Can GLP-1s Miss the Mark?

Yes, they offer a quick weight loss win, but what challenges do they bring to the table?

I have done a deep dive study into peptides (GLP1’s) with a well versed naturopath (and I am still studying them!)

I’ve also used them myself. I micro-dosed them. And…I like them. I think they can have amazing benefits.

Benefits of GLP-1s

Here’s what I like…

• They can be transformational with inflammation.
• They can be supportive for autoimmune conditions.
• They can support our metabolic health by balancing glucose, blood sugar and insulin preventing the further blood sugar -> Type 2 diabetes spiral.
• They also do an amazing job of quieting food noise.
• And…we are just on the cusp of understanding how they can be helpful for addictive substances.

But… they can miss the mark! 

And this is not meant to be shade… instead it’s meant to open a conversation I don’t think we are having around GLP-1’s 
(GLP-1s are Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or their compounded counter parts). 

How can GLP-1s miss the mark?

• They can cause us to be undernourished. Yes – They can give you a quick win with weight loss… which I deeply understand is a relief… But, a big part of this quick and fast win, is that GLP1’s curb the appetite so much… that you eat much, much less. Often 1 or 2 meals less. So rather than being in a slight nutrient deficiency, which helps you to lose weight in a slow, sustainable way… The GLP-1s most common dosing, puts you in a deep deficiency. Which can cause you to be under nourished, and not get the protein or nutrients you need on a daily basis. This can also mean that when you go off the GLP1 the weight easily comes back on. Our whole body needs optimal nourishment to support all of our tissues and organs. To lose weight and support your body, a slight nutrient deficiency supports our body and brain best.
   
• Eating much less means… you don’t get enough protein to support muscle protein synthesis (muscle repair and building), support your metabolism and blood sugar balance, your bones, your brain and the hormone fluctuations you go through in life. And…you need protein even more as your hormones decline. 
   
• GLP-1s can contribute to muscle wasting…I am saying this very carefully (notice I did not say cause). Contrary to popular belief, they are not the cause of muscle wasting… weight loss can be the cause of muscle wasting… IF we are not strength training and eating enough protein to support our muscles at the same time. So strength training and getting optimal protein – about 30-40 grams per meal can help to prevent muscle wasting.
   
• GLP1’s don’t cancel out poor eating habits. You can’t eat junk food, candy and all the sugar (I recently heard of someone doing this) and expect that the GLP1’s are working for you and the long term health of your body. GLP-1s are not the miracle invitation to eat junk. You have to shift eating and lifestyle habits for peptides to work and for you now and to be able to come off of them down the road. Remember sugar and junk food is addictive. However, eating more protein really helps to kick those habits. As does supportive complex carbohydrates and a little good fat. So plan each meal to have about 30-40 grams of animal protein (the main part of your meal) and a complement of a little good fat and some veg like leafy greens.
   
• GLP-1s don’t address hormone imbalances or declining hormones. Hormone imbalances and declining hormones can often contribute to weight gain. Once estrogen drops, it is much harder to balance our blood sugar, and keep our metabolic health in check. Estrogen is a metabolic buffer. Think of it like the oars in a boat. Without the oars, the boat has a hard time steering, moving and can get listless. Estrogen supports the direction of our metabolic health.
  
• GLP-1s don’t address your gut health. GLP-1s don’t fix the gut. I have yet to have a client that has optimal gut health… and frankly gut health can be the cause of poor sleep, hormone imbalance, weight gain, brain fog and more. Addressing gut health is a really important part of shifting uncomfortable and damaging symptoms. Our modern life with antibiotics, the birth control bill, sugar, food chemicals, stress, etc. all can be hard on our gut health and leave the gut in a state of dysbiosis. Repair can happen though, you just have to know what you are dealing with. And the only way to do this is to test. See the testing section below.
  
• GLP-1s may not address underlying conditions or root causes for weight gain and imbalance. This is why testing to look at the full body is also an important picture. This sets you up to fully understand what may be at play. If the thyroid is not functioning optimally, but you don’t know, the GLP-1 is not going to address a low functioning thyroid, which can affect weight gain deeply. (And…little known nor discussed fact… as hormones decline, our thyroid may not work as optimally. it may need additional support). So testing to look at your baseline to get started is important. See the testing section below
   
• There isn’t a good GLP-1 exit strategy… And… this is a big challenge with them!  Meaning, once you lose the weight and want to go off GLP-1’s you can really easily add weight back when you haven’t addressed the above underlying issues. This is often because the any one of the above items, or a combination of the issues above have not been addressed.

I know… this is a lot to think about. And it can be overwhelming!

To prevent the overwhelm, I recommend finding someone that can support you, like a Functional Hormone Health Coach like myself. When women work with a practitioner and are in community, they are exponentially more successful with life changes than trying to muscle through on their own. So definitely consider that.

In the mean time, let’s put the above list of how GLP-1s can miss the mark into a check list of things you can do to support your health and make peptides successful for you if you choose to use them.

And, if you decide not to do peptides, these steps are an excellent guide for our fertility, hormone balance, navigating perimenopause, menopause and beyond, as well as your longevity. At any stage of life you can use these tips to optimize your health.

Start with this “Peptide Success” list:

1. Be sure you are getting enough nourishment and protein with each meal. About 30-40 grams of protein per meal, or about 80-100 grams per day over 3 meals. Starting the day with 30-40 grams of protein, will set you up for a really grounded day and grounded blood sugar. With each meal, make protein the center of the meal, and complement it with a little good fat, and then complex carbs like sweet potato, leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, polyphenols, and berries.
   
