Key takeaways
- Someone who trains regularly needs roughly 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the extra benefit disappears somewhere around 2.2 g/kg (Morton et al., 2018).
- The gram of protein printed on the label is not the gram your body puts to work. DIAAS measures that gap, and plant sources score below animal ones (Herreman et al., 2020).
- The cheapest serious protein in an Estonian shop is not powder. It is curd, eggs and chicken breast. We do the arithmetic below.
- 20-40 g of protein at a time, 3-4 times a day, covers most people's needs (Schoenfeld & Aragon, 2018).
- The advantage of powder is not quality. It is that you do not have to cook it, refrigerate it or pack it.
- If you already eat 2 g/kg, a fourth shake adds nothing except calories.
How much protein you actually need
The most common mistake is not eating too little protein. It is that people do not know their own number and therefore buy on feel - three tubs at once, then nothing for three months.
Morton et al. (2018) pooled 49 randomised trials and found that alongside resistance training, muscle mass and strength keep improving as protein intake rises up to about 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight per day. The upper end of the confidence interval reached 2.2 g/kg, but average additional benefit above that did not increase. In practice that means the following numbers.
| Body weight | Target at 1.6 g/kg | Point where benefit stops growing (2.2 g/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 96 g | 132 g |
| 70 kg | 112 g | 154 g |
| 80 kg | 128 g | 176 g |
| 90 kg | 144 g | 198 g |
| 100 kg | 160 g | 220 g |
Two qualifiers most guides leave out. First: if you are in a calorie deficit and trying to lose weight, aim at the top of the range - the less energy comes in, the more work protein does in protecting muscle mass. Second: if your body weight is well above normal weight, it makes more sense to calculate from your target weight rather than your current weight. Otherwise you land on numbers that are almost impossible to eat, and you quit in week two.
Why the label does not tell the whole story: digestibility and DIAAS
Two foods that both state 20 g of protein per serving do not give your body the same result. Some amino acids are not absorbed, and some sources are simply poor in one or another indispensable amino acid.
DIAAS - the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score - measures that gap. A score of 1.0 means the source fully covers the requirement for its limiting amino acid; 0.7 means roughly a third is missing. Herreman et al. (2020) calculated DIAAS for a large set of foods and the pattern is consistent: dairy proteins and egg sit above 1.0, meat and fish around 0.9-1.1, legumes between 0.6 and 0.8, and cereals lower still.
This does not make plant protein useless. It means that on a plant-based diet you raise the quantity by roughly a fifth and mix your sources: rice with beans, bread with hummus, oats with a dairy product or soy. If you want the numbers in more depth, we have a separate protein digestibility guide that explains PDCAAS and DIAAS side by side.
15 animal protein sources
All the numbers below are per 100 g of the product as sold: meat and fish raw, the way they go on the shop scales; canned fish drained; dairy and powder as they come in the pack. That is deliberate. Cooking drives roughly a quarter of the water out of meat and fish, so the same piece shows a bigger number per 100 g once cooked even though the protein on your plate has not changed - and only the raw basis lines up with the per-kilo shop price we work with further down. Protein figures are rounded and come from the Estonian National Institute for Health Development's NutriData food composition programme and from product labels. A specific product may differ by a couple of grams either way.
| Food | Protein per 100 g (as sold) | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, raw | 23 g | Cheapest high-quality protein per kilo |
| Turkey breast, raw | 24 g | Same profile, slightly pricier |
| Beef tenderloin, raw | 21 g | Iron and B12 into the bargain |
| Pork tenderloin, raw | 21 g | Consistently available and cheap in Estonia |
| Canned tuna, drained | 26 g | Needs no fridge and no cooking |
| Salmon, raw | 20 g | Omega-3 fatty acids in the same portion |
| Rainbow trout, raw | 20 g | Local, cheaper per kilo than salmon |
| Baltic herring, raw | 19 g | The most underrated fish on the Estonian counter |
| Shrimp, raw | 20 g | Very low fat, fast to cook |
| Egg | 13 g in two eggs | Among the highest digestibility of any food |
| Curd (kohupiim) 9% | 11 g | Slow casein, good for the evening |
| Cottage cheese (kodujuust) | 12-13 g | Same logic, but saltier |
| Greek yogurt | 9-10 g | A snack you do not have to prepare |
| Mozzarella | 22 g | Casein-based cheese |
| Whey protein powder | 70-80 g | More concentrated than any food |
15 plant protein sources
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Edamame (young soybeans) | 11 g | A plant source with a complete amino acid profile |
| Tofu (firm) | 17 g | Neutral flavour, takes seasoning well |
| Tempeh | 19 g | Fermented, digests better than tofu |
| Seitan | 25 g | Gluten-based, ruled out with coeliac disease |
| Lentils (cooked) | 9 g | Cheapest protein source by weight |
| Chickpeas (cooked) | 9 g | Fibre and protein in one pot |
| Black beans (cooked) | 9 g | Freeze well in portions |
| Green peas | 5 g | There is always a bag in the freezer |
| Quinoa (cooked) | 4.4 g | Better amino acid profile than cereals |
| Oats (dry) | 13 g | A breakfast base, not a garnish |
| Rye bread | 7-8 g | The quiet protein contribution of the Estonian table |
| Pumpkin seeds | 30 g | Calorie-dense, so portions stay small |
| Peanut butter | 25 g | Same calorie warning |
| Hemp seeds | 31 g | Omega-3 and protein together |
| Pea or soy protein powder | 70-80 g | The only plant source at powder concentration |
That is thirty sources you can genuinely choose between. Most diets fall apart because two or three of them are in rotation, not because the selection is poor.
