Nuts, seeds and grains
Brown rice on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 2.6 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked, for around 120 calories. A cup, cooked, about 150 g (5.3 oz), gives roughly 4 g of protein for 180 calories.
How brown rice sits on a GLP-1
Brown rice is about 2.6 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz) cooked, so a cup is about 4 g. It is on this list so nobody counts it. On a GLP-1 rice is the food that most often takes up the room that protein needed: it is soft and easy, it swells, and a bowl of rice under a small amount of stir fry leaves you full and short. The rice is fine; the proportions are the problem.
When your appetite is small
Turn the plate upside down. A third of a cup of rice, about 50 g (1.8 oz), under 120 g (4.2 oz) of chicken, prawns or beef in sauce is a bowl that looks normal and carries about 30 g. Microwave pouches make this easy, because you use what you need and the rest keeps.
Three ways to prepare it
A small bowl under a saucy protein
A few spoons of rice, then the chicken curry or the beef and black bean on top. The sauce soaks into the rice and the bowl is mostly protein.
Cooked into a chicken and rice soup
Rice simmered in stock with shredded chicken until it is soft and almost porridge like. Warm, wet and about 25 g a bowl with enough chicken.
Fried rice made with two eggs and prawns
A small amount of cold rice, two eggs and a handful of prawns, fried hot. About 30 g in a small bowl, because the eggs and prawns outnumber the rice.
What to eat it with
Anything in a sauce: chicken curry, beef and black bean, prawns in garlic, a fried egg. Rice is the base; the protein goes on top and there should be more of it than there is rice.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown rice | about 2.6 g | 120 kcal | this page |
| Quinoa | about 4.4 g | 120 kcal | See the page |
| Buckwheat | about 3.4 g | 90 kcal | See the page |
| Potato | about 2 g | 90 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, cooked, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Brown rice in all three countries; Australia sells medium grain as standard, the US and UK long grain. Microwave pouches of cooked brown rice are common in all three and useful for small portions. White rice carries about the same protein and slightly less fibre.
Questions people ask
Does rice have protein?
A little: about 2.6 g per 100 g (3.5 oz) cooked, so a cup is 4 g. Count it as a carrier, not a protein, and keep it to a third of the bowl with meat, fish, eggs or tofu making up the rest.
Your number comes first
Knowing what is in a food only helps once you know how much you are aiming for. The target is 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of your goal weight, not your current weight, which for most people is 90 to 140 g a day.
Work out your protein targetMore on eating well when your appetite is small: high protein foods for a small appetite, how much protein on a GLP-1, and every food we have written up. The whole system in five documents is the Keep Muscle Kit, A$47 / US$29 / £23.
EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor.