How much protein do I need a day? In Malaysia, 1 gram per kilogram of body weight, by the Ministry of Health's Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI, 2017): 62 g for the reference man, 53 g for the reference woman. Past about 1.6 g per kilogram, training studies found no further gain. Multiply your weight, then check a plate: nasi lemak carries 9.7 g.
TL;DR
- Malaysia's recommendation is 1.00 g of protein per kg of body weight a day: 70 g for a 70 kg adult.
- In resistance training, protein supplements beyond total intakes of about 1.62 g per kg a day gave no further gain in fat-free mass.
- On the Ministry of Health's food table, nasi lemak, roti canai, roti telur and mee goreng carry 2.2 to 3.5 g of protein per 100 kcal; an egg, tau-kua, tempeh or ayam goreng carries roughly 8 to 11.
- A made-up day of four plates comes to 44.3 g: 71% of the male reference figure, 84% of the female one.
- The side order, not the plate, decides whether a day reaches the number.
How much protein do I need a day?
For an adult in Malaysia, the Ministry of Health's figure is your body weight in kilograms, in grams: 1.00 g of protein per kg per day. That is the Recommended Nutrient Intake, the Ministry's published daily figure for a nutrient by age and sex. The 2017 edition works from reference weights of 61.4 kg for a man and 52.9 kg for a woman aged 19 to 29, which gives 62 g and 53 g; over 60 it is 58 g and 50 g (Ministry of Health Malaysia, Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Malaysia 2017, protein chapter, printed pages 62 to 63).
For a 70 kg person that is 70 g. The document also cites the older WHO/FAO/UNU 2007 safe level of 0.83 g per kg (58 g at 70 kg) and notes that consensus statements suggest 1.0 to 1.5 g per kg may confer health benefits (70 to 105 g). For people who lift weights, a pooled analysis of 49 studies and 1,863 participants found that protein supplementation beyond total intakes of 1.62 g per kg a day (about 113 g at 70 kg) gave no further gain in fat-free mass (Morton et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018, abstract). That is a finding about resistance training, not a target for everyone.
These figures are for healthy adults. The RNI document prints separate figures for pregnancy and lactation; for those, or any medical reason to change your protein, ask a clinician. To do the multiplication at your own weight, with the other references beside it, use the protein calculator.
Is 100 g of protein a day a lot?
It depends on body weight, so divide by yours. It is 1.6 times the 62 g reference figure for a man and 1.9 times the 53 g for a woman. Per kilogram it is 1.6 g at 62.5 kg, 1.4 g at 70 kg and 2.0 g at 50 kg. The 70 kg case sits inside the 1.0 to 1.5 g per kg consensus range the RNI document cites; the 50 kg case sits above the training analysis's 1.62.
The RNI document also says no safe upper limit has been identified, and advises caution at very high intakes of 3 to 4 times the safe intake. I am not saying which side of these numbers to be on; this post gives the figures and the arithmetic.
How much protein is in nasi lemak, roti canai and the rest?
Less than most lists suggest. I took the figures from MyFCD, the Malaysian Food Composition Database run by the Institute for Medical Research under the Ministry of Health (myfcd.moh.gov.my). It prints energy and protein per 100 g plus a serving weight. I worked out protein per serving, and protein per 100 kcal: the grams of protein you get for every 100 kcal of the food, the last figure in each row. The codes are MyFCD's own; I fetched every row on 1 October 2026.
- The plate
- Nasi lemak, 1 plate (230 g): 9.7 g protein, 389 kcal, 2.5 per 100 kcal (221019)
- Roti canai, 1 piece (95 g): 6.7 g, 301 kcal, 2.2 per 100 kcal (221023)
- Yellow dhal gravy served with it, half a cup (80 g): 2.5 g, 58 kcal, 4.2 per 100 kcal (221025)
- Roti telur, 1 piece (135 g): 12.4 g, 356 kcal, 3.5 per 100 kcal (221024)
- Mee goreng, 1 plate (170 g): 9.3 g, 280 kcal, 3.3 per 100 kcal (221010)
- Nasi ayam, 1 plate (230 g): 16.1 g, 278 kcal, 5.8 per 100 kcal (221018)
- The side order
- Hen egg, 1 whole (46 g): 5.9 g, 71 kcal, 8.3 per 100 kcal (109006)
- Ayam goreng, 1 piece (90 g): 20.2 g, 255 kcal, 7.9 per 100 kcal (222012)
- Chicken satay, 10 sticks (150 g): 28.4 g, 364 kcal, 7.8 per 100 kcal (222016)
- Ikan kembong masak kicap, 1 piece (61.6 g): 11.0 g, 161 kcal, 6.8 per 100 kcal (223012)
- Tau-kua, 1 piece (106.9 g): 11.7 g, 109 kcal, 10.7 per 100 kcal (103016)
- Tempeh, half a cup diced (54 g): 8.6 g, 85 kcal, 10.1 per 100 kcal (103015)
- Soya bean milk, unsweetened, 1 cup (250 g): 9.2 g, 148 kcal, 6.3 per 100 kcal (103026). The packet kind (258.5 g) is 3.4 g, 163 kcal, 2.1 per 100 kcal (103025).