What the Estonian shelf actually offers
The Estonian counter carries a few protein sources that English-language guides almost never mention and that are cheap enough here that ignoring them would be foolish.
Kohupiim (curd) and kodujuust (cottage cheese) are not the same thing, although they are constantly confused. Kohupiim is drier and more neutral; kodujuust is grainier and saltier. Both sit at 11-13 g of protein per 100 g and the protein in both is mostly casein, which digests slowly. That is exactly what makes them a good late evening meal.
A kohuke - the glazed curd bar - is not a protein source. One typically holds 5-7 g of protein and a substantial amount of sugar, which makes it a dessert that happens to be made of curd. Counting it as a protein snack throws the whole daily tally off.
Baltic herring and sprat are the most underrated purchase on the Estonian counter: herring fillet delivers around 19 g of protein per 100 g and is often at or below the price of chicken breast per kilo, yet it mostly gets bought around Christmas. Where you buy matters here: at Balti jaama turg in Tallinn and at the Tartu market hall, fresh herring and loose-weight curd are usually easier to get hold of than in a large chain supermarket, where the same fish mostly arrives frozen and in a narrower selection. Curd bought by weight often works out cheaper than a 400 g tub as well, which lowers your price per gram of protein without buying a single supplement. In winter, when the fresh fish selection shrinks, canned tuna and frozen salmon are reasonable substitutes. If fish keeps getting skipped altogether, omega-3 products are an easier way to cover the fatty acids than forcing yourself to eat it.
There is one thing a high-protein diet does not fix on its own, and that is the Estonian winter. From October to March the sunlight at our latitude is not sufficient for vitamin D to form in the skin, and no amount of protein changes that. The same logic applies to B12 if you have moved to a plant-based diet. Here vitamin complexes are a sensible answer, not a supplement-shop trick.
Price per gram of protein: supermarket versus powder
This is where most guides skate over the surface. The claim that powder is the cheapest protein source does not hold in Estonia, and it can be checked.
Take three specific products that are in stock at the time of writing. BIOTECHUSA 100% Pure Whey 454g Õunakook costs EUR 19.90, which puts the powder at roughly EUR 43.80 per kilo. Optimum-nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey 896g Küpsised ja kreem costs EUR 43.90, about EUR 49 per kilo. The plant option is BIOTECHUSA Vegan Protein 500g Banaan at EUR 21.90, again around EUR 43.80 per kilo. Larger tubs work out cheaper per gram, but only if you actually get through them.
The supermarket prices below are indicative orders of magnitude at the time of writing and vary by shop. Protein content in powder depends on the flavour, so that figure is approximate too - the exact number is always on the product page.
| Source | Price at time of writing | Protein, approx. | Price per 100 g protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, supermarket | ~EUR 8/kg | 23 g / 100 g | ~EUR 3.50 |
| Curd 9%, 400 g | ~EUR 2 per pack | 11 g / 100 g | ~EUR 4.50 |
| Eggs, 10 pcs | ~EUR 3 per box | 6.5 g / egg | ~EUR 4.60 |
| 100% Pure Whey, 454 g | EUR 19.90 | 75 g / 100 g | ~EUR 5.80 |
| Vegan Protein, 500 g | EUR 21.90 | 70 g / 100 g | ~EUR 6.30 |
| Gold Standard Whey, 896 g | EUR 43.90 | 78 g / 100 g | ~EUR 6.30 |
The conclusion is uncomfortable but honest: in Estonia, whey powder is not a cheaper protein source than chicken breast or curd. It is in the same bracket. The real advantage of powder lies elsewhere - 30 g of protein in thirty seconds, with no hob, no fridge and no washing up, and it fits in a bag. If your day falls apart precisely because you cannot get around to cooking, that advantage is worth real money. If you can cook, it is not.
If you are comparing specific powders, our best protein powder review covers taste, mixability and formulation. The full range sits in the protein category.
