Nuts, seeds and grains
Oats on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 13 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), rolled oats, dry, for around 375 calories. Half a cup, dry, about 40 g (1.4 oz), gives roughly 5 g of protein for 150 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from oats alone you would need about 231 g (8.1 oz). On a small appetite that is often more than one sitting allows, which is why we pair it rather than chase the whole target from one food.
How oats sits on a GLP-1
Rolled oats are about 13 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz) dry, but nobody eats 100 g of oats; half a cup, 40 g (1.4 oz), makes a bowl of porridge and carries 5 g. Porridge is warm, soft, bland and easy, and on a GLP-1 it is one of the breakfasts that still goes down in the first days after a dose step. It is also filling out of proportion to its protein, because oats swell, so the bowl needs to be small and the protein needs to come from what you cook it in.
When your appetite is small
Make a small bowl on milk, not water, and stir a scoop of whey or two tablespoons of skim milk powder through it off the heat. A third of a cup of oats, 30 g (1 oz), cooked in 200 ml (7 fl oz) of milk with a scoop of whey is about 33 g of protein in a bowl that looks like a child's serve. Nobody needs the bowl to be bigger.
Three ways to prepare it
A small bowl on milk with whey stirred through
Oats and milk in the microwave for two minutes, then a scoop of whey stirred in once it has stopped bubbling. Vanilla whey makes it taste like dessert.
Overnight oats on Greek yoghurt and milk
Oats, Greek yoghurt, milk and a spoon of milk powder in a jar overnight. Cold and soft in the morning, about 20 g, and no cooking.
Savoury oats with an egg and cheese
Oats cooked in stock with a poached egg and grated parmesan on top. Warm, soft and savoury, about 18 g, for someone who cannot face sweet food in the morning.
What to eat it with
Milk, whey, Greek yoghurt, milk powder, an egg, nut butter, hemp seeds. Oats made on water with fruit is a bowl of about 5 g that fills you until lunch, which is the trap.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oats | about 13 g | 375 kcal | this page |
| Protein oats | about 20 g | 370 kcal | See the page |
| Milk | about 3.5 g | 64 kcal | See the page |
| Wholemeal bread | about 9 g | 250 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, rolled oats, dry, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Rolled oats in Australia, porridge oats in the UK, old fashioned oats in the US, where porridge itself is called oatmeal. Quick oats are rolled thinner and cook faster with the same protein; steel cut oats in the US are pinhead oats in the UK and take longer but are otherwise similar.
Questions people ask
How much protein is in a bowl of porridge?
About 5 g from half a cup of oats. Made on 250 ml (8.5 fl oz) of milk that becomes about 14 g, and with a scoop of whey stirred through it is 35 g or more. The oats are the smallest part of the number, which is why what you cook them in matters.
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.