Powders, shakes and convenience
Plant protein blend on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 72 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), pea and rice blend, dry, representative value, for around 380 calories. One scoop, about 35 g (1.2 oz), gives roughly 25 g of protein for 133 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from plant protein blend alone you would need about 42 g (1.5 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 plant protein blend sits on a GLP-1
A plant protein blend is usually pea and brown rice protein, sometimes with hemp or pumpkin seed, at about 72 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), so a 35 g (1.2 oz) scoop is about 25 g. Blending pea with rice fills in the amino acids each one lacks, which makes the result close to complete. It is thicker, grittier and earthier than whey, and on a GLP-1 that texture is the thing to manage: it fills a small stomach faster than it should unless it is made thin and blended rather than shaken.
When your appetite is small
Use a blender, not a shaker, and use more liquid than the tub says: one scoop in 300 ml (10 fl oz) of soy milk or water with half a frozen banana. The fruit covers the earthiness and the blender removes the grit. If a whole scoop at once is too much, split it across two smaller drinks. Unflavoured blends also go into soup, dal and porridge, which suits a savoury day.
Three ways to prepare it
Blended thin with fruit and soy milk
Scoop, soy milk, frozen mango or banana, ice. A 30 g drink that tastes of the fruit, not the powder.
Whisked into porridge made on soy milk
A scoop stirred into a small bowl of oats off the heat. About 30 g of breakfast that is not a drink.
Unflavoured, stirred into dal or soup
A scoop of unflavoured blend into a mug of red lentil dal or pumpkin soup, off the heat. Savoury and about 25 g stronger.
What to eat it with
Soy milk, banana, cocoa, peanut butter, oats, coffee. Because the blend is already balanced, the pairing is about taste and texture rather than filling an amino acid gap.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant protein blend | about 72 g | 380 kcal | this page |
| Pea protein | about 75 g | 380 kcal | See the page |
| Whey isolate | about 90 g | 370 kcal | See the page |
| Soy milk | about 3.3 g | 50 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, pea and rice blend, dry, representative value, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Plant protein, vegan protein or pea and rice protein in all three countries. Vega and Orgain are common in the US, MyProtein Vegan Blend and Form in the UK, Nuzest and Macro Mike in Australia. Scoops are larger than whey scoops, usually 30 to 40 g (1 to 1.4 oz), and protein per scoop ranges from about 20 to 30 g; the figures here are representative.
Questions people ask
Is a plant protein blend as good as whey?
A pea and rice blend gets close. It carries a little less leucine per scoop, so a slightly bigger serve evens it out. If dairy is out, a blend is the powder to use, and the difference matters far less than whether you drink it every day.
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.