Protein intake for women is just as vital as it is for men. After all, the human body uses protein to regulate nearly everything. Your hormones, muscles, fluid levels, energy levels, and so much more all depend on protein. Without enough, your health takes a massive toll, not to mention the losses you’ll take in the gym.
Like anything around women’s diets, protein intake can be tough to navigate. Aside from extra considerations like menstrual cycles, you’re likely to find huge amounts of conflicting information about women’s protein needs online.
How much protein does a woman need?
Is protein secretly bad for you somehow?
Should women stay away from protein supplements?
The research on women’s health is sorely lacking, but we aren’t flying completely blind. Today, we’ll look at the most scientifically sound information on protein intake for women. Once you have the facts, you can make the best decision for your protein needs.
What is protein?
Protein is a complex molecule made up of smaller molecules called “amino acids”. Your body uses both proteins and amino acids to do dozens of jobs, including building and repairing tissue during your workout.
Proteins also help to regulate your immune system and energy levels, and so much more!
This is why protein intake for women is so important. Each protein molecule is critical for your overall health, and each amino acid has a very important role to play. These amino acids are what make the difference in complete vs incomplete proteins.
A complete protein will have all the essential amino acids – molecules your body cannot make on its own and has to get from food.
Incomplete proteins will not have all of these, so you’ll need to make sure you add in a food with the missing amino acid to reach the recommended protein intake for women.
Can you have too much protein?
Yes, you can get too much protein. A protein intake for women that’s too high can be harmful, causing major issues such as cardiovascular disease, kidney or liver injuries, type 2 diabetes, and loss of bone density.
Initial symptoms of too much protein may include fatigue, headaches, nausea, dehydration or bloating, and constipation or diarrhea.
Some of these may seem contradictory. That’s because protein acts as a regulator, so getting too much of it can cause issues with regulation, but not always in the same direction.
Generally, eating more than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight daily can lead to health problems. For some people, a high-protein diet can allow them to eat more than 2 g per kg of body weight without any side effects, but this isn’t generally true.
If you suspect you’re dealing with health problems as a result of too much protein, speak with a healthcare professional. They’ll help you compare your body’s unique needs with the general daily guidelines of protein intake for women and make any adjustments as needed.
What are the signs of a protein deficiency?
Too much protein isn’t the only thing to watch out for. You may not be getting enough protein, and that can cause problems of its own.
One of the most pressing protein problems for athletes is loss of muscle mass. Estrogen already causes muscles to develop less mass more slowly compared to testosterone. A protein deficiency will only make that problem worse.
Protein intake for women is especially key when you’re trying to build muscle, if only to even the playing field a little.
Other signs to watch out for include feeling constantly hungry; hair, skin, or nail problems; edema, or severe swelling; and frequent infections or illnesses.
If you think you have a protein deficiency, make sure to reach out to your healthcare professional. Again, they’ll help you course correct based on your unique medical history and rule out any other health problems.
How much protein does a woman need?
So, what’s the ideal protein intake for women? There’s no one-size-fits-all number, but we do have some guidelines to go off of.
The most basic guideline is the recommended daily allowance (RDA), established by the Food and Nutrition Board as an estimate for what the average, healthy person should need.
To prevent deficiency, the RDA says protein intake for women should be 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, daily. Alternatively, you can measure it as 0.36 grams per pound. The most important thing to remember, though, is that this is very general advice.
The RDA does not take into account your activity level, prior or current health conditions, or any other unique aspect of your body’s needs.
The best way to view the RDA is as a minimum starting point. Using this, you can make adjustments until you find the best protein intake for your body.
General recommended protein intake for women
So how much protein does a woman need? It depends on the woman asking! And even more than that, it depends on your specific goals for your body.
Not every woman is in the gym to make her body smaller, but everyone has goals they’d like to meet.
Understanding the best protein intake for women to nourish your unique body is a huge part of meeting those goals.
Some women might be hesitant to adjust their current dietary routine. That’s completely understandable. Strict diet cultures are only slightly different in the gym, unfortunately, and women are often pushed to make extreme choices.
Early research shows that dieting can be harmful, even if you’re trying to lose weight. Strict diets are associated with long-term weight gain, and overall poorer health outcomes. So how does this tie into finding the best protein intake for women?
