traditional principle of the new DGA echoes the advice that nutrition experts have been giving for years: “Limit highly processed foods.” Additionally, research suggests that standard consumption of even small amounts of processed meats may increase the risk of certain types of cancer.
As for dairy products, the new DGAs emphasize that products made with whole milk are appropriate, unlike previous guidelines that recommended low-fat dairy. More recent research suggests that the fat in dairy may not influence heart disease risk as much as previously believed. That said, full-fat dairy contains more calories than low-fat options and overall saturated fat intake is still an important element, Keating notes.
What about plant-based proteins?
You can eat a lot of protein and stay within your saturated fat limit by including plant-based proteins, which also provide fiber, a nutrient that Americans don’t get enough of. These include beans, tofu, nuts, seeds, soy milk and edamame. In fact, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and the American Heart Association recommend prioritizing plant-based proteins over animal-based proteins. However, that recommendation, as well as several others proposed by this group, was not included in the final guidelines.
However, numerous studies demonstrate a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases when proteins of plant origin replace those of animal origin. For example, in a 2024 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Food regimen, which followed more than 200,000 people for 30 years, a diet in which 43% of protein intake came from plant sources reduced the risk of heart disease by 19%, compared to a diet in which 20% of protein came from plant sources.
Where else can you get protein?
Not all of your protein has to come from foods considered typically protein-rich, such as meat, beans, nuts, and tofu. “Many other foods contain protein, and some provide a large amount,” says Keating. For example, quinoa contains 8 grams per cup cooked. A cup of cooked oats provides 5 grams. One cup of chopped broccoli, one small baked potato in the skin, and one slice of whole-wheat bread each contain about 4 grams. Even white spaghetti provides about 7 grams of protein per cup cooked. “All of this counts towards covering your daily needs,” says Keating.
Do you need protein powder or fortified foods, like protein bars?
No. Although you may benefit from incorporating more protein into your diet, protein powders and highly processed fortified foods are not the best options. The protein in protein powders is extracted in a laboratory from its approved food source—such as peas, soy, or dairy (whey)—in order to concentrate it. These products do not have the same variety of nutrients that you would get from a whole food protein source. “If you eat an egg, you get choline, some B vitamins and vitamin E,” Fung says. “You’ll get more for your money.”
What’s more, protein powders often contain more than just protein. They may be high in added sugars or artificial sweeteners, or contain questionable additives like carrageenan, which has been linked to gastrointestinal inflammation. They may also contain worrying levels of lead. Recent CR research looked at heavy metals in protein powders and shakes, and found that more than two-thirds contained more lead than is considered safe to consume in an entire day. If you decide to use a protein powder, consider choosing one that showed low levels of heavy metals in our tests.
Is it okay to eat most of your protein at dinner?
It’s not ideal, and the new guidelines emphasize the importance of including protein in every meal. This is because the body can only use a limited amount of protein at a time—up to 30 grams—according to research from the University of Texas School of Medicine. However, about three-quarters of our total protein intake is consumed during lunch and dinner, according to NHANES data. “I’d like people to incorporate some of their protein into breakfast so that dinner isn’t a huge protein-packed meal at the end of the day,” Fung says. Another benefit of spreading out protein intake is that it increases satiety; In other words, it helps you feel satisfied after meals.
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