Your Body's Ability to Produce GLP-1 and Methods to Enhance Its Ability
Ozempic. Tirzepatide. Semagultide. Dulaglutide. Wegovy. These are all essentially trade names for the same product—glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. You probably can’t stream a tv show or scroll through social media without coming across ads for these weight-loss products; we live in a day and age where everyone is crazy focused on finding the wonder-drug to lose weight. I will say also that these products were originally formulated to aid people who have Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by helping their pancreas generate more insulin to help reduce their blood sugar levels, and somewhere along the way it was noted that people taking these drugs were losing a decent amount of weight in the process. As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I would be remiss if I did not see the value in these medications as a tool for weight loss; they are absolutely not the be-all-end-all as people who utilize them should also be educated on lifestyle changes to implement alongside these medications, but they are absolutely a product with value especially to those who have exhausted all other avenues to lose weight and obtain better health outcomes as a result.
What if I told you that this “wonder-drug” was already something that your body produced on its own, naturally? You would say that is too good to be true, right? WRONG. Let’s take a deep dive into endogenous GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) production and what it actually does for your body, shall we? For starters we need to cover a little bit of the science that happens when we eat.
Understanding How Digestion/Metabolism Hormones Work
When we eat a meal, a variety of hormones are released into the blood including hormones that help you feel full and hormones that help your body convert food to energy. Insulin is one of those hormones which is secreted by the pancreas which alerts cells to the fact that sugars are present to help them open up and convert sugars from food to energy known as glucose (when there is excess energy it is stored in your body as glycogen); when insulin is present it also helps the brain to realize that we are eating, and thus getting full. On the flip-side, when you are hungry and your blood sugar is low, your pancreas will release a hormone known as glucagon which will breakdown glycogen stored in the liver in to glucose which can readily be used for energy in the body. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is another hormone involved in the process after we eat which enhances insulin secretion, especially when blood glucose levels are higher. GLP-1 prevents the release of glucagon from the pancreas, which helps further reduce blood sugar. GLP-1 also has the ability to slow gastric emptying (aka prevents trips to the bathroom), which helps promote feelings of fullness; in the same vein, it also helps to promote satiety and reduce appetite.
How to Improve Your Body's GLP-1 Production Naturally
This all sounds great, right? And your body naturally produces this hormone to boot! But how exactly do we get our bodies to make more of this wonderful hormone? The answer includes some of my favorite recommendations as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist—increasing dietary fiber intake, increasing protein intake, managing stress, and getting adequate sleep.
First off, increasing dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is high-key a wellness powerhouse (that’s why all kinds of supplements with fiber are all over the market these days!). For those who don’t know, dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate found in a variety of plant foods which our bodies simply cannot digest. Dietary fiber affects how quickly food is digested, how nutrients are absorbed, and how food waste moved through our intestines and can make bowel movements soft and bulky for pleasant trips to the bathroom. Dietary fiber also feeds the healthy bacteria which reside in our intestines and help keep our digestive health good and sound; one type of healthy bacteria found in the gut is called akkermansia muciniphilia and dietary fiber sources help these bacteria to thrive. Some of the best sources of dietary fiber for increasing the presence of akkermansia muciniphilia in the gut include: raw green bananas, onions, garlic, raw asparagus, jicama, chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, leeks, cold cooked potatoes, dandelion root, berries, and flax. Increasing protein intake can also help promote the production of GLP-1 in the body by increasing the level of butyrate in the body; some good protein sources of butyrate include fatty fish such as salmon, hard cheeses, and full-fat yogurt. Other sources of butyrate include fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut. Poor sleep can actually also decrease the amount of butyrate in the body, so improving sleep hygiene is recommended to increase GLP-1 production in the body.
Stress management is recommended to increase production of GLP-1 production in the body because when we are stressed, our adrenal glands release a hormone known as cortisol (AKA the fight-or-flight hormone). Cortisol temporarily slows down many bodily functions, including digestion. Most important to this discussion—cortisol can disrupt insulin signaling and inhibit insulin secretion, which can lead to a reduction in GLP-1 production. Managing stress helps to alleviate the burden of excess cortisol from the body and thus improve the body’s natural production of GLP-1. Some ideas for stress management include: engaging in meditation, trying guided-breathing, journaling, or taking a walk.
Ozempic? Who needs it when you can make your own right in your own body as easy as: increasing dietary fiber, increasing protein, improving sleep, and working on stress management.
