A Caloric Deficit Increases Protein Needs

“There’s actually evidence that you need more protein than what has been shown for people at maintenance or above to maintain muscle when you are in a caloric deficit, so a caloric deficit increases protein needs to some extent.

The general literature shows somewhere between 1.6 to 1.8 g per kg per day of protein is required for resistance training people, which is about double the RDA. The RDA for sedentary individuals is 0.8 g per kg per day; you need roughly double that to maintain or to promote anabolism while you’re resistance training. The upper confidence interval is about 2.2 g per kg.”