As a reminder: keeping track and making adjustments to make sure you get all your nutrients is a good thing! Strict diets that force you to cut or overemphasize entire nutrient types are not. Protein is one of those, so let’s take a look at how it might impact your weight.
Will protein help you lose weight?
Protein can help you lose weight, depending on how you consume it. You’ll want to make sure you’ve adjusted your protein goals for weight loss. Based on the general RDA, you’ll get about 10% of your daily calories from protein. When you’re trying to lose weight, that changes.
Daily protein intake for women who are trying to lose weight should account for closer to 30%. This will do two things.
First, because protein often leads to feeling more full, it’ll help you stick with any changes you’re making in your regular routine.
Secondly, protein takes more energy to burn through than, say, carbohydrates. This means you’ll be burning more energy passively, too.
It’s important to remember that changing protein intake for women alone won’t lead to significant weight loss. It’s also important to note that, especially in the gym, weight loss shouldn’t necessarily be your default goal. This is especially true when “bulking”, which we’ll talk about later.
Will protein make you gain weight?
Occasionally, it might seem like the change in your protein intake is making you gain weight. You might also hear about medical interventions or dietary plans that involve using high protein intake to gain weight. What’s going on?
There are a few things that make protein intake for women the source of weight gain.
One of the simplest is that muscle is heavier than fat. If you’re losing fat, but building muscle, the number on the scale might go up. Your overall body composition and health are most likely much better, even if you technically have “gained weight”.
Protein also has about 4 calories per gram. Protein from sources that are also naturally high-calorie, like dairy or peanut butter, can contribute to weight gain, especially if you eat them more often than you typically would. Increasing protein intake for women doesn’t need to lead to an increase in calories, as long as you’re mindful of your protein sources.
Lastly, weight gain may also be a concern if you’re using a protein supplement. Many supplements have added ingredients for flavor, like sugar, that can contribute to weight gain. It isn’t the protein itself causing the weight gain, but the fillers in your protein powder, so make sure to check labels before you buy!
Does protein damage your bones or kidneys?
Protein can damage your kidneys in excess, but not when daily protein intake for women is under 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. There’s no evidence to suggest that protein causes kidney damage in a healthy adult, even if you’re consuming more than the RDA.
The only exception to this is women who have pre-existing kidney conditions. In this case, you’ll want to talk with your doctor before making any changes to your protein intake.
There are also rumors that high protein intake damages your bones, but this is also untrue. Women, especially women who have been pregnant, are at higher risk of bone loss in general.
During pregnancy, the fetus needs calcium to develop, and often “borrows” from the mother’s bones. This bone loss is worsened if you’ve breastfed or had multiple pregnancies. Even in women who haven’t been pregnant, menopause often leads to bone loss due to the sharp drop in estrogen.
All this to say, women’s bone health is especially important! Protein helps to reduce the risk of bone loss, not cause it. Following at least the minimum recommended protein intake for women is key to supporting healthy bones.
Can you get enough protein on a vegan diet?
The importance of getting all of the nutrients you need, including protein, is one of the arguments people make against vegan diets. Some people even claim it’s impossible to get enough protein if you’re a vegan.
This simply isn’t true.
People all over the world have practiced versions of vegetarianism and veganism for thousands of years (though the word “vegan” is less than 100 years old). You can get enough protein, as well as most other nutrients, through a vegan diet. However, you have to be much more diligent and careful to do it.
Remember when we mentioned “complete” and “incomplete” proteins? Most plants are incomplete proteins, so you have to mix and match to make sure you get plenty of those essential amino acids, especially when your need for protein is most crucial.
Protein intake for women is most crucial when building muscle, recovering from injury, illness, or surgery, and while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Protein intake for women during workouts
When you’re in the gym, your body is working hard. It needs fuel for that, but not just calories. Your body needs protein, in particular, to build muscle. Activity level is one of the biggest determiners of ideal protein intake for women, especially if you have a goal in mind.
When you’re training for a race or a bodybuilding competition, it’s crucial to make sure your body has every nutrient it needs. In particular, your protein needs will shift based on whether you’re in the “bulking”, “cutting” or “maintaining” phase of muscle sculpting, as well as what kind of training you’re taking on.
