Powders, shakes and convenience
Whey concentrate on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 78 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), powder, dry, representative value, for around 400 calories. One scoop, about 30 g (1.1 oz), gives roughly 23 g of protein for 120 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from whey concentrate alone you would need about 38 g (1.3 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 whey concentrate sits on a GLP-1
Whey protein concentrate is the standard, cheaper whey: about 78 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), so a 30 g (1 oz) scoop is about 23 g, with a little more fat and lactose than isolate and a creamier taste for it. It is what most tubs labelled whey protein contain. On a GLP-1 it does almost everything isolate does; the difference shows up only if lactose sits badly with you, which for some people it does more once the stomach has slowed.
When your appetite is small
One scoop in 250 ml (8.5 fl oz) of milk is about 32 g and drinks like a milkshake, which on a bad morning may be the whole of breakfast and is enough. If milk on top of whey feels heavy, make it on water and it drops to about 23 g and feels far lighter. Buy a plain vanilla or chocolate; the exotic flavours are the ones that end up half used in the cupboard.
Three ways to prepare it
A milkshake on milk with a banana
Milk, one scoop, half a banana, ice. About 35 g, and it tastes like something you would choose rather than something you have to have.
Iced coffee with a scoop of vanilla whey
Cold milk, a shot of coffee, a scoop of vanilla whey, shaken. Breakfast and coffee in one glass at about 32 g.
Baked into a small batch of protein muffins
Oats, whey, an egg, yoghurt and a mashed banana make six small muffins at about 10 g each. A shake you can keep in your bag.
What to eat it with
Milk, banana, berries, coffee, oats, peanut butter. Whey is complete on its own; everything you add is about taste and about making the glass feel like a meal.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whey concentrate | about 78 g | 400 kcal | this page |
| Whey isolate | about 90 g | 370 kcal | See the page |
| Casein | about 80 g | 360 kcal | See the page |
| Milk | about 3.5 g | 64 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, powder, dry, representative value, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Whey protein concentrate or WPC in all three countries, and most tubs labelled simply whey protein. MyProtein Impact Whey in the UK, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard in the US, which is a blend, and Bulk Nutrients WPC in Australia are typical. Protein per scoop ranges from about 20 to 25 g by brand; the figures here are representative.
Questions people ask
How much whey is enough in one shake?
One scoop, about 23 g from concentrate, is the amount a single sitting uses well; a second scoop in the same shake adds calories and volume more than it adds muscle. Two shakes at different times of day does more than one double shake.
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.