GLP-1s, Friend or Foe: Part 1
Hello friends!
Over the last several weeks on our Instagram (@swaimchiropractic), I’ve been chatting with you via reels, about the difference between GLP-1 as a medication, and GLP-1 as the hormone naturally produced by your body. We’re considering what it means to support your body either for taking the medication or for the body’s natural production of GLP-1. This is going to be a two part blog: today we’ll talk primarily about GLP-1 medications, and next week we’ll look at the GLP-1 hormone that your body produces naturally.
GLP-1 medications mimic the GLP-1 hormone that the body makes. This means that the medication slows your digestion down and acts on the hunger sensor in your brain so that you feel full longer and eat less. As much as I understand the desire to speed up the weight loss process by using medications like these, let me put in a quick plug for a more natural way.
When you slow down the digestive system artificially, as GLP-1 medications do, you may cause some undesired effects. For one, you are not going to absorb the nutrients you are consuming as efficiently. It is messing with the acidity of the stomach, which, when healthy, is set at an optimal level to absorb the vitamins and minerals present in your food. Secondly, because digestion is a north to south process, you are going to also affect how the small and large intestines are functioning, absorbing, and eliminating. Lastly, any medication you take puts stress on your liver and colon for the clearing it out process. Therefore, it is wise to consider whether this additional stressor is worth it, as the world we live in already puts significant toxic stress on the liver. (These side effects I have shared are nothing compared to the “known” side effects that are reported. The issues I have listed, regarding absorption, are happening even when you have none of the “known” side effects.)
Whether you choose to naturally stimulate the production of your own GLP-1 hormone (next week’s topic!) or take a medication that produces the stronger response, you are going to need some specific nutritional support!
As I mentioned above, using a GLP-1 medication may hinder the absorption of vitamins, so the body needs support through extra nutrition. Our office uses products from Standard Process, because we know where they are sourced, and we know they are good quality. Most of the whole food ingredients in their products are grown on their farm, and if they aren’t, they have vetted the source thoroughly. I'm going to list four supplements below, with just a basic blip about what they do. If you have any other questions, I have included more detailed blog links or you may schedule a consultation to talk about them!
Calcium Lactate is good support for bones, among all the other functions that calcium performs. This product includes magnesium which is fantastic (if you want a reminder of why magnesium is so important, read here).
Trace Minerals B12 is the product that gives you all the minerals you need to fill-in the gaps, since minerals are essential cofactors for most of your metabolic processes. It also includes vitamin B12, which is super important since low stomach acid makes it hard to absorb B12. (You can read more about that here!)
Cataplex D is a great source of vitamins D and A, that comes in a form that is highly bioavailable, making it very effective. It’s important to keep fat-soluble vitamins coming into your system, since a GLP-1 medication may affect your gallbladder. The gallbladder produces bile, which helps digest fat. If you don’t absorb fat, you don’t get fat-soluble vitamins.
Whey Pro Complete is the last general recommendation, which comes in powder form. It promotes that same satisfied feeling as eating, and provides all the essential amino acids. It’s a fantastic way to make sure you are getting the nutrients and protein you need, when your hunger signals are being dulled by the medication.
Other than supplements, there are a few good things we should be doing if on medication like this. The first is to keep moving! Daily movement supports digestion, and keeps muscles and bones strong (I will particularly put in a plug for strength training here, no matter your age!). This kind of significant weight loss can be tough on bone and muscle, so it’s important to keep your body strong.
Secondly, we need to focus on taking in enough fluids, like water and herbal teas, before you actually feel thirsty. GLP-1 medications can dull the natural thirst signal your body sends, so keeping yourself from dehydration is key.
Lastly, practicing habits that bring your stress level down, such as mindful breathing (read Dr. Swaim’s thoughts on that here), and being in the grass and sunshine, is complementary to what you are trying to accomplish. You want to activate the “rest & digest” part of your nervous system, and lowering stress levels is a huge component of that. I hope you hear an echo of what we teach for almost everything here in the office: Water, sunshine, movement, breathing– simple things are always your best first bet!
I’m not going to tell you what you should or should not do as far as medication, and I am definitely not your doctor. But I would like you to consider the effect that might occur when you start messing with natural hormones and prompting biological responses that were never meant to occur by artificial means. You have other options (some of which we are going to talk about next week!) and I would absolutely love to chat with you about them during a consultation as well.
Cheers to your better health,
Abbey Jones, BS, CNC, CTWFN
(Standard Process Ordering here)
P.S. If you want to geek out with me on the biochemistry of GLP-1s for a moment, read on!
You may hear the term “GLP-1” thrown around an awful lot these days, but do you know what it’s actually referencing? GLP-1 actually stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, and it is a peptide chain hormone produced by your body. (Glucagon is a different hormone that is released when your blood sugar gets too low, which is not what we are talking about.) GLP-1 is released from cells in your small intestine, and stimulates the release of insulin into the bloodstream, effectively lowering your blood sugar. It also stimulates satiety in your brain, so you experience fullness, and slows the stomach emptying into the small intestine. This is naturally what the GLP-1 hormone does. GLP-1 medications, on the other hand, are more fully named GLP-1 receptor agonists. This means that they are synthetic versions of the GLP-1 hormone designed to make those natural responses stronger. The most common name brand ones you hear of (like Ozempic or Wegovy) are a specific class of GLP-1 receptor agonists called semaglutides. Semaglutides last much longer in your system (it takes 7 days for half of one dose to be broken down) producing a longer response. So essentially, they make you feel full for longer, and they slow gastric emptying quite significantly.
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