GLP-1 Food List: What to Eat More Of, and What to Go Easy On

Short answer: a GLP-1 food list is mostly ordinary groceries sorted by the job they do on a small plate. Protein foods come first: eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, fish, chicken, tofu and beans. Then fruit and vegetables, a modest portion of whole grains, a little fat, and fluids. A 2025 joint advisory from four US medical and nutrition societies names those foods to emphasize and lists refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks, red and processed meat, fried and fast food and alcohol as the ones to limit.^[1] No food is banned.

New to eating less? Start with what to eat when you're eating less, the guide the rest of Lighter Days builds on.

This page is the list itself, aisle by aisle, with the protein or fiber each food carries in the portion a small appetite can actually finish. It does not repeat the pages around it. How to put a plate together is in what to eat on a GLP-1; why some foods sit badly, and what to do about it, is in foods to avoid on a GLP-1; a full week of small meals, with a shopping list, is our seven-day diet plan, which works the same way on any GLP-1 medication.

General information, not medical advice. If you have kidney disease, diabetes treated with insulin, heart failure, a food allergy or a history of an eating disorder, ask your prescriber or a registered dietitian before changing what you eat.

What is on the GLP-1 food list?

Food group	Eat more often	Go easy on	Why it matters on a small plate
Protein	Eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, fish and shellfish, chicken and turkey breast, tofu, edamame	Bacon, sausage, deli meats, red meat in large portions, anything fried	The advisory mentions 80 to 120 g of protein a day as one practical target[1]
Beans, nuts, seeds	Lentils, black and pinto beans, chickpeas, hummus; nuts, seeds and peanut butter in small amounts	Big portions in the first days after a dose change	Half a cup of lentils has 8.9 g of protein and 7.8 g of fiber[2]
Vegetables	Carrots, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, sweet potato, potato with skin; cooked is often easier	Fries and fried vegetables	Fiber, potassium and vitamin C in little space
Fruit	Berries, pears, apples, oranges, bananas, melon, avocado; frozen counts	Fruit in syrup and sweetened fruit snacks	A cup of raspberries has 8.0 g of fiber[2]
Grains	Oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat bread, corn tortillas, quinoa	White bread, pastries, sweetened cereal	Refined carbohydrates and added sugars are on the advisory's limit list[1]
Dairy	Milk, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, fortified soy milk; cheese in small amounts	Ice cream, milkshakes	A cup of 1% milk has 8.2 g of protein[2]
Drinks	Water, milk, broth, tea, coffee with food	Sugar-sweetened drinks, alcohol, fizzy drinks if they sit badly	About a fifth of daily water normally comes from food[3]

Adapted from Table 6 of the joint advisory and its section on foods that are harder to tolerate,^[1] with food values from USDA FoodData Central.^[2] "Go easy" items fall into two groups: foods the advisory suggests limiting for nutrition, and foods that are fine in themselves but more likely to be uncomfortable while the stomach empties more slowly.

Which protein foods should be on a GLP-1 food list?

Protein goes on the list first because it is the part of the plate most likely to be left behind. People on GLP-1 therapy eat 16% to 39% fewer calories, according to the advisory,^[1] so protein has to arrive in small, dense portions. These are the best performers in portions sized for a small appetite:^[2]

Food	Portion	Protein
Chicken breast, roasted	2 oz	17.6 g
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	6 oz container	17.3 g
Turkey breast, roasted	2 oz	17.1 g
Tilapia, cooked	2 oz	14.8 g
Salmon, pink, canned	2 oz	14.0 g
Tofu, firm, calcium-set	1/4 block	14.0 g
Cod, cooked	2 oz	12.9 g
Cottage cheese, 2%	1/2 cup	11.8 g
Tuna, light, canned in water	2 oz	11.0 g
Edamame, cooked	1/2 cup	9.2 g
Lentils, cooked	1/2 cup	8.9 g
Milk, 1%	1 cup	8.2 g
Pinto beans, cooked	1/2 cup	7.7 g
Egg, hard-boiled	1 large	6.3 g

Two ounces is two-thirds of the usual 3 oz serving, a size that is easier to finish. Spread over four eating times, the advisory's 80 to 120 g a day is about 20 to 30 g each, so most meals need two of these, or a bigger portion of one. Your own figure depends on your body; it is worked through in how much protein on a GLP-1, and the protein calculator splits it into meals. The longer table is our reference page, protein in small portions.

Which fruits and vegetables are best on a GLP-1?

