Vegetables and everything else
Potato on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 2 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), boiled or baked, with skin, for around 90 calories. One medium potato, about 150 g (5.3 oz), gives roughly 3 g of protein for 135 calories.
How potato sits on a GLP-1
A potato is about 2 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), so a medium one is 3 g, and it is on this page so that the mashed potato you can face on a bad day gets used properly. Potato is soft, bland, warm and comforting, and on a GLP-1 it is also filling far beyond its protein. A small amount as the base under something with protein is right; a plate of mash with a little gravy is a plate of starch that ends the meal before it started.
When your appetite is small
Make the mash carry protein. Mashed potato made with milk, a heaped tablespoon of skim milk powder and 30 g (1 oz) of grated cheese is about 12 g in a small scoop, and it goes under a piece of fish, a chicken thigh or a spoon of mince. A half sized jacket potato with a whole tin of tuna and cottage cheese on it is a 35 g meal that reads as comfort food.
Three ways to prepare it
Fortified mash with milk powder and cheese
Potato, butter, milk, milk powder and cheddar. Softer than ordinary mash and four times the protein. Freeze it in small scoops.
A small jacket potato with tuna and cottage cheese
Half a baked potato, a tin of tuna, a spoon of cottage cheese, black pepper. About 35 g and one of the most forgiving meals on a small appetite.
Cottage pie in a ramekin
Beef mince in a small dish with a thin layer of mash on top. The mince is the protein; the potato is the lid.
What to eat it with
Tuna, cottage cheese, cheese, butter, mince, an egg, fish. Potato is the bland base that makes a strong protein easy; keep it to a third of the plate.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potato | about 2 g | 90 kcal | this page |
| Sweet potato | about 2 g | 90 kcal | See the page |
| Brown rice | about 2.6 g | 120 kcal | See the page |
| Cheddar | about 25 g | 400 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, boiled or baked, with skin, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Potato in all three countries. A jacket potato in the UK is a baked potato in the US and Australia. Chips in Australia and the UK are fries in the US, where chips are crisps. Varieties differ by country but the protein does not.
Questions people ask
Is potato high in protein?
No: about 2 g per 100 g (3.5 oz), so a medium potato is 3 g. Its value on a small appetite is as a soft, warm base for tuna, cheese, mince or fish. Fortify the mash with milk powder and cheese and the base itself contributes about 12 g.
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.