Protein Intake for Men Age 45-49 — Sedentary
For a man age 45–49 weighing 85 kg, the 1.0–1.2 g/kg range gives 85–102 g of protein per day, with a practical middle target of around 94 g. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 0.8 g/kg would be 68 g — enough to avoid deficiency in a healthy adult, but not the amount that maintains muscle, supports training recovery, or keeps you full through the day at age 45–49.
This page works the numbers out in full for this exact case — 85 kg, 177 cm, age 47 — using the published grams-per-kilo ranges, so you can see where the target comes from instead of taking a single number on trust. Every figure here is an estimate for a healthy adult. Protein needs change with training, body composition and health, and the single most important exception is kidney disease, which changes the answer completely and needs individual medical advice rather than any online figure.
Use the protein calculator
Work out your own numbers with our protein calculator or the daily protein needs calculator — enter your weight, goal and activity level and it applies the same ranges used on this page. The tables below show the worked example for 85 kg, 177 cm, age 47, so you can check the calculator's output against the maths by hand.
Related reading: protein calculator, daily protein needs calculator, protein for maintenance at 80 kg. You can also browse the full protein section or check your overall split with the macro calculator.
The formula, shown and cited
There is no single protein formula the way there is a single BMI formula. Instead, the evidence gives us a set of ranges in grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the target is:
Daily protein (g) = body weight (kg) × grams per kilo (g/kg)
The ranges come from two sources. The RDA of 0.8 g/kg per day is the intake set to meet the needs of nearly all healthy adults — a floor, not an optimum. The sports-nutrition evidence, most clearly the meta-analysis by Morton et al. (2018) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which pooled 49 studies, found that muscle gains from resistance training maximise at around 1.6 g/kg per day, with intakes above that adding little for most people. Between those poles sit the practical ranges used on this page: 0.8 g/kg for sedentary maintenance, 1.0–1.2 g/kg for older adults preserving muscle, 1.2–1.6 g/kg for active maintenance, and 1.6–2.2 g/kg for people lifting weights or dieting.
For this page, the worked example is:
85 kg × 1.0 g/kg = 85 g per day (bottom of the range)
85 kg × 1.2 g/kg = 102 g per day (top of the range)
85 kg × 0.8 g/kg = 68 g per day (the RDA floor, for comparison)
That is the whole calculation — no hidden steps, no black box. What matters is choosing the right range for your goal and activity, which is what the next section does.
Your daily target at every body weight
The table below applies the same ranges at body weights from 50 kg to 140 kg, so you can see how the target moves if your weight changes. Find your weight, read across to the column that matches your goal, and you have your range.
| Body weight | At 0.8 g/kg (RDA) | At 1.2 g/kg | At 1.6 g/kg | At 2.0 g/kg | At 2.2 g/kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 40 g | 60 g | 80 g | 100 g | 110 g |
| 60 kg | 48 g | 72 g | 96 g | 120 g | 132 g |
| 70 kg | 56 g | 84 g | 112 g | 140 g | 154 g |
| 80 kg | 64 g | 96 g | 128 g | 160 g | 176 g |
| 90 kg | 72 g | 108 g | 144 g | 180 g | 198 g |
| 100 kg | 80 g | 120 g | 160 g | 200 g | 220 g |
| 120 kg | 96 g | 144 g | 192 g | 240 g | 264 g |
| 140 kg | 112 g | 168 g | 224 g | 280 g | 308 g |
Two things stand out in that table. First, the gap between the RDA column and the training columns is large — roughly double — which is why "how much protein?" has no single answer without knowing what you do. Second, the gap between 1.6 and 2.2 g/kg is much smaller in practical terms than the gap between 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg: going from sedentary to active changes the answer far more than fine-tuning within the athletic range.
Splitting protein across the day
A daily total is only half the job. Muscle protein synthesis — the process of building and repairing muscle — responds to each meal separately, and research suggests a per-meal dose of around 0.3 g/kg is enough to maximise the response in younger adults, rising to around 0.35–0.4 g/kg in older adults whose muscles respond less strongly to a given dose. For this page that means roughly 30–34 g of protein per meal.
Spread across four meals, the middle target of 94 g looks like this:
| Meal | Protein |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | 24 g g |
| Lunch | 24 g g |
| Dinner | 24 g g |
| Snack or fourth meal | 24 g g |
| Daily total | about 94 g |
In practice, hitting the per-meal dose matters more than hitting the split exactly. Three meals of 24 g g will do more for muscle than one 80 g dinner and two protein-free meals, even if the daily total is identical. The easiest way to get there is to anchor every meal with one clear protein food — eggs, yoghurt, meat, fish, tofu, beans — rather than treating protein as something that only happens at dinner.