A sample day that delivers 162 g of protein
Schoenfeld and Aragon (2018) concluded that for muscle protein synthesis it makes sense to spread protein across 3-4 meals, at roughly 0.4 g per kilogram of body weight at a time. For an 80 kg person that is about 32 g per sitting - not 90 g at dinner and coffee for breakfast. The meat and fish weights below are raw, exactly as in the table above, so every row can be checked.
| Meal | Contents | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | 3 eggs and 200 g curd | 41 g |
| Lunch | 150 g chicken breast (raw weight), buckwheat, vegetables | 41 g |
| Snack | 150 g Greek yogurt and a handful of almonds | 20 g |
| Dinner | 150 g rainbow trout (raw weight), potatoes, salad | 35 g |
| Before bed | 200 g cottage cheese or a casein shake | 25 g |
| Total | 162 g |
There is not a single supplement in that day, and it puts an 80 kg person at roughly 2 g per kilogram of body weight - the top of Morton's range. If breakfast is your weak point - and statistically it is for most people - then 30 g protein breakfast ideas close most of the gap without changing any other meal.
When powder makes sense and when it does not
Powder makes sense in five situations, and only those.
First, when the day does not give you a meal. Two sessions, a shift at work, a child to collect - a shake beats a skipped meal. Second, when your protein target is 160 g and food gets you to 120 g; that last forty grams is exactly where powder earns its price. Third, travelling, where there is no fridge. Fourth, on a plant-based diet, where hitting leucine requires larger quantities. Fifth, in the evening: Res et al. (2012) found that 40 g of casein before sleep increased overnight muscle protein synthesis by about 22%, and casein suits that job better than whey. 200 g of cottage cheese does the same work, but if you prefer a shake, Optimum-nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein 924g Šokolaad is EUR 49.90 at the time of writing.
Powder stops making sense when you buy it in order to avoid dealing with food at all. Three shakes a day is not a diet: you lose fibre, iron, zinc and the satiety of an actual meal, and you will probably eat the difference back in the evening.
Who this guide is not for
With chronic kidney disease, the protein amount is set by your doctor rather than by a sports nutrition guide, and entirely different numbers apply. With a milk protein allergy, neither whey nor casein is suitable - that is not the same thing as lactose intolerance, where an isolate or a lactase tablet usually solves the problem. Pregnant and breastfeeding women and growing adolescents should run the numbers past a doctor or dietitian, because 2.2 g/kg is not a sensible default there.
And the most common case of all: if you train twice a week, eat three proper meals and your weight is stable, you are not protein deficient. Your result is limited by training volume and sleep, not by protein. In that case every euro spent on powder is a euro that would have earned more somewhere else.
FAQ
Does high protein intake damage your kidneys?
In healthy people the evidence does not show that. The meta-analysis by Devries et al. (2018) found that a higher-protein diet did not change markers of kidney function in healthy adults compared with lower or normal protein intake. With existing kidney disease the situation is different and the amount is set by the treating physician.
Is plant protein enough to build muscle?
Yes, when quantity and variety are in place. Hevia-Larraín et al. (2021) compared vegan and omnivorous strength trainees over twelve weeks with protein intake matched, and there was no meaningful difference in muscle mass or strength gains. The key is that on a plant-based diet you raise the quantity deliberately rather than simply dropping the meat.
Is protein before bed worth it?
According to Res et al. (2012), yes: 40 g of casein before sleep raised overnight muscle protein synthesis by about 22%. In practice it is the easiest place to lift your daily total, because most people are eating an evening meal anyway.
How much protein does a female athlete need?
The same 1.6-2.2 g/kg. Sex does not change the recommendation, but alongside a high-protein diet it is worth watching iron and calcium intake, since those tend to suffer when the diet narrows around a couple of protein sources.
Do I have to eat protein within 30 minutes of training?
No. The anabolic window is considerably wider than the old advice claimed, and the daily total plus an even spread across 3-4 meals matter more than the minutes (Schoenfeld & Aragon, 2018). If your last meal was four hours ago then a post-workout meal is obviously sensible - just not because of the seconds.
Are kohupiim and kodujuust the same thing?
No. Kohupiim is drier, more neutral in flavour and good for baking; kodujuust is grainier and saltier. Protein content is similar, around 11-13 g per 100 g, and in both the protein is mostly casein. They are interchangeable in most recipes but they are not identical.
References
- Morton, R.W., Murphy, K.T., McKellar, S.R., et al. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376-384. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698222/
- Schoenfeld, B.J. & Aragon, A.A. (2018). How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 15, 10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29497353/
- Herreman, L., Nommensen, P., Pennings, B. & Laus, M.C. (2020). Comprehensive overview of the quality of plant- and animal-sourced proteins based on the digestible indispensable amino acid score. Food Science & Nutrition, 8(10), 5379-5391. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33133540/
- Res, P.T., Groen, B., Pennings, B., et al. (2012). Protein ingestion before sleep improves postexercise overnight recovery. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 44(8), 1560-1569. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22330017/
- Hevia-Larrain, V., Gualano, B., Longobardi, I., et al. (2021). High-protein plant-based diet versus a protein-matched omnivorous diet to support resistance training adaptations: a comparison between habitual vegans and omnivores. Sports Medicine, 51(6), 1317-1330.
- Devries, M.C., Sithamparapillai, A., Brimble, K.S., et al. (2018). Changes in kidney function do not differ between healthy adults consuming higher- compared with lower- or normal-protein diets: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Nutrition, 148(11), 1760-1775. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30383278/
