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Protein is the nutrient of the moment. Supermarket shelves are full of protein bars, protein bread, protein water and protein everything, and the marketing implies that most people are short of it. In Singapore, that is mostly not true — and the exception matters more than the rule. The Health Promotion Board's National Nutrition Survey 2025 found that 79% of residents meet their recommended protein intake, and the average adult eats about 98 g a day. But among adults aged 50 to 69, only about 55% meet the recommendation, and that group is exactly the one whose requirement is higher. So the honest story is two stories: most younger adults do not need a protein product, and many older adults do need more protein at each meal — usually from ordinary food, not from a bar.
The Health Promotion Board's recommendation, confirmed in the National Nutrition Survey 2025, is:
| Who | Protein per day | Worked example |
|---|---|---|
| Adults aged 18–49 | 0.8 g per kg of body weight | A 60 kg adult needs about 48 g; a 65 kg adult about 52 g; an 80 kg adult about 64 g. |
| Adults aged 50 and above | 1.2 g per kg of body weight | A 60 kg adult needs about 72 g; a 65 kg adult about 78 g; an 80 kg adult about 96 g. |
HPB raises the figure at 50 because sarcopenia — the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength — can start as early as 40, and more protein helps limit it and the falls that follow. HPB's practical advice for older adults is to aim for about 20–25 g of protein at each of the three main meals, roughly the amount in a palm-sized piece of cooked lean meat, fish or poultry. Spreading it across meals matters: muscle uses protein most effectively when a decent amount arrives at each meal, rather than all of it at dinner.
For people who train regularly, the evidence points higher. A widely cited 2016 review (Phillips, Chevalier and Leidy, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism) argued that roughly 1.2–1.6 g/kg a day is a more sensible target for most adults wanting to optimise health, body composition and satiety. The International Society of Sports Nutrition puts the range for people who exercise regularly at 1.4–2.0 g/kg a day. For a 70 kg adult who trains, that is about 98–140 g a day, compared with 56 g at the basic HPB figure.
Typical values from USDA FoodData Central, for the food as eaten. Meat and fish are shown cooked, because they lose water and concentrate as they cook; legumes are shown cooked, which is why their numbers look lower than the dry figures sometimes quoted. Check the pack you buy — brands vary.
| Food (as eaten) | Protein per 100 g | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, cooked | 31 g | The benchmark lean protein: about 165 kcal per 100 g. |
| Canned tuna in water, drained | 26 g | About 116 kcal per 100 g. Watch the sodium and, for frequent eaters, the mercury — see the canned tuna page. |
| Lean beef, cooked | 26 g | Higher in saturated fat than chicken or fish — see the fats and cholesterol guide. |
| Peanut butter | 25 g | High in fat too (about half the weight is fat), so the calories are high even though the protein is real. |
| Tempeh | 19–20 g | Fermented soy; also a source of fibre (about 9 g per 100 g). |
| Firm tofu | 17 g | Soft or regular tofu is nearer 8 g — firmness changes the number a lot. Check the panel. |
| Eggs | 13 g | One large egg (about 50 g) has about 6 g. |
| Cottage cheese | 11 g | Also a useful calcium source. |
| Greek yogurt, plain non-fat | 10 g | Straining concentrates the protein; regular yogurt is about 3–4 g per 100 g. |
| Lentils, cooked | 9 g | Dry lentils are about 24 g per 100 g — the cooked figure is lower because they absorb water. |
| Chickpeas, cooked | 9 g | Same dry-vs-cooked trap as lentils. |
| Fresh milk | 3.4 g | Low per 100 g, but a 250 ml glass gives about 8–9 g, plus calcium. |
Two traps in this table: raw vs cooked (raw chicken breast is about 23 g per 100 g; cooked it is about 31 g, because the same piece weighs less after losing water), and dry vs cooked for legumes (dry lentils are about 24 g per 100 g; cooked they are about 9 g). A product that quotes the dry figure for a food you eat cooked is inflating its protein by nearly three times.
