FREE TOOL · WHO · ISSN · ICMR-NIN 2024 ALIGNED

Protein Requirement
Calculator.

An evidence-aligned educational protein calculator for healthy adults, active individuals and dietitians. Personalised by age, body composition, goal and training type, with leucine-based meal distribution.

Calculate my protein target →

Free · No sign-up · Educational tool, not a medical diagnosis

WHO · ISSN · ICMR-NIN
Lean Body Mass Cross-Check
Leucine · MPS Threshold
50+ Protein Foods · PDF

Use this protein requirement calculator to estimate your daily protein intake from body weight, age, body composition, activity level, training type and goal. It converts the guideline protein per kg body weight figures into a target in grams, splits that across your meals, and matches it to Indian foods, including vegetarian, non-vegetarian and plant-based options.

It answers how much protein per day you need for muscle gain, for fat loss while protecting lean mass, or just to meet the baseline requirement. The ranges follow WHO/FAO/UNU 2007, ISSN 2017, AND/DC/ACSM 2016 and ICMR-NIN 2024, and there is a separate restricted pathway for chronic kidney disease.

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Fill in your details for a personalised protein target

Protein need = weight (kg) × factor (g/kg) · Factor varies by activity, goal & age
kg
cm
yrs
%

WHO · ISSN 2017 · AND/DC/ACSM 2016 · ICMR-NIN 2024 · Morton 2018

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Fill in your details and press Calculate My Protein Requirement.

Your results will appear after calculation.

Fill in your details above and press Calculate My Protein Requirement to generate your personalised protein report: a daily target in grams, a per-meal split, matching Indian foods, a sample day, and a downloadable PDF.

Calculate your target first, then turn it into a 7-day Indian high-protein meal plan.

About this tool

Your protein requirement is a range, not a single figure. It moves with how much you weigh, how much of that weight is lean tissue, how hard you train, how old you are, and what you are training for. This calculator turns those inputs into a daily target in grams instead of an abstract g/kg figure, splits it across your meals with a leucine check against the muscle-protein-synthesis threshold, and ranks 50 protein foods for Indian meal planning by density so the target is reachable in practice. It follows WHO/FAO/UNU 2007, ISSN 2017, AND/DC/ACSM 2016, KDOQI 2020 and ICMR-NIN 2024. This is an educational tool. Your dietitian or physician makes the final clinical call.

WHAT YOU GET

💪
Personalised TargetDaily protein range in grams, not generic g/kg
⚖️
LBM Cross-CheckYour target re-expressed per kg of lean mass
🍽
Meal DistributionPer-meal protein with leucine MPS threshold check
🥚
Food Source Guide50+ protein foods for Indian meal planning, ranked by density
📅
Daily TrackerLog today's intake and track against your target
📄
PDF ReportFull protein brief to share with your trainer

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BASED ON

WHO/FAO/UNU 2007Protein & amino acid requirements
ISSN 2017Position stand: protein & exercise
Morton 2018Meta-analysis: protein & muscle mass
AND/DC/ACSM 2016Nutrition & athletic performance
ICMR-NIN 2024Indian dietary guidelines

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Why dal alone may not be enough

Most Indian vegetarian diets are built around dal, roti and rice. It is a healthy base, but it makes a protein target harder to reach than the raw numbers suggest, for two reasons that are easy to miss.

Cooked dal is mostly water

Dry dal is roughly 24 g protein per 100 g, but it absorbs several times its weight in water as it cooks. A standard katori of cooked dal (about 180 g) delivers closer to 7 g of protein, not 24. Two katoris a day contributes usefully, but it will not carry your whole target.

Cereal plus pulse fixes the amino acids

Pulses are low in methionine and cereals are low in lysine. Eaten together in the same day they cover each other, which is exactly what dal–chawal, roti–chole and idli–sambar already do. So the traditional pairings are sound. What needs watching is quantity, not amino-acid quality.

Dairy and soy do the heavy lifting

Paneer, curd, milk, whey, soy chunks and tofu are complete proteins and far more protein-dense per serving than dal. For lacto-vegetarians these are usually the difference between reaching a target and falling 20–30 g short every day.

Vegans need a planning margin

Without dairy, add roughly 10–20% on top of the calculated target to offset lower digestibility and leucine content (ISSN 2017), and lean on the highest-leucine plant sources: soy, tofu, tempeh, edamame and hemp seeds.

Frequently Asked Questions: Protein Requirements

How much protein do I need per day?

For a healthy sedentary adult the safe intake is 0.83 g per kg of body weight per day (WHO/FAO/UNU 2007, mirrored by ICMR-NIN 2024), which is about 58 g for a 70 kg adult. Activity raises this substantially: roughly 1.2–1.6 g/kg for moderate gym training three times a week, 1.6–1.8 g/kg for training five times a week, and 1.6–2.2 g/kg for strength and power athletes (ISSN 2017; Morton 2018). Adults aged 65 and over need about 0.2 g/kg/day more to offset anabolic resistance (PROT-AGE, Bauer 2013).

How much protein do I need to build muscle?

Morton's 2018 meta-regression found that gains in lean mass from resistance training plateau at about 1.6 g/kg/day, with the confidence interval extending to roughly 2.2 g/kg/day. This calculator therefore targets 1.6–2.2 g/kg/day for muscle gain. Going above that range has not been shown to add further muscle. Protein only builds muscle alongside a progressive resistance-training stimulus and enough total calories. Extra grams cannot substitute for either.

Should I calculate protein from total body weight or lean body mass?