2. Add in strength training. Your goal is to lift heavy, about 4-6 reps 2-3 times. However, this isn’t your starting point. Work up to this place over weeks or months. Take your time, so you can accomplish proper form and build strength. And don’t hesitate to work with a trainer too. It’s definitely worth the investment.
   
3. Kick out sugar – I know this is a tough one, but if you start with number 1 (above), then it will get much easier to do so. So get in that protein, good fat and complex carb… and that will help you kick the sugar habit. Also, stop buying the sugary items that are not serving you. And if you really want something… add in a good dark chocolate – I like the HU brand. Blend berries with coconut milk. Or a little nut butter and chocolate chips will often do the trick. The idea is to crowd out the super sugary options and retrain the taste buds to seek less addictive versions.
   
4. Test don’t guess – Starting with a testing baseline will support the full picture for you and give you a baseline to work with so you know if GLP-1s will help move the needle.
   
   • Test your sex hormones – Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Make sure you are testing on the correct day of your cycle. Day 20 or 21. And make sure you have a practitioner that can interpret the results as well. Test either with the DUTCH urine test (you can read more about the DUTCH test here), or use blood serum. Avoid the saliva test for this test, as it’s not very accurate for sex hormones.
     
   • Test your FSH – This is an important test to help us look at ovarian function. This is a blood test that can be ordered by your practitioner.
     • If you are in your fertilie years, and or trying to get pregnant, under 10 is ideal for fertility.
     • If you suspect you may be in perimenopause… FSH can help you determine what stage. Over 25 would be perimenopause (not supported by HRT).
     • If you are beyond menopause, this is also a good test to look at how HRT is working for you. Studies show an FSH of around 5 gives us the best protection for our bone health. If your practitioner is not testing your FSH while you are on HRT, this is a red flag.
       
   • Test your Stress Hormones – I like the DUTCH Stress Test for this. It is a dried urine test, and will give you a picture of your free cortisol, your back up cortisol, as well as your cortisol daily pattern. It will also show you if your cortisol is working for you or against you and needs some repair work.
     
   • Test with a full Thyroid panel – A low thyroid can deeply affect our ability to maintain our weight. It can also cause use to gain weight. A full Thyroid panel is needed to rule this out as a potential cause of weight gain. But make sure you are getting. a full panel, often times practitioners only test one or two things… but this is not enough. That’s like going to buy a new house and only looking at one or two rooms in the house vs. looking at the whole house. You just wouldn’t want to do that! So to get the full picture, you want to ask your practitioner for the following blood tests:
     (Oh… and if your practitioner won’t do these tests, find a new practitioner!)
     • TSH
     • Free T3
     • Free T4
     • Reverse T3
     • Thyroid peroxidase antibodies – TPOAb
     • Thyroid Antithyroglobulin Antibody – TgAB
       
   • Test your metabolic health – Insulin, A1C, glucose leptin, along with a full BMP will give the picture of whether or not your blood sugar and metabolic health is working for you or against you. This will also give you a baseline to see what you’re working with and what you can improve while on a GLP-1. These are blood tests you can ask your provider for.
     
   • Test your Vitamin D3 levels – if your Vitamin D3 is in the tank it can affect every function in the body. Make sure your
     levels are in the 60-80 range to optimize the health of your whole system, your energy levels and your immune system. This is a blood test you can ask your practitioner for.
     
   • Test your gut with a GI-Map Test – This is a gut health test that looks at parasites, pathogens, H.pylori, your microbiome, your immune system, how you are processing gluten and if your gut is working for you or against you. Unfortunately, so far everyone that I have seen has a gut that is working against them… Gut health imbalance can affect our hormone balance, sleep, weight gain or ability to keep our weight stable, balance of our blood sugar, and more! You can absolutely swing this back into working for you though! Testing with a well informed practitioner that can help guide you on how to optimize your gut is key! This is typically done with a specialty provider like myself.

So there is a good wrap up list to get you started. You can save money on testing by having your regular practitioner order this with insurance, but some of this testing will be out of pocket. I always like to remind my clients that our health care system is not based on preventative care, it’s based on reactionary care. Knowing this can help you frame the investment you may need to make in your health from a proactive standpoint.

Get support and create success with GLP1’s

It takes time, effort and support to create new habits like those in the success list. I know a list like this can feel overwhelming when considering doing it all on your own. This is where a supportive practitioner like myself comes in.

Support when you are looking to make long term changes is paramount. Long term changes + support are what make peptides successful. As we learned above, peptides don’t cancel out junk food and sugar, hormone imbalance, gut health issues or stress.

Support with long term change creates exponentially more success, than when we struggle on our own. Why is that? Support = connection… with connection we boost confidence, motivation, courage, and even joy! Human connection is everything!

AI can write you somewhat of a plan, but it can’t supply the consistency and human connection we all need to make deep change. The beauty of support, is that it helps you create the healthiest vessel for you no matter what your goals are.

Here’s how I help my clients that also want to use peptides / GLP1’s…

• Do the above testing to see what may be underlying issues
• Shift your nutrition to work for you
• Support you in balancing your metabolic health
• Increase your energy levels
• Clear the brain fog
• Optimize your hormone health
• Optimize your sleep
• Recover your gut health
• Help you to shed unwanted pounds

Ready to get started?  Click below, and find out more about a Root2Rise session, and let the healing begin!
As always if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

 

**The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice from a qualified physician or other licensed healthcare provider. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, symptoms, or treatment options. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of information you have read here. If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, contact your doctor or emergency services immediately.