Powders, shakes and convenience
Protein water on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 4 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), typical bottle, per 100 ml, for around 15 calories. One bottle, about 500 g (17.6 oz), gives roughly 20 g of protein for 75 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from protein water alone you would need about 750 g (26.5 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 protein water sits on a GLP-1
Protein water is whey isolate or collagen dissolved in clear flavoured water, about 15 to 20 g of protein in a 500 ml (17 fl oz) bottle with almost no calories, no dairy taste and no thickness. On a GLP-1 that thinness is the whole appeal: on the days when a milky shake is too rich and a bar is too heavy, a cold bottle of something that tastes like cordial can be sipped through a morning. The one thing to check is what the protein is, because collagen protein water does little for muscle.
When your appetite is small
Read the back of the bottle. If it says whey protein isolate or milk protein, it counts in full and a bottle is about 20 g. If it says collagen or hydrolysed collagen, treat it as flavoured water with a bonus. Keep two cold, and sip one over the morning on injection day, when most people we coach find solid protein hardest.
Three ways to prepare it
Sipped cold over an hour or two
The method. A bottle at the desk, sipped, is about 20 g by lunchtime without a single decision.
Poured over ice with a squeeze of lime
A protein water in a glass with ice and lime is more appealing than the bottle, and the citrus helps when everything tastes faintly metallic.
As the liquid in a fruit smoothie
Protein water blended with frozen berries and half a banana. A thin, fruity 22 g shake without any dairy.
What to eat it with
Nothing needed. A bottle alongside a small solid snack, a boiled egg or a cheese stick, makes a 27 g stop out of two things you can carry.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein water | about 4 g | 15 kcal | this page |
| Ready-to-drink shake | about 8 g | 55 kcal | See the page |
| Whey isolate | about 90 g | 370 kcal | See the page |
| Collagen | about 90 g | 360 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, typical bottle, per 100 ml, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Protein water in all three countries. Protein Water Co and Bodie'z in Australia, Vieve in the UK, Protein2o and Premier Protein Clear in the US. Protein per bottle ranges from about 10 to 20 g, and the source varies between whey isolate and collagen, so the figures here are a representative value for a whey based bottle.
Questions people ask
Does protein water count towards my protein target?
If the protein is whey isolate or milk protein, yes, in full: about 15 to 20 g a bottle. If it is collagen, no, because collagen lacks the amino acids that drive muscle repair. The ingredient list settles it in five seconds.
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.