Vegetarians-how much protein do you aim for every day?

I'm vegan, but also on protein restriction due to liver failure plus associated kidney issues, so I can't have more than 30-40g a day. But for people without that sort of issue, I think 60g seems sort of...low, honestly. For me, it's very hard to be below 40 and it would be ridiculously easy to hit at least 80. And I'm not sure there is such a thing as "too much" if you're within your calorie range and you have no medical issues like I have.

MFP has me set at 69g. Some days I go over, some days I'm well under. But if I have a few low protein days I start craving quorn and eggs n stuff, so I tend to listen to my body.

I'd say I swing between 40-65 sometimes over but never under.

I don't 'try' particularly hard to include protein in my diet and don't drink those shakes or anything

I do a 40/30/30 carbs/protein/fat breakdown, which work out to 150g protein a day, minimum. On workout days, the ratio stays the same and the total goes up.

I'm transitioning to a whole foods, plant based diet and keep reading conflicting info on the amount of protein we need. From the different posts here it seems like higher protein amounts are advocated. But then I read other sites and lower protein amounts are recommended

The CDC recommends 46 grams for women my age. Dr. John McDougall (The Starch Solution) says up to 60 grams is good, but follows the WHO recommendations of just 5% of calories be from protein. This is much different than the 100+ protein amounts I'm seeing here on mfp.

I'm female, 34 yrs old, 5ft, 6 in, 125 lbs and walk or run 1-2 miles/5-6 days a week for exercise.

i highly recommend you read "the china study" it is a hard read and you can skim over a lot of name dropping ( although if you are into knowing exactly who did the research and their qualifications you might go ahead and read that stuff..its legit) you will learn SO much about what your body does and does not need !!

Would love to hear from other vegetarians-how much protein do you aim for every day?

It really depends on whether you have the need for additional protein. I am a dietitian so this IS what I do every day (not weight loss, LOL). The minimum absolute MINIMUM protein you need is 0.6 g/kg every day. To get your weight in kg, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2. That is generally what is prescribed for those with renal failure in the later stages, but not yet on dialysis.

If you are an average person with average health issues, nothing special that needs extra or less protein, you should aim for 0.8 g/kg.

If you are lightly active you should go for 1.0-1.2 g/kg.

If you are bodybuilding or trying to put on lean body mass, you should go for 1.5-2.0 g/kg.

There are studies that going over 2.0 g/kg does not get added as lean body mass and simply gets excreted by the kidneys, but that being said I know MANY bodybuilders who go over 2.0 g/kg thinking it will do them some good. If you do this, take c aution, you can damage your kidneys especially if they already have some damage and you don't know it. Remember that kidney damage doesn't even show up on a blood test until most of the kidney function is gone, about 80% I believe (this is off the top of my head though). If you are going to go that high on protein be sure to drink a TON of water.

I am 64 kg (140ish lbs), so I aim for at least 80 grams of protein per day, sometimes up to 100 which would be 1.6 g/kg, but this is because I am doing significant strength training and feel like I need it to put on muscle mass. If I weren't doing that I would aim for about 64 grams.

I hope that helps a little bit. You can message me if you have additional questions! I am doing more of a pescetarian diet just because I get freaked out eating so much protein from soy with the isoflavones so I will eat fish for protein, but I avoid eggs, milk, dairy, and animal meat.