Protein needs for bulking
“Bulking” refers to the process of deliberately gaining weight, alongside a strict training regimen, to build muscle.
Broadly speaking, it works like this: Increasing the calories you consume and deliberately gaining some weight allows you to have extra energy reserves.
This allows you to lift and workout more intensely, for longer periods. The longer workouts cause you to build muscle more quickly.
Once you’ve completed the “bulking” phase, you move to the “cutting” phase. Here, you consume fewer calories and lose weight to reveal the muscle you worked so hard to build.
There’s some debate around the safety of bulking and cutting, especially when it’s done regularly. Make sure to reach out to your healthcare team before you begin any new workout plan to get the all-clear, and monitor your body.
You’ll also need to know the best protein intake for women while you’re bulking. You can find any number of workout and nutrition plans online, or work with a personal trainer to create one tailored to your needs.
Generally, you’ll want to aim for about 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
One last note before we move on – you might have heard about “dirty” bulking. This is where you eat mostly unhealthy foods to gain weight, then build the muscle. Overall, dirty bulking just isn’t worth it. Your goals will most likely take longer to reach, and you’ll feel worse while you get there.
Instead, aim to meet the recommended protein intake for women who are bulking and keep working hard at your training plan. You can do this!
Protein needs for cutting
During the “cutting” phase, it’s important to stick with lean proteins more than anything else.
How much protein does a woman need during the cutting phase of bodybuilding?
Protein intake for women should stay about the same during bulking and cutting, but your overall calorie intake should decrease. This means the calories you get from other sources should decrease, but not your daily grams of protein!
You’ll also want to remember that this only applies to women who have done a proper bulking phase first. If you’re looking to lose weight but haven’t done a deliberate bulking, opt for a training and nutrition plan that aligns more with those goals.
Protein needs for maintaining
After bulking and cutting, you’ll typically have a phase where you want to maintain your current body weight and physique. This may take some trial and error, and your protein intake should go down very slightly once you’re not actively trying to build muscle or lose weight.
Protein intake for women who are maintaining should stay roughly the same if you’re still working out with the same intensity that you were before.
Recommended protein intake for women during training
What if you aren’t bulking or cutting? How many grams of protein should you aim for if you’re training for a marathon, triathlon, or other competition?
Again, there’s no quick and easy answer. One of the biggest factors to consider is whether your workout is an endurance or sprint.
Endurance athletes have slightly lower protein needs than sprinters. This is because endurance training draws more on your body’s fat reserves for energy over time while sprinting requires explosive energy from strong muscles over a shorter time.
Overall though, protein intake for women training in either endurance or sprinting workouts should aim for around 1.4 - 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight daily.
General nutritional needs for women during training
Remember, protein isn’t the only nutrient your body needs. Don’t let your other macronutrients – fats and carbohydrates – suffer because you’re focused on the ideal protein intake for women. And make sure to eat a wide range of foods to ensure you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals you need!
Each one of the macronutrients, or “macros”, helps support your training goals in a slightly different way.
Carbs help to prevent muscle loss by giving your body a quick energy source so it doesn’t have to start breaking down muscle for a boost. Fat helps to regulate your hormones, including the ones that provide energy for your workouts. And of course, protein is the building block of your muscles.
The Institute of Medicine suggests a daily range of 45-65% of total calories from carbohydrates, 20-35% of total calories from fat, and 10-35% of total calories from protein.
Remember, though, that recommended protein intake for women will always be higher when your activity level is higher, so it’s important to fine-tune these numbers.
Do you have different protein needs depending on your menstrual cycle?
Before we start talking about protein intake for women during different phases of the menstrual cycle, it’s important to note that research in this area is sorely lacking.
Even the general nutrition advice women receive is not based on research done specifically for women. Instead, most medical nutrition given to women is the same as the advice given to men, just scaled down.
This is one of the reasons there’s so much confusing and often conflicting information about women’s protein and nutrition needs. Without the same attention devoted to the study of the female body, we’re left with conjecture and anecdote.