Look at the two nasi lemak rows before you trust any single figure. MyFCD carries two: a 230 g plate with 9.7 g of protein in its cereal-based dishes (221019), and a 306 g plate with 14.7 g in a separate ready-to-eat meals dataset (403019). Same dish, same database, 5 g apart: the plates differ in weight and in protein per 100 g (4.2 g against 4.8 g). On Google Malaysia on 1 October 2026 the snippets for how much protein is in nasi lemak ran from 7.6 g to 38 g, and none said which plate had been weighed. Plate size is one reason the figures disagree, and the cooked-dish rows are old: the database's footer is dated 1997, the stalls were sampled decades ago, and a plate today may be bigger.
Why does the plate rarely get you there?
Because the number you need is a share of your energy, and most plates give less protein than that share. Take 62 g on a round 2,000 kcal day: 62 divided by 2,000 is 3.1 g of protein per 100 kcal. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation; 2,000 kcal is only an illustration. For 53 g the figure is 2.7 (2.65), and for 100 g it is 5.0.
Read the table against those lines. Nasi lemak (2.5) and roti canai (2.2) sit under 3.1. Mee goreng (3.3) and roti telur (3.5) sit just over it. Nasi ayam (5.8) is well over, and it is the only plate that clears 5.0. Every side order clears it except the packet soya milk.
Here is one made-up day, to show the size of the effect; it is not anyone's diet. Nasi lemak, nasi ayam, roti canai with half a cup of dhal, and mee goreng, at the MyFCD serving weights, add up to 44.3 g of protein and about 1,306 kcal before any drink: 71% of 62 g and 84% of 53 g. Add two eggs and it is 56.1 g. Swap in one piece of ayam goreng instead and it is 64.5 g.
How do I track protein intake without weighing food?
Count the protein items, not the plate. Each egg, piece of chicken or block of tau-kua is a number from a list like the one above, and the rice or noodles underneath add a few grams. The logic is the one in the best ways to track calories: a note you keep beats a database you abandon. The calorie side of the same day is on the maintenance calories page.
Two findings are worth holding loosely. In one study, six young men ate 0 to 40 g of egg protein after leg exercise, and muscle protein synthesis was maximal at 20 g (Moore et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009, abstract). Six men, one protein: a reason to spread protein across meals, not a rule. And in the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey 2014, average protein intake was 97.7% of the RNI then in force, and 101.3% for men (Shahar et al., Nutrients, 2018). On average, Malaysians are near the number already; an average hides the person whose plates are all rice and noodles.
What did I actually check?
I re-fetched each MyFCD row above on 1 October 2026 with a short script, confirmed that energy, protein and serving weight still matched my copy, and printed the per-serving figures. The list in this article is that output.
Then I typed the made-up day into the Habitus Mind quick-log in plain words: nasi lemak for breakfast, chicken rice for lunch, roti canai with dhal at tea, mee goreng for dinner. I ran it twice on a demo account with a 62 g protein target. MyFCD's servings for the same four meals add up to 44.3 g of protein and 1,306 kcal. The first run gave 45.5 g and 2,400 kcal; the second, 53.0 g and 2,570 kcal. The protein landed within 3% and 20% of the table, and the two runs were 7.5 g apart. The calories came out 84% and 97% above it. I did not test why; the deliberate high lean and plates bigger than the 1997 sample are two candidates. Neither side is a measurement: one is an estimate from a sentence, the other an average from sampled stalls decades ago.
Do I need an app to track protein?
No. The list above and a note on your phone are enough. In Habitus Mind, the Fitness module holds a daily protein target in grams beside the calorie target. The default is 100 g, editable in steps of 5: 1.6 times the male RNI, so a training-oriented number rather than the RNI, and you set your own. The Daily Add screen shows protein eaten today against it, in grams and as a percentage.
The quick-log turns a description of your day into food rows with protein and calories, which you review before anything is saved. Its calorie estimates lean high and its protein estimates lean low, on purpose, so a day that reaches the protein target on its estimates has probably reached it. I changed the protein side on 1 October 2026, because high is the flattering direction for a protein target; the runs above came after the change. It does not look anything up in MyFCD or any database, does not work out a requirement from your weight, and gives no advice on how much to eat. Fitness is in the free plan, with 30 fitness entries a day, and a quick-log parse costs 1 to 2 AI Credits.
Habitus Mind is free to start. The protein target and the quick-log live in its Fitness module; to try it, create a free account.
FAQ
How much protein do I need a day?
Malaysia's Recommended Nutrient Intake (2017) is 1.00 g of protein per kg of body weight a day for adults: 62 g for the reference man and 53 g for the reference woman aged 19 to 29. Multiply your own weight. Pregnancy and medical conditions are separate; ask a clinician.
Is 100 g of protein a day too much?
It depends on weight. At 70 kg it is 1.4 g per kg, inside the 1.0 to 1.5 range the RNI document cites as consensus; at 50 kg it is 2.0. The document says no safe upper limit has been identified, with caution at 3 to 4 times the safe intake.
How much protein does a 70 kg person need?
At Malaysia's RNI of 1.00 g per kg, 70 g a day; at the older 0.83 g per kg safe level, 58 g. In resistance-training studies, supplements beyond 1.62 g per kg in total, about 113 g at 70 kg, added no further fat-free mass.
How much protein is in a plate of nasi lemak?
MyFCD, the Ministry of Health's food table, lists 9.7 g for a 230 g plate and 14.7 g for a 306 g plate. The 5 g gap comes from a heavier plate and, to a smaller extent, a richer sample. The data are decades old, so a plate today may differ.
Are two eggs enough protein for a day?
No. Two MyFCD hen eggs are 11.8 g of protein, about a fifth of the 62 g reference figure. Eggs are a good side order, at 8.3 g per 100 kcal, but two are one small part of a day.
