ProteinFor practitioners
Nutrition tools for coaches and dietitians
Built around the two questions that actually come up in a session: is this client eating enough protein, and what is their diet quietly missing? Every number cites its source, and the tools are free to use.
Defensible protein targets
Ranges rather than false-precision single numbers, each with the study behind it. Scales from lean body mass when body fat is known, which matters for higher-body-fat clients where total-weight targets overshoot.
Protein calculator →Protein density scoring
The P:E ratio ranks foods by protein relative to accompanying energy. Useful when a client has a high protein target and a modest calorie budget and the two keep colliding.
P:E calculator →Micronutrient gap analysis
Twenty-two vitamins and minerals tallied against the client's DRIs, with ceiling nutrients like sodium and saturated fat flagged on exceedance rather than celebrated at 100%.
Food tracker →Honest data provenance
Unmeasured nutrients read "no data" rather than zero, because a source row omitting a measurement is not the same claim as a food containing none of it. Totals state where they undercount.
See it in the tracker →Why the protein numbers differ from most calculators
Most free calculators return a single number derived from the 0.8 g/kg RDA, sometimes with a vague activity multiplier bolted on. That figure is a deficiency threshold — the intake below which a healthy adult starts to run into problems — and it was never meant to describe an optimum for training or body composition.
The targets here start from the goal-specific literature instead, and they are reported as ranges because that is how the evidence reads. The one result clients push back on most is that fat loss demands more protein than muscle gain — 1.8–2.4 g/kg versus 1.6 g/kg. In a deficit, protein is defending existing lean mass rather than adding to it, and that is the harder job.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this suitable for use with clients?
- Yes, for education and planning. Every protein target cites the position stand or meta-analysis it comes from, so you can defend the number in a session. Micronutrient coverage is scored against IOM/NASEM Dietary Reference Intakes for the client's sex and age band, not against generic label values.
- Which nutrition database does it use?
- USDA FoodData Central for whole ingredients, which carries around 135 nutrients per Foundation food — enough to populate a full micronutrient panel. FatSecret adds branded and restaurant items plus barcode lookup, and Open Food Facts covers international barcodes. Search results are labelled by source so you always know the provenance of a number.
- Why does the Nutrition Facts label disagree with the coverage panel?
- Deliberately. The label uses FDA Daily Values, which are fixed on a 2,000 kcal basis and identical for everyone, because that is what a Nutrition Facts panel legally means. The coverage panel uses DRIs specific to the client's sex and age. Iron is the clearest case: the label uses 18 mg for everyone, while the DRI is 18 mg for a premenopausal woman and 8 mg for a man.
- Can I use it for clients with kidney disease or during pregnancy?
- No. The targets here describe healthy adults. Renal disease, pregnancy, lactation and several metabolic conditions change protein and micronutrient requirements in ways a general calculator cannot model. Those cases need individualised clinical assessment.
Scope. An educational and planning tool, not a substitute for clinical judgement or a medical device. It does not store client records.