Guides
How much protein do you actually need?
The short answer: 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day if you train with weights. Everything below is why, and what it actually costs.
Where the number comes from
The South African RDA for protein sits around 0.8 g/kg. That figure was set to prevent deficiency in a sedentary adult, not to support muscle growth. It is a floor, not a target.
The meta-analytic work on resistance-trained people converges on roughly 1.6 g/kg as the point where additional protein stops adding measurable muscle. There is individual variation, so a practical range of 1.6–2.2 g/kg covers almost everyone with a margin. Going to 3 g/kg does not hurt a healthy person, it just costs more and displaces other food.
What that means for a real person
| Bodyweight | Lower (1.6 g/kg) | Upper (2.2 g/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 96 g | 132 g |
| 75 kg | 120 g | 165 g |
| 90 kg | 144 g | 198 g |
| 110 kg | 176 g | 242 g |
If you are carrying a lot of fat, calculate off your goal weight rather than your current weight. Otherwise a 140 kg person ends up with an absurd target.
Cutting? Go higher, not lower
This is the mistake we see most. People diet, cut calories across the board, and protein falls with everything else — so they lose muscle along with the fat. In a deficit, protein should go up, toward 2.0–2.4 g/kg. It preserves lean mass and it is the most satiating macronutrient you have, so it makes the diet easier at the same time.
Timing matters far less than total
The “anabolic window” of 30 minutes was overstated for twenty years. What the evidence supports now is simpler: hit your total for the day, and spread it across roughly four meals of 0.4 g/kg each. A 90 kg person eating four meals of about 36 g of protein is doing the job. Whether the shake lands at 30 minutes or 90 minutes post-session is not the variable that decides your results.
Do you need powder?
No. Protein powder is food that is convenient and cheap per gram, nothing more. But look at what hitting 150 g from whole food alone means: roughly 600 g of chicken breast, or a dozen eggs, every day, prepared. Most people manage 100–120 g from food and use one or two shakes to close the gap. That is a logistics decision, not a nutrition one.
What it costs
Here is where the honest maths matters. Take our best-value option at the time of writing, Evolve Tri-Whey in the 2 kg size: R16.48 per serving, roughly 24 g of protein per serving. That is about R0.69 per gram of protein.
Compare that to the same product in a 160 g tub at R26.25 per serving — R1.09 per gram, 58% more for the identical protein. It is the same powder. (We wrote a whole guide on this: why the small tub is nearly always the expensive one.)
Against food, at supermarket prices, chicken breast lands somewhere near R0.55–R0.75 per gram of protein, eggs near R0.70–R0.90. Whey is competitive with real food and beats most convenience protein by a distance. Anyone telling you powder is a rip-off has not done the division.
What we would actually tell you at the counter
- Work out your target: bodyweight in kg × 1.6, then × 2.2. Anywhere in that band is fine.
- Track what you currently eat for three honest days. Most people are 40–60 g short and surprised by it.
- Fix the gap with food first if you can be bothered, powder if you cannot.
- Buy the biggest tub of a flavour you know you like. Buy the small one to test the flavour.
- Stop worrying about timing until the total is consistently right.
If your total is right and your training is not progressing, protein was not your problem. That is worth knowing before you spend more money on it.