What 94 g of protein looks like as food
| Food (typical serving) | Protein |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, 150 g cooked | 46 g |
| Salmon fillet, 150 g | 33 g |
| Greek yoghurt, 200 g | 20 g |
| Eggs, 3 large | 18 g |
| Cottage cheese, 200 g | 22 g |
| Tofu, 200 g | 16 g |
| Lentils, 1 cup cooked | 18 g |
| Tinned tuna, 1 tin (145 g) | 25 g |
| Milk, 500 ml | 17 g |
| Whey protein, 1 scoop (30 g) | 24 g |
A day built from those foods reaches the target without heroics: eggs and Greek yoghurt at breakfast, chicken or lentils at lunch, fish or tofu at dinner, and a yoghurt or cottage-cheese snack. Protein powder is a convenience, not a requirement — one scoop is 24 g, useful on rushed days or around training, but it builds no more muscle than the same grams from food. If you eat a plant-based diet, combine sources across the day (beans with grains, tofu with vegetables) and aim for the top of your range, since plant proteins are slightly lower in leucine, the amino acid that triggers muscle building. Soy is the exception: it is a complete protein on its own.
What changes at age 45–49
The late forties are the decade when the bill for a sedentary twenties and thirties starts arriving: muscle down, waist up, strength down, recovery slower. Protein at 1.0–1.2 g/kg is part of the response, but it is honest to say it is the smaller part — resistance training is the bigger one, and protein without it does far less. The practical case for the higher target at this age is that it costs almost nothing to implement and it supports everything else: fullness (useful if weight is rising), muscle maintenance, and recovery from the training you should be starting. The per-meal dose is the detail most men miss: 85 kg needs about 30–34 g per meal to fully trigger muscle protein synthesis, which is more than a single egg or a small yoghurt provides. Think palm-and-a-half portions, three times a day.
What this number does NOT tell you
A grams-per-kilo target is an estimate built on population averages, and it has real limits. First, it uses total body weight, which overstates needs for people carrying a lot of body fat and understates them for very lean, heavily muscled people — at the extremes, a figure based on lean mass or target weight is more honest. Second, it says nothing about protein quality: 100 g of protein from varied whole foods, with enough leucine at each meal, is not the same as 100 g from a single poor-quality source. Third, it assumes your calories are adequate — in a large calorie deficit, protein needs rise (towards 1.6–2.2 g/kg) because the body is more likely to break down muscle, and in a surplus they matter slightly less. Fourth, it is not a medical recommendation: kidney disease, liver disease and some metabolic conditions change protein advice entirely, and no online range replaces individual advice from a clinician or dietitian. Finally, a protein target is not a diet: hitting 94 g a day does not by itself build muscle, lose fat or improve health — training, sleep, total calories and overall food quality do that, and protein supports them.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein does a sedentary man age 45-49 need?
At 1.0–1.2 g/kg, an 85 kg man needs 85–102 g of protein per day. That is above the RDA of 0.8 g/kg (68 g) because the late forties are when age-related muscle loss and a blunted response to protein — anabolic resistance — both start to matter. The extra protein is not about bodybuilding; it is about keeping the muscle you have, which protects strength, balance, metabolism and independence later.
Why not just use the RDA of 0.8 g/kg?
The RDA is a minimum to avoid deficiency, calculated largely from studies of young adults. It was not designed to preserve muscle in middle age. Research on older adults consistently finds that intakes around 1.0–1.2 g/kg maintain muscle and function better than 0.8 g/kg, particularly when combined with even modest resistance training. For a sedentary man at 45–49, 1.0–1.2 g/kg is the prudent, evidence-aligned target.
How much protein per meal should a 45-49 year old man eat?
Aim for roughly 0.35–0.4 g/kg per meal — about 30–34 g at 85 kg — because older muscle needs a larger dose to fully switch on muscle protein synthesis. That is a palm-and-a-half of meat or fish, three eggs with cheese, or a large tub of Greek yoghurt. Two small protein snacks do not add up to one proper portion: the per-meal dose matters, not just the daily total.
Does testosterone decline affect protein needs?
Testosterone does decline gradually from the thirties onward, and lower testosterone is associated with less muscle. Protein cannot replace testosterone, and no food or supplement on this site is presented as doing so. What protein can do is make sure the muscle-building signal from each meal is as strong as possible despite the hormonal shift — which is another reason the per-meal dose matters more at 45–49 than it did at 25.
What does 95 g of protein look like in a day?
Three eggs on toast at breakfast (about 22 g), a chicken or beef salad sandwich at lunch (about 30 g), a fist-sized portion of fish, meat or tofu with vegetables at dinner (about 35 g), and a yoghurt or a glass of milk (about 8–12 g) totals roughly 95 g. Nothing exotic is required — the pattern is one clear protein food at each meal, with portions slightly larger than the minimum.
Should I worry about protein and my kidneys at this age?
If your kidneys are healthy, no: intakes of 1.0–1.2 g/kg are well within the range studied in healthy adults. If you have kidney disease, diabetes with kidney involvement, or abnormal kidney blood tests, the advice flips — protein may need to be limited and must be individualised by your clinician. Kidney function naturally declines with age, so it is worth knowing your numbers before pushing protein much above 1.2 g/kg.
Estimates only, not medical advice. Minimum safe intakes: 1,200 kcal/day women, 1,500 kcal/day men — consult a healthcare professional before a very-low-calorie diet.