There are two key things women can do to protect their bodies against all the misinformation out there. First, focus on what we do know. There have been some studies done on the way women’s nutritional needs change throughout the menstrual cycle. Build your plan based on those facts, not guesses.
Second, pay attention to the way your own body feels. Everything, from recommended protein intake for women to calories to general nutrition, operates in a range of normal. If you make a change and your body starts feeling worse, don’t hesitate to readjust.
Your body does have different nutrition and protein needs throughout your cycle, so let’s take a closer look at how you can meet them.
Nutrition and protein during your menstrual phase
Of the four phases of your cycle, the menstrual phase is what you’re likely the most familiar with. Your menstrual phase, your “period”, or your early follicular phase is when you’re bleeding. This occurs on days 1 - 5 of your cycle, though the bleeding can last up to 7 days and be within the normal range.
During your period, estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest. This is what leads to feeling irritable, tired, or having mood swings. You may also be tired because of the work your body is doing to shed your uterine lining and the loss of blood.
The combination of these hormones being low and the extra work may, surprisingly, leave you without much of an appetite. Multiple studies have found lower calorie consumption during this and the follicular phase compared with the other phases of your cycle.
However, this means that the foods you do eat become all the more important. Most of the research around nutrition and menstrual cycles simply observes what women eat during their cycle, not necessarily what would be ideal. And we don’t have any specific research on protein intake for women at any point during their cycle.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have a clue, though. During this phase, you’ll want to increase your consumption of iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and omega-3 fatty acids. This will help reduce the effects of cramping, inflammation, and blood loss.
Protein intake for women during their menstrual phase can stay at roughly the same number of grams. Just be sure to swap in some red meat, salmon, or red lentils to get some of the nutrients listed above in, too!
Nutrition and protein during your follicular phase
Days 5 - 13 of your cycle is the follicular phase, but it may last up to 27 days and be within the normal range. During this part of your cycle, estrogen slowly rises. You may find your energy rising, too, especially compared to your period.
This is the longest part of your cycle, and it’s also the part we know the least about.
Here’s what we do know. Estrogen rises and your body prepares to release an egg during ovulation. A longer follicular phase may be a sign of low vitamin D, and you can support your body by eating foods like mushrooms, salmon, and egg yolks – all of which are also ways to boost protein intake for women, as well.
Shorter follicular phases may be a sign that you’re approaching menopause or have other hormonal issues. Reach out to your gynecologist if you have any concerns about your cycle.
Similarly to your menstrual phase, protein intake for women can stay at the same grams per day, but focus on lean proteins accompanied by healthy fats to take advantage of your growing energy!
Nutrition and protein during your ovulation phase
Your ovulation phase lasts from days 14 - 15, but you could display ovulation symptoms for up to 3 days and still be in the normal range.
Most research and advice on the ovulation phase centers around getting pregnant, including protein intake for women. This mostly makes sense. After all, this is the phase where your body releases a mature egg, ready to be fertilized for pregnancy.
The question is, how much protein does a woman need during her ovulation phase if she is not trying to get pregnant? What are those nutrition needs like? For that, we can look to research on PCOS, or polycystic ovary syndrome, one of the most common hormonal problems women face.
Women with PCOS ovulate irregularly, among other symptoms. Research seeking to help women with PCOS has found that some foods positively affect ovulation. One of the most astonishing findings was that swapping just 5% of the animal protein in a woman’s diet for plant protein reduced her risk of ovulation disorders by more than 50%.
Protein intake for women doesn’t need to change during this phase. To support your body’s hormones and meet your fitness goals, include more plant-based proteins, folic acid, complex carbohydrates, and high-fat dairy products.
Nutrition and protein during your luteal phase
Your luteal phase lasts from days 15 - 28 of your cycle, but your cycle can be up to 35 days and be within the normal range. This is the phase where you may notice PMS symptoms as your body ramps up for your period or pregnancy.
Nutrition during the luteal phase should closely match nutrition during the menstrual phase since estrogen and progesterone are dropping. And as your body is preparing for cramps and blood loss, so can you!
You can also satisfy cravings for carbs and sweets with complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and natural sweetness like maple. Protein intake for women can stay at the same number of daily grams, but make sure to increase that iron content in preparation for your period!
Are protein supplements good for women?
After all this focus on what foods you can put on your plate, you might be wondering where protein shakes or other supplements come in. Are protein supplements good for you? Should you even bother with them?
Protein supplements are often used to meet the daily protein intake for women on a tight schedule, usually just before or just after a workout.
Sometimes, protein shakes, shots, or other supplements can help you get a high amount of protein with very few calories. This can be helpful when you’re trying to lose fat and build muscle.
So how much protein does a woman need from her supplement? And when should you be taking yours?
How to know if you should take a protein supplement
There are a few situations where protein intake for women can be supported with a supplement. Before taking any supplement, make sure to talk with your healthcare team, especially if you’re on any medications.
The first, and clearest, is if you’re having a difficult time reaching your protein goals through foods alone. This problem can be worsened if you have dietary restrictions. It can also get worse if you’re trying to reduce your calorie intake, though protein intake for women isn’t always tied to weight loss.
The other reason you might consider a supplement is convenience.
Not everyone has access to a fridge or wants to carry a lunchbox to a workout. And while nuts and jerky are great sources of protein, they can get pretty dull after a while (not to mention, expensive).
Protein shakes, shots, or other supplements are often more convenient and can be stored without refrigeration.
When to take a protein supplement
Some people swear by protein before workouts, while others insist that a post-workout boost is the way to go. Is it actually better one way or the other?
No, research suggests that it doesn’t matter whether you get your protein before or after your workout. This means that your best bet is to listen to your own body and adjust from there.
Protein intake for women before a workout might help raise energy levels. Taking your supplement after a workout might help you avoid a too much protein stomach ache, which can be a lifesaver.
How much of your protein intake should come from food?
The short answer is, most of it! Generally speaking, stick to one serving of your protein supplement each day. Whatever’s left in the recommended protein intake for women should be made up of the food you eat.
Once you look, though, you might be surprised to see the protein content in some foods. Many of the foods we eat in a day have at least a gram or two of protein, including fruits and vegetables!
Like anything else, your mantra should be “adjust, adjust, adjust”. You may find that incorporating your supplement into your routine once or twice a week is plenty. You may decide that you want to keep up with it every day, or only every day you work out. Whatever works best for you!
Which protein supplements are best for women?
There’s a truly dizzying number of supplements for women on the market. The types of protein supplements alone go on for pages and pages. So which one is best when increasing protein intake for women?
We’ll take a look at some of the different types of protein supplements in a moment, but first, a few tips. No matter what type of protein you choose, check the supplement you buy carefully.
Protein intake for women is important, but not at the expense of your health and safety.
Supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA as heavily as food or medicine, leading many of them to make unscrupulous claims or add fillers. And there’s no guarantee of quality.
When shopping for a supplement, start by checking the label for any added sugars or filler ingredients like starch, magnesium stearate, calcium carbonate, or hydrogenated oils. Some of these are added to make the supplement more palatable, but you can find supplements without them.
Remember that added sugars come under many different names, including sucrose, glucose, and corn syrup.
You can also look for medical-grade protein supplements, which are held to higher purity and quality control standards. Medical-grade supplements are used by doctors to treat patients with a number of conditions, so these are the gold standard when it comes to supplements.
Now that you know what to look for in a supplement, let’s look at some of the types of protein you might find.
Soy protein
Soy protein is sourced from, you guessed it, soybeans. There’s a lot of noise around soy protein increasing your estrogen levels, but this isn’t exactly true. Soy contains isoflavones. On a molecular level, these look like estrogen, but your body does not process them the same way.
This means the supposed risk of breast cancer or benefit to menopausal women is also untrue. However, some women have noticed anecdotal relief from hot flashes when they incorporate soy into their diet.
Soy has other noted health benefits, including cardiovascular health, so it may be worth incorporating into your diet once or twice a week. Remember, protein intake for women doesn’t need to be through supplements alone!
Overall, soy is generally safe, although some people have noticed severe gastrointestinal distress while taking soy protein supplements.
Vegan blend protein
There are dozens of vegan blends that include pea, hemp, brown rice, and many other types of protein. These fall prey to many of the problems that supplements in general have. They’re poorly regulated, and it’s tough to be sure how much of your supplement contains the type of protein you’re looking for.
