With the recent emphasis on protein to improve your health has come the question, how much protein do you need? If you research this, then you’re going to find a wide range of answers.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it’s 46 grams for women and 56 grams for men. However, you need to keep in mind that this is the minimum to prevent illnesses due to lack of protein consumption.

In a recent show on Dr. Oz he also addressed this question on how much protein do you need. According to Dr. Oz the suggested recommendation varies according to your current weight. Here is a link to the show and in it he recommends dividing your weight by 3 to determine the amount of protein that’s right for you.

If I used his suggestion, then I would need 45 grams of protein since I weigh 136 pounds. This would be less then the government’s recommendation. However, if I weighed 210 pounds, then I would need 70 grams of protein, which would be higher then the government’s recommendation.

In deciding how much protein is right for you, this formula of dividing your weight by 3 allows for individual differences and would work for both men and women. Read More →