How Much Protein Do You Need?

You can use the calculator in our blog for a specific number to aim for.

Protein needs vary by goal — here's the research-backed range for the big ones:

• Building muscle: 0.8–1g per lb of bodyweight
• Losing weight / cutting: 1–1.2g per lb — protein preserves muscle in a deficit, so needs go up, not down

Requirements also change based on biological and lifestyle factors

• Plant-based eaters: aim for the upper range of any recommendation (0.8-1g per lb). It is well studied that low protein quality reduces useable protein in many western vegan diets below the minimum recommendations.
• Older adults (65+): aim toward the higher end (0.8–1g per lb) — daily and per meal protein needs increase with age to help offset natural muscle loss
• Highly active: 0.8-1g per lb to optimise tissue repair
• Generally active: 0.6–0.8g per lb to support recovery
• Sedentary: ~0.36g per lb (RDA minimum) — most people still feel better higher

How does Nuscle come in?

Nuscle contains 50% more essential amino acids (EAAs), and 80% more branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) than whey — that's a lot more of what our muscles and tissues actually need from protein.

This dramatically increases it's protein quality compared to other protein sources, particularly plant proteins that generally have fewer EAAs, incomplete profiles, and are less digestible.

This means a 13.5g single dose (one scoop) of Nuscle has the essential amino acid power of 15g of pure whey protein, and 20g+ of pure pea or hemp protein. That's enough for a huge top up, or strong stimulus on it's own.

A 27g double dose (two scoops) contains enough essential amino acids to saturate your muscles and maximise muscle protein responses — 14-15g of EAAs has been shown to be the max your body just can use in one sitting.

When to Drink Nuscle

Five key moments we formulated Nuscle around:

Post-Workout (two scoops = 27g) — Absorbs quickly and fully to maximise muscle responses when they are primed to take up amino acids fastest.

Meal Top-Ups (one scoop = 13.5g) — When a meal falls short on protein and you don't want to prep another one, enough to bring most meals up to a close to maximal protein response.

Before/Mid-Workout (one scoop = 13.5g) — Keeps amino acids circulating through longer sessions, keeping you out of breakdown mode, helping you fatigue slower and recover faster.

Long Gaps Between Meals (one scoop = 13.5g) — Signals your body to stay in build mode, not breakdown mode, during extended stretches without food.

Before Bed (two scoops = 27g) — Feeds muscle repair during sleep when it's most active, absorbing fast to maximise the essential amino acids your body stores in the first few hours.

Does Protein Timing Actually Matter?

Somewhat — but less than the fitness industry used to claim.

The old idea of a razor-thin "anabolic window" (protein must hit your system within 30 minutes post-workout or you lose the benefit) has been walked back by more recent research. Your muscles stay highly receptive to protein for several hours after training, and above baseline for almost 24 hours, not just the first half hour.

What the evidence does support:

• Total daily protein and protein quality matters most — timing is a smaller lever than hitting your overall target and hitting it with high-quality protein sources
• Spacing still helps — 3–4 evenly spaced doses across the day builds more muscle than the same total protein in one or two meals
• Training state shifts the window — training fasted (e.g. first thing in the morning) makes timing more relevant than training a few hours after a meal, since you've got less circulating amino acid already on board

So timing isn't about hitting a precise deadline — it's about not leaving long gaps where your body has nothing to work with.

What Is the "Muscle Full" Effect?

This is the part that actually shapes how much to take, and when.

When you eat protein, it triggers a burst of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) — your body building new muscle tissue. But that response doesn't scale forever. Research shows MPS rises, peaks, then plateaus roughly 2–3 hours after a dose, even if more amino acids are still available in your bloodstream. This is often called the "muscle full" effect. No more muscle proteins are being created.

In practice, that means:

• A bigger dose isn't always a better one — past a certain point (usually around 20–40g), extra protein in one sitting, even fast-digesting high-quality protein, doesn't increase muscle-building signals. Especially if the excess is a slow-digesting protein or from a meal
• Frequency beats size — spacing moderate doses across the day gives your body more distinct opportunities to trigger MPS, rather than one large spike followed by a long flat period
• This is why Nuscle is built around scoops, not tubs — smaller, well-timed doses work with how your body actually processes protein, not against it