Vegetables and everything else
Miso soup on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 2 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), made up with tofu, per 100 ml, for around 25 calories. One bowl, about 250 g (8.8 oz), gives roughly 5 g of protein for 62 calories.
How miso soup sits on a GLP-1
Miso soup is fermented soybean paste stirred into hot stock, usually with a few cubes of tofu and some seaweed, and a bowl is warm, salty, savoury and sipped. It is about 2 g of protein per 100 ml (3.4 fl oz) made up, so a bowl is 5 g, most of it from the tofu. On a GLP-1 it belongs with bone broth as the warm liquid that gets a bad morning started, and like broth it becomes a real stop only when something with protein is dropped into it. It is salty, so it is one bowl, not three.
When your appetite is small
Keep instant sachets in the drawer at work and at home. A sachet in a mug of boiling water with a few cubes of silken tofu and an egg stirred through as it heats is about 15 g, warm and soft, and it is a meal on a day when a meal is not otherwise going to happen. Add a spoon of cooked rice or a few noodles if there is room.
Three ways to prepare it
Instant miso with silken tofu and an egg
Sachet, boiling water, tofu cubes, an egg whisked in slowly. Three minutes, about 15 g, and it is sipped rather than eaten.
With soba noodles and a handful of prawns
Miso broth, a small nest of soba and cooked prawns dropped in at the end. About 25 g in a small bowl.
Miso paste stirred into any broth or stew at the end
A spoon of white miso into a chicken soup or a lentil stew off the heat. It adds savoury depth that helps a flattened palate finish the bowl.
What to eat it with
Silken tofu, an egg, prawns, salmon, noodles, spring onion, ginger. Miso is the flavour and the warmth; the protein is whatever goes into the bowl.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miso soup | about 2 g | 25 kcal | this page |
| Bone broth | about 4 g | 15 kcal | See the page |
| Silken tofu | about 6 g | 60 kcal | See the page |
| Seaweed (nori) | about 30 g | 250 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, made up with tofu, per 100 ml, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Miso soup in all three countries, sold as instant sachets in supermarkets and Asian grocers, and made from miso paste, which keeps for months in the fridge. White or shiro miso is mild and sweet, red or aka miso is stronger and saltier. Dashi, the stock base, often contains fish, which matters for vegetarians.
Questions people ask
Is miso soup good for you on a GLP-1?
As a warm, salty, sipped start to a difficult day, yes; as a protein source, no, since a plain bowl is about 5 g. Stir in silken tofu and an egg and it becomes a 15 g meal in a mug. It is high in salt, so one bowl a day is plenty.
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.