The more protein you eat, the more muscle you will build, right? Wrong.

The body only needs so much protein every day; when you surpass its requirements, it simply processes the extra calories the same way it would excess carbohydrate or fat calories. The protein is broken down, and some of it is excreted while some is stored as body fat or used as energy. The requirements for protein are 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of bodyweight; this amount will ensure that your body is getting enough of the building blocks it requires to create new muscle.

Rather than ingesting too much protein, a better option would be to supplement your diet with good sources of carbohydrates, as they are the body’s preferred source of energy to create the muscle tissue from the protein you took in.

Whatever your goal, many organizations and individuals (particularly within the bodybuilding community), insist on athletes eating an extraordinarily high amount of protein sometimes more than triple the levels typically recommended by international government health boards.

Here are a handful of recommendations on protein intake from multiple sources, from numerous locations around the world. Here they are, in approximate order from least to greatest:

1) World Health Organisation 0.45 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

2) British Nutrition Foundation 0.75 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

3) Food & Nutrition Board (USA) 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

4) Health Canada 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

5) National Health & Medical Research Council (Australia) 0.84 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

6) American Association of Kidney Patients 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

7) Ask the Dietician 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

8 ) Journal of Applied Physiology (USA) 1.0 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

9) Medscape (USA) 1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight (for endurance athletes).

10) Canadian Dietetic Association 1.0 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

11) American Dietetic Association 1.0 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

12) Medscape (USA) 1.4 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight (for bodybuilders).

13) Journal of the American College of Nutrition 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

14) Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (UK) 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

15) Iron Magazine (USA) 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

16) Bodybuilding.com Protein Calculator (USA) 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.