Protein has become the only macronutrient with a PR team. We now add it to yoghurt, bread, pudding, coffee and products that existed perfectly well for centuries without a HIGH PROTEIN label. The question is simply: how much do we actually need?
For healthy adults, the European reference value is surprisingly modest. EFSA places the population reference intake at around 0.83 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for adults. For a 70 kg person, that is approximately 58 grams daily.
But a reference intake is not the same as an optimal intake for every situation. It is designed to cover the needs of the vast majority of a healthy population. People who train seriously — particularly strength training or high volumes of sport — often benefit from higher intakes. Older adults may also have reason to pay closer attention to protein in order to preserve muscle mass, and needs shift during pregnancy, growth, recovery and certain illnesses.
It is therefore possible for two sentences to be simultaneously true: most people do not need a protein supplement to function, and for some people it makes complete sense to eat considerably more than 0.83 g/kg.
Protein is particularly interesting because of muscle. Training signals the body to adapt; protein provides the amino acids needed to synthesise new tissue. Drinking protein without the stimulus of training does not automatically convert into muscle. Training seriously while chronically under-eating protein limits the material the body needs to adapt.
But muscle is not the only reason protein deserves attention. Protein-rich meals can contribute to satiety — as we have already seen in research on breakfast. Protein also has a higher thermic effect than fat or carbohydrates: the body burns more energy digesting and metabolising it. Neither of these means protein bypasses calories. It means macronutrients are not entirely identical in how they affect appetite and metabolism.
So how much is "more"?
For physically active people, the sports nutrition literature commonly references a range of around 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg per day, depending on the type of training, goal and energy intake. For building muscle mass through strength training, benefits above roughly 1.6 g/kg become progressively smaller on average — though individual needs vary.
That is already considerably more than the basic minimum, but still far from the idea that every meal must look like a chicken breast with a protein shake.
The second question is when we eat it. Fitness culture has long been obsessed with a narrow "anabolic window" after training. The reality is more relaxed. Total daily intake is what matters most, and there is merit in distributing protein across several meals rather than consuming almost everything in the evening. You do not need to sprint to the shaker in the changing room as though the muscle closes at 17:42.
And third: where does the protein come from?
Eggs, fish, meat and dairy products provide all essential amino acids in favourable proportions. But this does not mean plant protein "doesn't count." Soy is a very high-quality source, and legumes, grains, nuts and seeds can together cover needs quite adequately when the overall diet is sufficiently varied and calorically adequate.
The old advice that a vegetarian must precisely combine beans and rice in the same mouthful to obtain "complete protein" overcomplicates matters unnecessarily. Amino acids do not disappear simply because they were not introduced on the same plate.
For most people, the most practical question is therefore not "how much protein does this product contain?" but rather "do my main meals include a serious source of protein?"
At VERA, protein is not a marketing category on the menu. What interests us more is that breakfast is composed in such a way that you do not need to go looking for a second breakfast immediately afterwards.
Protein does a very useful job there. It just does not need to be printed in fluorescent letters across the plate.
Try it at VERA — specialty café and wellness bistro, Nikole Spasića 4, Stari Grad, Belgrade.
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