Nutrition: How to hit your protein target without overthinking it

Protein is the only macro with a job that nothing else can do: building and maintaining the muscle tissue that determines how functional you are for the rest of your life.

Of all the nutritional conversations in longevity medicine, protein is the one with the most practical consensus. Regardless of where researchers land on carbohydrates, fats, or dietary patterns, the evidence that active adults over 40 need substantially more protein than traditional dietary guidelines recommend is consistent and growing.

Most people are significantly undereating it — not because they're trying to, but because they don't know what their target is and haven't thought systematically about where protein comes from across the day.

What the target actually is

The standard recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8g per kilogram of body weight per day. This figure was designed to prevent deficiency in sedentary adults — it is not a target for optimising muscle maintenance, longevity, or performance.

For active adults over 40, current evidence supports a target of 1.4–2.0g/kg/day.¹ For a 75kg adult, this means 105–150g of protein per day. Most people eating a standard diet consume 60–80g — well below what research supports for muscle maintenance in the second half of life.

The upper end of this range (2.0g/kg) applies to people doing significant resistance training or trying to build lean mass. For general muscle preservation, 1.4–1.6g/kg is a well-supported starting point.

Why distribution matters as much as total

Muscle protein synthesis — the biological process that repairs and builds muscle tissue — is not simply a function of your total daily protein. It's triggered meal by meal, and it has a ceiling per meal (roughly 30–40g of high-quality protein, beyond which additional protein in the same sitting contributes less to synthesis and more to energy or excretion).²

This means that consuming 120g of protein entirely at dinner is far less effective than consuming 30–40g at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack.

The practical implication: breakfast matters most. Most Western breakfast patterns are low in protein — toast, cereal, fruit, or coffee. Shifting breakfast to a high-protein option (eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese) has a disproportionate impact on daily protein distribution and overall totals.

Protein per serving — the practical numbers

Understanding what foods deliver and in what quantities removes the guesswork:

A day that includes Greek yogurt at breakfast (20g), chicken at lunch (40g), legumes as a snack or side (15g), and salmon at dinner (35g) delivers approximately 110g total — a reasonable target for a 70–75kg adult.

Plant vs. animal protein

Both matter. Animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) are "complete" — they contain all essential amino acids in proportions that closely match human requirements, and they are absorbed with high efficiency. They are particularly rich in leucine, the amino acid most responsible for triggering muscle protein synthesis.³

Plant proteins are often "incomplete" (missing or low in one or more essential amino acids) and are typically absorbed less efficiently. However, a varied plant-based diet across the day provides all essential amino acids in adequate amounts, and the overall health benefits of plant proteins — from legumes especially — are well-supported in the longevity literature.

For muscle maintenance specifically, animal proteins (or carefully combined plant proteins) are more efficient. For longevity in the broader sense, plant proteins carry additional benefits (fibre, phytochemicals, lower saturated fat). A mixed approach — prioritising high-quality animal proteins while including legumes and other plant proteins — performs well on both dimensions.

How to improve it

• Calculate your personal target first. Multiply your weight in kg by 1.5 — that's a reasonable daily gram target to start with. Track it for 3–5 days to see your baseline.
• Fix breakfast. Three eggs plus Greek yogurt provides roughly 35–40g of protein and takes ten minutes. This is the single highest-leverage change for most people.
• Choose a high-protein anchor for each meal. Rather than adding protein as an afterthought, plan the protein source first, then build the meal around it.
• Eat legumes multiple times per week. Lentils, chickpeas, edamame, and black beans are excellent plant protein sources and carry strong longevity evidence beyond their protein content.
• Don't fear dairy. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and milk are convenient, affordable, and high-protein. Full-fat versions are more satiating and the saturated fat concerns have been substantially revised in recent literature.⁴
• Use protein powder as a convenience tool, not a replacement. Whey protein is a well-researched, effective option for bridging gaps. It's not superior to food, but it's useful when whole food sources aren't practical.
• Space protein across 3–4 meals. The 30–40g per meal ceiling on muscle protein synthesis means spreading intake across the day produces better results than loading protein into one or two large meals.
• Track for 2 weeks, then build habits. Short-term tracking reveals your patterns and blind spots. Once you know where the gaps are (almost always breakfast and lunch), you can build habits that close them without ongoing tracking.

The 100 Great Years perspective

Protein is the macro with the clearest functional argument for longevity. It's the primary driver of muscle maintenance — and muscle maintenance is one of the strongest modifiable predictors of health in the second half of life. Getting adequate protein consistently, well-distributed across meals, is one of the most high-return nutritional changes available to adults over 40.

This doesn't require precision or perfectionism. It requires knowing your rough target, understanding which foods get you there, and building a few meal anchors that make hitting it the default rather than the exception.

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making decisions about your health.