Protein is all of a sudden the new health craze for women, adding to the long list of health messaging we’re endlessly being bombarded with! To make sense of it all, we spoke to naturopath Annaliese Jones, who breaks down what it is, why it matters and how much of it we actually need!
In a recent bout of burnout, my therapist told me to add more protein in my diet to help with my energy levels… which has led me down this protein rabbit hole.
I have long associated ‘protein’ to gym bros, obsessed with sculpting their bodies, and posting thirst traps of aforementioned sculpted bodies on social media.
GOSH, anyone else get so annoyed with their protein shakes and unseasoned chicken breasts?!
But boy, oh boy, I was so misguided. Protein intake is not just for bodybuilding, strength training or athletes, and it’s certainly not just for men.
It has been relegated to a ‘gym bro supplement’, says Auckland-based naturopath Annaliese Jones. “That’s originally where this myth of it being more important for men came from, if we’re going back 40 years or so.”
Equally, though, protein is crucial for both men and women.
Protein Health Benefits for Women
Women have been catching up to the craze. Euromonitor International, a data analytics company, looked into consumer health and insights trends in 2025.
Amongst 20,165 surveyed globally, it found 51% of consumers looking to increase their protein intake are women – especially age groups over 30 and over 60 in the Asia-Pacific region.
Annaliese says fitness trends shifting away from ‘skinny to strong’ could be attributed to its rising popularity amongst women. But more importantly, she says it is vital for general health and wellbeing.
Simply speaking, protein is the main building block of our body, essential for building and repairing everything from cells and muscles to hair and bone.
While it can be used for energy, its bigger role is supporting metabolism, weight management, hormone function, and more stable blood sugar levels.
Our protein recommended daily intake will also vary across life stages (pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause), personal health, lifestyle and activity.
For example, for women 35 and over, oestrogen production reduces as we approach perimenopause and menopause, says Annaliese.
“Basically, [less oestrogen makes] it harder for us to build muscle. If we increase our protein during those years of our lives, [in addition to] exercise, then you will buck the trend of losing muscle mass.”
Low energy levels and mood instability could also point to protein deficiency, she says, probably caused by highs and lows in blood glucose.
Take a carbohydrate rich meal with no protein (coughs, surviving on iced coffee and toast?), it will spike your blood sugar and lead to short-lived moments of high energy.
The crash follows soon after. “We feel a bit shaky sometimes, we can feel anxious. Protein really does help stabilise our blood glucose, which in turn helps stabilise our energy levels and even them out over the day.”
How Much Protein Do I Need?
Annaliese says women’s protein needs come down to body weight.
The minimum daily intake would be 0.8g of protein per kg of body weight, which for someone weighing 64 kgs, equates to 51.2g of daily protein intake you can spread out between meals.
The ratio could be increased up to 1.6g per kg depending on what women are trying to achieve – whether it’s to build muscle, replace carbs with extra protein for weight loss and balancing blood glucose or prevent type 2 diabetes.
There’s nuance to every person’s protein intake and protein source, especially for those with chronic disease, so Analiese says it’s best to get tailored advice from medical practitioners,
“Too much protein’s quite difficult for your kidneys to process, so if you have a kidney disease, you don’t want to be jumping on the high-protein diet bandwagon. If you’ve got issues with gout or uric, then you’ve got to be careful where you get your protein from.”
Additionally, eating a protein-rich breakfast is important for women who have anxiety, hormonal imbalance (PCOS, PMS), fertility issues or those who train in the morning.
“We know that not having breakfast does spike our cortisol a little bit, some people can handle that fine, but a lot of women can’t.”
Easy Ways to Squeeze In Protein Daily
Did you ever assume that a 300g of chicken breast also equates to 300g of protein? Or think that two eggs in the morning is enough protein for the whole day? Or sprinkling some cheese to your pasta, salad or sandwich will do the trick!?
These are some common misconceptions, says Annaliese, and that actually, for every 100g of red and white meat, only about 30% of that is protein.
For an egg, it’s just about 7 grams of protein – far from even hitting half of our daily intake.
So keeping those rough estimates in mind can be helpful when adding it to your diet.
Because honestly, who has the time to count the grams per ingredient to ensure we reach the exact amount of protein we need per meal?
Annaliese says: Most of us don’t need it to be that precise. If we can have a couple of eggs for breakfast, a protein shake for snack, and about 150g of cooked protein for dinner, then that’s a good day.
Think about all the incidental proteins that we’re probably already eating lik legumes, yoghurt and chickpeas.
She recommends throwing in a can of lentils into a bolognese, snacking on nuts and seeds, or adding it to your salads. “We certainly don’t have to sit down and eat 300g steaks everyday to get our 90g of protein!”
Read: How To Create a Meal Plan That is High in Protein & Easy on Your Wallet
What if I’m vegetarian or vegan?
High-protein diets are also not a one-size-fits-all approach, says Annaliese, and you can have a long healthy life without high protein intake. Just make sure to add enough plant-based protein sources such as legumes, beans, nuts and seeds, tofu.
“There are lots of tribes in the world that have lower protein diets and they’re long-lived. If you look at the blue zones, some of the people that live the longest in the world eat mostly vegetarian meals.”
