Salmon & Other Oily Fish

Salmon is the most nutritionally strategic protein on this list, and the reason is the Harvard Health finding that GLP-1 users develop measurable nutrient deficiencies within a year — vitamin D deficiency in 13.6% of them. A 100-gram (3.5 oz) serving of cooked salmon supplies roughly 20–25 grams of high-quality protein and more than 70% of your daily vitamin D, plus the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA that you simply cannot get from chicken or yogurt. Those omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and support heart and brain health at a time when your overall food intake — and therefore your nutrient intake — has shrunk. Salmon is naturally higher in fat than poultry, which sounds like a problem on a fat-sensitive medication, but these are largely the healthy unsaturated fats that digest more comfortably than the saturated fat in fatty meat, and they add a satisfying richness that helps a small portion feel like a real meal. The key, as with everything on a GLP-1, is preparation: baked, poached, or pan-seared salmon is gentle, while breaded and fried fish reintroduces exactly the heavy, greasy quality you are trying to avoid. Canned salmon and water-packed tuna are budget-friendly, no-cook alternatives that keep the protein and convenience while trimming cost — though canned light tuna carries far less vitamin D than salmon, so if the vitamin D and omega-3s are your goal, canned salmon is the smarter value swap. Compared with lean poultry, salmon trades a little protein density for a major micronutrient upgrade; compared with plant proteins, it offers complete protein and omega-3s that legumes can’t match. A modest fillet two or three times a week is one of the highest-value habits a GLP-1 user can build.