Recommended Daily Allowance
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is the average daily intake of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the needs of 97 to 98 percent of healthy individuals in a given life stage and sex. For protein, the RDA is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Why It Matters
The protein RDA was set to prevent deficiency in sedentary adults, not to optimize muscle growth, performance, or healthy aging. Modern research consistently shows that older adults, athletes, and anyone trying to recomp on a calorie deficit benefit from intakes well above the RDA, often in the 1.4 to 2.2 g per kg range.
When you see a Daily Value (DV) of 50g on a Nutrition Facts panel, that is roughly the RDA for a 60kg adult. Anyone weighing more or training hard should treat the DV as a floor, not a target.
How to Spot It on a Label
Protein labels often list % Daily Value to comply with FDA rules; this is based on a 50g per day reference. A scoop of whey at 25g would be 50% DV. For active people, this percentage tends to understate how much of your real target you are actually hitting.
Examples from real products
Related Terms
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