We’ve all been hearing about the Ozempic class of medications – the GLP-1 (Glucon-Like Peptide-1) receptor medications that control diabetes and help weight loss (and much more!). But did you know your body produces this hormone when you eat?
So, what if we could increase our own production instead of taking it by injection? Would it help improve our health?
GLP-1 helps control blood sugar by increasing insulin release from the pancreas and by blocking release of glucagon (a hormone that raises blood sugar) from the liver. It helps weight loss by delaying stomach emptying, making you feel full longer, and by decreasing appetite, leading to eating less.
Certain foods trigger the release of your own GLP-1 hormone. These include protein (meat, fish, beans, eggs, nuts and seeds), healthy fats (like olive oil, avocados, fatty fish, and [again] nuts, and seeds), fiber (whole grains, legumes [beans, lentils, dried peas], vegetables, fruits and [again!] seeds like chia and flax, probiotics and fermented foods [yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchi] and [for dessert!] dark chocolate, at least 70% cacao, one ounce [28gm] per day).
Your body likes to produce GLP-1 during the day, so eating these foods during daylight hours, ideally within a 12-hour window and not within 2 hours of bedtime, gives best results. Eating the GLP-1 stimulating foods first, before carbohydrates, is most effective. Consuming your food slowly in a relaxed setting also helps produce this beneficial hormone.
Chronic stress and poor sleep impair GLP-1 production, while exercise helps improve it. Wait a minute… these are all activities and foods that we know are healthy for us. It seems that one of the ways “healthy” foods and activities exert their health benefits is by improving our natural GLP-1 production!
Health benefits from GLP-1 receptor medications are now known to include reduced risk of heart disease as well as diabetes and possibly a longer life span! Switching out some processed foods for ones that stimulate production of this beneficial hormone just makes a whole lot of sense. Nuts as a snack is an easy way to start!
However, using the medication form of GLP-1 (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and others) provides a much higher amount of the hormone than the body can produce so, while producing more of our own is good for our health, using the medication form will produce more dramatic results. However, the higher medical dose will also have a greater chance of side effects, such as nausea and fatigue.
And it’s recommended to make lifestyle and diet changes along with using the medication when your doctor agrees it will benefit your health, so these improvements are something we all should be thinking about, medication or not!
NOTE: The image above is a painting (by me!) of a barn in the Memramcook area, just south of Moncton. Admiring (and doing) art is one of the best de-stressing activities I know of, and local farms are one of the best sources of healthy foods! Here’s to your health!!
For more art (and stress reduction!), click on “Art Portfolio” in the menu at the top of the page…
