Total protein blood test: what it says about your protein intake

Your total protein blood test is the sum of all proteins in your serum, usually between 60 and 80 g/l. It says almost nothing about how much protein you eat. That is the most important sentence on this page.

Whether you eat 90 grams a day or 220 grams a day, this number does not change measurably.

What it does measure: how much protein your liver makes, how many antibodies your immune system produces, and how much plasma all of that has to dissolve into. Three things with nothing to do with your protein shake.

What is your total protein made of?

Two groups fill this number. Albumin accounts for roughly 60 percent and comes entirely from your liver. The rest are globulins, including your antibodies, transport proteins and clotting factors, which come partly from your liver and partly from your immune system.

The total is therefore a sum of two very different systems.

Which is why the ratio between them is more informative than the sum. Labs report that as the albumin to globulin ratio, usually around 1.2 to 2.0.

If your total reads low, check which of the two fell. That is usually the whole answer.

Does eating more protein change your total protein blood test?

No, not measurably. Your body keeps the protein concentration in your blood tightly regulated, because that concentration helps determine how much fluid stays inside your vessels. Extra dietary protein goes into tissue building or is broken down to urea, not stored in your plasma.

The Voedingscentrum uses roughly 0.8 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day as a baseline requirement for adults, with a higher requirement during intensive training.

Above that requirement your urea rises and your total protein does not. That difference is exactly why this value is not a nutrition marker.

Say you take two lifters of 80 kilos, one on 120 grams of protein a day and the other on 220 grams. Both sit around 72 g/l total protein, and the difference shows up in their urea.

If you want to know whether your intake is right, how much protein per day for muscle growth is a more useful entry point than this number.

What does a low total protein mean?

A low total protein usually means your albumin has fallen, and the causes of that are dilution, loss through kidney or gut, reduced liver production, or consumption during inflammation. In a healthy athlete, dilution sits at the top of that list.

Endurance training expands your plasma volume by 10 to 20 percent (PMID 1874243). The same amount of protein in more fluid gives a lower concentration.

That is the pattern known in sports medicine as pseudoanaemia, and it hits your whole red series at once (PMID 10688281, PMID 11495622).

So check whether your haematocrit and haemoglobin fell with it. If they did, your protein simply belongs to that picture.

What does a high total protein mean?

A raised total protein comes from too little fluid more often than from too much protein. Dehydration concentrates your plasma, so every concentration in your blood rises. A second cause is an increase in globulins, for example with chronic inflammation or infection.

Draw after a hot ride without drinking properly and you often see the same elevation across several values at once.

If the total stays high while you are well hydrated, and the rise sits in the globulins, that is a reason to have it assessed.

How do you make this value say something about you?

By keeping the conditions constant. Draw fasted, well hydrated, without hard training in the preceding 24 hours, and at roughly the same time of day as last time. Sit quietly for 20 minutes before the draw, because standing upright already concentrates your plasma measurably.

This value moves more easily through your day than through your health.

So never compare two isolated measurements from two different situations. The rules for this are in fasted blood draws for athletes.

When should you discuss an abnormal total protein with your GP?

When the value stays abnormal on a calm, well-prepared repeat, especially alongside fluid retention, foamy urine, unintended weight loss, recurring infections or abnormal liver or kidney values. A shifted albumin to globulin ratio with a normal total deserves an explanation too.

Thuisarts describes an abnormal blood result as a reason to look further rather than a diagnosis, and the NHG guidelines approach protein abnormalities through the same pattern thinking. RIVM points out that reference values differ per laboratory in blood testing.

Take your whole result, including your kidney values. Protein loss through the kidney is why this number and your urine belong together.

Where do you start?

Check whether it is your albumin or your globulins that shifted the total, because that splits the answer in two immediately. Then repeat under identical conditions before drawing conclusions. And take this number off your list of nutrition markers, because it does not belong there.

Our complete blood count test gives you your result with an assessment by a BIG-registered doctor.

For the protein that makes up most of this number, read albumin blood value. How it connects to the rest is covered in complete blood count explained and in the complete biomarker guide for athletes. If you are wondering what a high intake does to your kidneys, protein intake and your kidneys is the next step.

References

1. Athletes' pseudoanaemia. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. 1991. PMID 1874243.
2. Fallon KE, Fallon SK, Boston T. Sports haematology. Sports Medicine. 2000. PMID 10688281.
3. Runner's anemia. JAMA. 2001. PMID 11495622.
4. Voedingscentrum. Protein. Accessed 2026.
5. RIVM. Blood testing and reference values. Accessed 2026.
6. NHG. Dutch College of General Practitioners, laboratory diagnostics in primary care. Accessed 2026.
7. Thuisarts. My blood result is abnormal. Accessed 2026.

Disclaimer

Every blood test result includes a professional assessment by a BIG-registered doctor. This article gives general information and is not a substitute for medical advice. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.