For most people total body weight is adequate and is what the underlying guideline values are expressed against. At higher body fat percentages it overestimates need, because adipose tissue has very little protein turnover, so a lean body mass basis is more precise. Entering your body fat percentage adds a lean-mass cross-check: the target itself stays on total body weight, but it is also re-expressed per kg of lean mass, and flagged when a high body fat percentage means the total-weight figure may overshoot. For lean athletes dieting in a calorie deficit, Helms 2014 concludes 2.3–3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass.

How much protein can the body use in one meal?

Roughly 0.4 g per kg of body weight per meal maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis (Moore 2019). For most adults that is about 25–40 g, supplying the approximately 2.5–3 g of leucine that acts as the trigger. Protein above that in a single sitting is not wasted; it is still absorbed and used for other purposes, it just does not raise muscle protein synthesis further. This is why the calculator splits your target across 3–6 meals and checks the leucine content of each.

Is a high-protein diet safe for the kidneys?

In people with healthy kidneys, higher protein intakes have not been shown to cause kidney disease. The picture is different if kidney disease already exists: for chronic kidney disease stages 3–5 without dialysis, KDOQI 2020 recommends restricting protein to 0.55–0.60 g/kg/day, or 0.6–0.8 g/kg/day for those with diabetes, while dialysis reverses this to a higher 1.0–1.2 g/kg/day. Ticking the CKD condition applies that restriction and overrides the activity formula. Anyone with kidney disease, liver disease, or on immunosuppressants must not increase protein without physician clearance.

Can vegetarians and vegans hit these protein targets?

Yes, but it takes more planning. Plant proteins are less digestible and generally lower in leucine, so ISSN 2017 supports a premium of roughly 10–20% above the calculated target. Combine cereals with legumes at the same meal, such as rice with dal or roti with chole, to cover all essential amino acids, and prioritise the highest-leucine plant sources such as soy, tofu, edamame and hemp seeds. Paneer, curd, milk and whey remain complete-protein options for lacto-vegetarians.

How much protein does an Indian vegetarian need daily?

The requirement itself is no different from anyone else of the same weight, age and activity level. It is about 0.83 g/kg/day at the sedentary baseline (WHO/FAO/UNU 2007, ICMR-NIN 2024), rising to 1.2–2.2 g/kg/day for people who train. What changes is how hard it is to reach. A standard katori of cooked dal supplies only about 7 g of protein, because cooking adds water, so dal alone rarely closes the gap. Paneer, curd, milk, soya chunks and whey are far more protein-dense per serving. Fully plant-based eaters should add roughly 10–20% on top of the calculated target to offset lower digestibility and leucine content (ISSN 2017).

Is 100 g of protein per day too much?

For most adults, no. For a 75 kg person 100 g is about 1.3 g/kg/day, which sits comfortably inside the normal range for anyone who exercises and well below the 2.2 g/kg/day upper bound that Morton 2018 identifies as the point where added benefit stops. It is only too much in specific clinical situations, most importantly chronic kidney disease, where KDOQI 2020 recommends restricting intake to 0.55–0.8 g/kg/day without dialysis. In people with healthy kidneys, higher protein intakes have not been shown to cause kidney damage.

How much protein is needed for fat loss?

More than at maintenance. In a calorie deficit protein does two jobs: it protects lean mass that would otherwise be lost alongside fat, and it is the most satiating of the three macronutrients. This calculator therefore adds a premium to your activity-based figure when fat loss is the goal, which typically lands people who train between 1.6 and 2.2 g/kg/day (Stokes 2018), and sedentary users nearer 1.0–1.2 g/kg/day. For lean, resistance-trained athletes dieting hard, Helms 2014 concludes 2.3–3.1 g per kg of fat-free mass.

How much protein is needed after a workout?

For most adults, 20–40 g of high-quality protein within 1–2 hours of resistance training, dosed relative to body size at roughly 0.25–0.4 g/kg (ISSN 2017). Count that dose inside your daily total, not on top of it. Timing matters far less than it was once thought to: the anabolic window is measured in hours, not minutes, and total daily intake is the stronger driver of adaptation. Fast-absorbing options include whey, egg whites and low-fat paneer.

Which Indian foods are highest in protein?

Measured per 100 g as eaten, the densest sources in this tool's database are whey protein powder at about 80 g, skimmed milk powder at 36 g, chicken breast and hemp seeds at 31 g, pumpkin seeds at 30 g, turkey breast at 29 g, and roasted peanuts and canned tuna at 26 g. Among everyday vegetarian staples the leaders are low-fat paneer, sattu and besan, all around 22 g, followed by tempeh at 19 g and soya chunks at 17 g. Cooked dals sit at only 7–9 g per 100 g. The pulse itself is protein-rich; the water it takes up in cooking dilutes it.

Is whey protein necessary to meet daily protein needs?

No. Whey is convenient and unusually rich in leucine at about 10.6% of its protein, which makes it easy to clear the per-meal muscle-protein-synthesis threshold from a small serving, but there is nothing in it that food cannot supply. Eggs, paneer, curd, milk, chicken, fish and soy are all complete proteins. A supplement earns its place when your target is high relative to your appetite, when you are short on time, or when a particular meal would otherwise fall below the leucine threshold.

⚕️ For educational purposes only: not a medical diagnosis or a substitute for professional medical advice. Protein needs vary with individual metabolism, gut health, protein digestibility, and medical status. People with kidney disease (CKD), liver disease, or on immunosuppressants should not increase protein without physician clearance. Protein requirements during pregnancy, lactation, and adolescence differ significantly, so consult a registered dietitian. Values sourced from WHO/FAO/UNU (2007), ISSN (2017), AND/DC/ACSM (2016), KDOQI (2020), and ICMR-NIN (2024).