The ones you will actually eat, in small amounts, every day. Fruit and vegetables bring fiber, potassium and vitamin C, and fiber is the nutrient a smaller plate loses fastest. The adult Adequate Intake is 25 g a day for women and 38 g for men up to age 50, and 21 g and 30 g from 51;^[4] the Daily Value on food labels is 28 g.^[5] These carry the most per serving:^[2]

• Raspberries: 8.0 g of fiber a cup. Frozen are just as good and keep for weeks.
• Avocado: 6.7 g in half an avocado. A quarter on toast adds fiber and a little fat at once.
• Pear: 5.5 g in a medium pear. An apple with its skin has 4.4 g.
• Sweet potato: 3.8 g in a medium baked one, the same as a baked potato with its skin.
• Broccoli, carrots, spinach: 2.2 to 2.6 g per half cup cooked, for very few calories.

Cooked vegetables are often easier than a big raw salad, and soft fruit easier than tough skins. If you are starting from little fiber, add one of these every few days with a glass of water: the advisory recommends fluids and fiber from foods, increased gradually.^[1] The method is in how much fiber on a GLP-1.

Which grains and starches belong on the list?

Whole grains in small portions. The advisory encourages whole grains and puts refined carbohydrates and added sugars on the limit list.^[1] In practice that means oatmeal rather than sweetened cereal, brown rice or corn tortillas rather than white bread, and half a cup rather than a full plate. A cup of cooked oatmeal has 4.0 g of fiber and a slice of whole-wheat bread 1.9 g.^[2] On an unsettled day, plain toast, rice or saltines are reasonable stand-ins; the gentler options for those days are in eating on queasy days.

Which beans, nuts and seeds are worth keeping?

Beans and lentils do two jobs in one spoonful: half a cup of lentils has 8.9 g of protein and 7.8 g of fiber, pinto beans 7.7 g of each and black beans 7.6 g and 7.5 g.^[2] Chia seeds have 9.8 g of fiber an ounce.^[2] Nuts and peanut butter are dense, which helps when appetite is small, but most of their calories come from fat, so keep them to a tablespoon or a small handful. The advisory suggests going easy on fatty and high-fiber foods in the first days after starting or raising a dose,^[1] so this is the group to cut back for a few days and then bring back.

What should you drink on a GLP-1?

Mostly water, plus drinks that carry something. There is no GLP-1-specific number; the National Academies' reference intake for healthy adults is about 9 cups of fluid from drinks a day for women and 13 for men.^[3] Eating less matters here because about a fifth of the water people take in normally comes from food.^[3]

• Milk and fortified soy milk add protein: about 8 g and 6 g a cup.^[2]
• Broth and soup add fluid and sodium.
• Coffee and tea count toward the day's fluid like any other drink.^[3]
• Go easy on sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol, which the advisory lists to limit, and on fizzy drinks if they leave you bloated.^[1]

More on fluid is in how much water to drink on a GLP-1 and the hydration calculator.

What foods should you go easy on?

The advisory's limit list is short: refined grains and added sugars, sugar-sweetened drinks, red and processed meat, fried and fast food, ultra-processed sweets and snacks, large meals, long gaps without food, and alcohol.^[1] A second, separate group is about comfort rather than nutrition: greasy or very high-fat meals and large portions, which sit longer in a stomach that already empties more slowly, and carbonation.^[1] Why those happen, and when they are worth a call to your prescriber, is the subject of foods to avoid on a GLP-1.

Which nutrients should the list cover?

When intake falls, the advisory lists iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamins A, D, E, K, B1, B12 and C as the nutrients most likely to fall short.^[1] No single food covers them; a list that rotates through every group above covers more than two or three favorites on repeat. The advisory says supplements can be considered for at-risk nutrients such as vitamin D, calcium and B12, tailored to the person,^[1] which is a conversation for your prescriber. The nutrition gap calculator shows which ones a smaller plate tends to miss.

How do you turn the food list into meals?

Pick one protein food for every eating time, add a fruit or vegetable, and keep the grain small. The advisory suggests a small breakfast and then small meals every three to four hours, rather than waiting for hunger.^[1] For ready-made versions: eight small protein-first recipes are in GLP-1 recipes, eighteen snacks with their numbers are in GLP-1 snacks, and a week of meals is the seven-day plan for a small appetite.

A printable version. We have turned this list into a free eight-page PDF, The GLP-1 Eating Plan: the food list on one page, a seven-day plan of small meals with protein and fiber totals from USDA data, a shopping list for the week, and a page of questions to take to your prescriber or dietitian. The Spanish edition has its own week built around Latino staples. It is free when you sign up for early access.

For transparency about why this page exists on our site: we make one product, Zornava Replenish, a lemon-lime daily hydration and nutrient powder for lighter appetite days, including for people on GLP-1 medications. It contains no protein and is not on the food list above; it does not replace any food on it. It is not on sale yet; early access opens February 9, 2027, and the early-access list is open now.