Article: Since each person's needs vary and depend on a number of factors, consider working with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, who has been trained to determine your specific dietary needs. Ask your doctor to recommend a nutritionist or find a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Weigh yourself in the morning after using the toilet. Do this for five mornings and figure out your average weight. Multiply your average weight in pounds by 0.36. The result is your recommended protein intake in grams. The RDA for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, which is why you should multiply your weight by 0.36. You can also use online calculators to determine your RDA: http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/fnic/interactiveDRI/ For example, a person who weighs 120 pounds should eat 43.2 grams of protein a day (120 x 0.36 = 43.2). Another way to look at protein intake is to look at percentages. Depending on your age, gender, state of overall health, activity level and whether you need to lose or gain weight, your protein goal should be about 10 25% of your total daily calories. While this amount may seem high when figured as a percentage, dietitians remind that RDA is the minimum amount needed to function. Most Americans get 16% of their calories from protein, although they should be getting more. Some people need more protein than others. In general, children and teenagers need more protein (20 25% of calories) than adults. Men need more protein than women. And pregnant and lactating women need more protein than non-pregnant women (75 to 100 g per day). Older populations may need more protein to guard against sarcopenia, so aim for 1.2 g protein per kg. If you have kidney or liver disease, you should decrease the protein in your diet according to your doctor's recommendation. Proteins can act as hormones, becoming chemical messengers that tell cells what to do and when to do it. Proteins are also enzymes, substances that can perform chemical reactions over and over again. In addition, proteins act as antibodies which bind to infectious or foreign particles. Antibodies are one of the body's main lines of defense. Protein also makes up the structure and support of every cell in the body. Transport proteins allow substances to move in and out of the cells. When we eat whole proteins, the groups of amino acids are broken down into individual amino acids then re-sequenced into whichever amino acids our bodies need at that particular moment. The amino acids are linked and folded in different ways. There are twenty types of amino acids found in proteins which fall into three main groups: Essential amino acids: You must get these from your diet, as they cannot be made by your body. Non-essential amino acids: These are produced by the body. Conditional amino acids: These are ones that we would normally be able to produce in the necessary amount, but during times of stress and illness we need more.

What is a summary?
Meet with a dietitian. Calculate your recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein. Determine your RDA by percentage. Adjust your RDA. Consider how protein functions. Understand how proteins are built.