More than the official recommendation and less than the supplement industry implies. The most direct measurement in endurance athletes puts the requirement at roughly 1.65 g per kg of body weight per day, with an intake target of about 1.83 g/kg. For a 70 kg runner that is around 115 to 130 g a day. The general population figure of 0.8 g/kg is too low for you; the 2.5 g/kg on the tub is past the point of any measured return.
Where the number comes from
The old recommendation for endurance athletes, 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg/day, came from nitrogen balance studies, a method with known problems that tends to underestimate. When researchers reassessed it using the indicator amino acid oxidation technique, measuring on a day that included a 20 km run, the estimated average requirement came out at 1.65 g/kg/day, with 1.83 g/kg/day as the upper end of the confidence interval — substantially above both the general RDA of 0.8 and the previous athlete guidance.
Two caveats we would rather state than bury. That study had six participants, all men; its own authors note that women appear to rely less on amino acid oxidation, so the number may not transfer. And a later review cautions that the indicator amino acid method may overestimate protein requirements. Treat 1.8 as a well-reasoned target, not a measurement of you.
Reviews since have converged on about 1.8 g/kg/day as a sensible target for endurance athletes, with the note that it may need to go above 2.0 g/kg on carbohydrate-restricted training and on rest days. Typical habitual intake in endurance athletes is around 1.5 g/kg — so most runners are somewhat short, not wildly short.
What does that look like on an Indian plate?
115 to 130 g a day is more than it sounds, and it is entirely achievable vegetarian. Rough protein content:
- 1 cup cooked dal — about 9 g
- 1 cup rajma or chana — about 15 g
- 100 g paneer — about 18 g
- 1 cup curd — about 8 g; 1 cup Greek-style yoghurt — about 17 g
- 2 eggs — about 12 g
- 100 g chicken breast — about 30 g
- 30 g roasted chana or peanuts — about 7 g
The usual failure is not the total, it is the distribution: a token amount at breakfast, almost none at lunch, and everything at dinner. Spreading it across three or four meals is the easiest change most runners can make, though we should be honest that the per-meal evidence is thinner than the daily-total evidence. The figure with the clearest support is a post-exercise feed of about 0.5 g/kg — roughly 35 g for a 70 kg runner — to drive the repair of contractile protein after a hard session.
Do you need a powder?
No. Nothing in this literature says the protein has to come from a supplement, and food is cheaper. A powder is a convenience for people who genuinely cannot hit the number — which, if you are running high volume with a demanding job, may honestly be you. It is not a requirement.
What protein will not do
It will not prevent injury. It will not make you faster on its own. The evidence supports it for recovery and training adaptation — repairing and remodelling the tissue you damaged — not as a performance aid in itself.
The bigger nutritional risk for runners is not protein at all. It is total energy: eating too little overall while training hard, which is the best-evidenced risk factor for bone stress injury in this literature. Getting enough protein while under-eating overall does not protect you.
References
Kato H, Suzuki K, Bannai M, Moore DR. Protein requirements are elevated in endurance athletes after exercise as determined by the indicator amino acid oxidation method. PLoS One, 2016;11(6):e0157406. · Witard OC, Hearris M, Morgan PT. Protein nutrition for endurance athletes: a metabolic focus on promoting recovery and training adaptation. Sports Med, 2025.