Protein is made of amino acids, nine of which are indispensable — your body cannot make them, so food must supply them. A protein that supplies all nine in the right proportions is called complete; one that is short on one or more is incomplete. The short one is called the limiting amino acid, and it caps how useful the protein is, however many grams you eat.
The current standard for measuring this is DIAAS, the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score, recommended by the FAO in 2013 to replace the older PDCAAS. It measures how much of each indispensable amino acid is actually absorbed by the end of the small intestine, and it does not cap scores at 100, so genuinely superior proteins can score above it. The bands are: 100 and above excellent, 75–99 good, below 75 low.
| Protein source | DIAAS | Quality | Limiting amino acid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk protein concentrate | 1.18 | Excellent | Methionine + cysteine |
| Whole egg | 1.13 | Excellent | None limiting |
| Whey protein isolate | 1.09 | Excellent | Valine |
| Soy protein isolate | 0.90 | Good | Methionine + cysteine |
| Chickpeas, cooked | 0.83 | Good | Methionine + cysteine |
| Pea protein concentrate | 0.82 | Good | Methionine + cysteine |
| Whole-grain wheat | 0.40–0.48 | Low | Lysine |
What this means in practice:
These are not marketing words. Under the Codex guidelines that Singapore's Food Regulations follow, a product may be called a "source of protein" when it contains at least 10% of the nutrient reference value (NRV) for protein per 100 g (for solids), 5% per 100 ml (for liquids), or 10% per serving. "High protein" means twice those values. A product that says "high protein" on the front has to meet that bar on the panel — but the bar is about protein alone, and says nothing about the sugar, fat or salt that comes with it.
Singapore's labelling guide adds a separate test for protein function claims (such as "protein helps in tissue building and growth"): at least 12% of the food's calories must come from protein, the amount of food to be consumed per day must contain at least 10 g of protein, and that daily amount must be declared on the label. If a product makes the claim without declaring how much of it you are supposed to eat each day, the claim is not properly made.
Three consequences follow:
Protein bars are usually the worst value on the shelf. A typical bar gives 15–20 g of protein for 200–250 kcal, often with 10–15 g of sugar or sugar alcohols, and costs several dollars. The same protein from two eggs or a tub of Greek yogurt costs far less and comes with fewer additives. Bars have a place — a portable meal when you cannot eat properly — but as a daily habit they are an expensive way to buy protein you probably already get.
Protein drinks and waters vary widely. Some give 15–25 g of protein per bottle with little sugar; others are flavoured milk drinks with a protein claim and a Nutri-Grade C or D. The check is the same as for any drink: total sugar and saturated fat per 100 ml, and the Nutri-Grade, not the word "protein" on the front.
Protein powder is the most efficient format — whey isolate at about 80–90% protein by weight, soy isolate similar, pea isolate a little lower — and it makes sense for people who genuinely struggle to eat enough protein, including older adults with small appetites. What to check: protein per serving and per 100 g, sugar per serving, whether the serving size is realistic (some brands define a serving as one scoop and others as two), and whether the amino acid profile is stated. A pea-and-rice blend closes the quality gap that pea alone leaves open. If your diet already covers your target, powder adds nothing — it is a convenience, not a requirement.
Collagen deserves a specific note, because it is sold alongside protein powders and is not the same thing. Collagen is missing tryptophan, one of the nine indispensable amino acids, so it is an incomplete protein and does not count towards a complete-protein target. Whatever its other claims, it should not be counted as protein in the sense this page uses the word.
Three checks, in order:
Pages where these checks are most useful: fresh chicken, fresh beef, fresh salmon, canned tuna, eggs, yogurt, tofu and tempeh, dried lentils and chickpeas, canned beans and legumes, peanut butter, protein powder, protein drinks, energy bars, meal replacement shakes and plant-based meat alternatives, plus the fats and cholesterol guide and the dairy, lactose and calcium guide.