If you decide to go a vegan route with protein, make sure to do your research thoroughly beforehand. You might also want to try a sample size, if the company offers one, to be sure the blend performs as expected before committing long-term.
Also, be wary of any vegan protein that claims to be especially “for women”. Make sure they have the research to back their blend up! Otherwise, you might be falling prey to a marketing scheme to increase protein intake for women at that company without any real benefit to your health or training.
Whey protein
Like soy, whey protein gets a lot of noise. Is whey protein good for women? The answer, of course, is that it depends on the woman. Whey protein may be a good way to increase protein intake for women who are looking for a low-risk option since whey is a semi-familiar ingredient that’s readily and cheaply available.
Whey protein is often not the best long-term solution, though. Many adults find that whey protein causes stomach upset. Whey itself is also a fairly large molecule, making it difficult to fully digest. This means that by the time it passes through your digestive system, your body hasn’t absorbed it.
So, what’s the gold standard for types of protein?
Collagen protein benefits for women
Collagen protein is hands down one of the best supplements for women you’ll ever find.
What is collagen? It’s the most abundant type of protein in our bodies, a strong, stretchy, versatile molecule found nearly everywhere. There’s collagen in your skin, hair, organs, bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles.
Humans aren’t the only ones with collagen. Most animals have collagen, and bones are especially rich in it. One of the reasons bone broth carries so many health benefits is its high collagen content.
Using collagen to supplement protein intake for women helps support your whole body, not just your muscles. But let’s take a look at its benefits for athletes in particular.
Collagen supports strong joints and bones
Joint health is a pillar of injury prevention since joints are so vulnerable. The cartilage, tendons, and ligaments that cluster in our joints are all susceptible to injury, so it’s important to support them in any way we can. These parts of the body are more than 60% collagen and supplementing can help them stay strong and limber.
As we’ve already mentioned, women are especially susceptible to bone loss. Collagen can improve bone density and bone mineral markers, replenishing the loss of bone many women suffer during menopause. We suspect this is because of collagen’s link with estrogen regulation, but further study is needed to verify.
Remember, the best way to improve protein intake for women is to supply your body with nutrients beyond the protein itself. Collagen’s rich amino acid profile does just that, going above and beyond so your body has everything it needs to build and repair itself stronger than ever.
Collagen can speed lean muscle growth
Collagen peptides are some of the best peptides for muscle growth. But what are peptides, anyway? Peptides are small chains of amino acids, basically, parts of a protein.
Peptides for muscle growth can help you meet your protein and workout goals without the risks that come with steroids or other performance enhancers. On top of that, they can support goals to boost protein intake for women, so it’s a win-win!
Collagen peptides, specifically, have been shown to speed lean muscle growth. Like many other aspects of health study, though, this particular trial did not factor in women’s bio-response. It was done in elderly men and may have slightly different effects on women.
Another study on both men and women showed reduced fat mass when participants were supplemented with collagen.
From what we know about collagen so far, it’s safe to assume that using collagen to supplement protein intake for women should have an overall positive impact on body composition.
Optimizing protein intake for your best performance
Nutrition is a tricky subject.
How much protein does a woman need if she’s bulking vs cutting vs maintaining?
What about endurance training vs sprints?
Or at different parts of her cycle?
Research is slow to catch up to women’s health, but more and more we’re starting to study the unique beauty of the female body.
Protein intake for women will depend on a number of variables. Your height, weight, activity level, and weight goals are just a few. And figuring out how many grams of protein to aim for in a day is just the beginning.
Trial and error are a big part of nutrition. Your body is constantly growing and changing, and your nutrition needs along with it.
But you never have to go it alone. Keep adjusting your plan, and reach out for support from your personal trainer, your healthcare team, and online communities like ours. There’s plenty of advice on how to create a plan on protein intake for women that will work for you.
Once you know what your protein intake goal is, you need to figure out how to meet it. That usually looks like a combination of meal planning, tracking labels, and possibly adding in a supplement.
A medical-grade hydrolyzed collagen protein without fillers is the cleanest way to reach your goals.
