GLP-1s
Why I am not dancing around about them. Here's the naked truth.
We are all being deluged with some crazy information about GLP-1s everywhere we turn. It’s impossible to browse the web, watch TV, listen to the radio or pick up a magazine in your physician’s office without being bombarded by all kinds of ads for GLP-1 injections or oral semaglutide pills for both diabetes management and weight-loss.
With obesity and related chronic diseases on the rise worldwide, GLP-1 receptor agonists (used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity) – namely Eli Lilly’s Zepbound® and Mounjaro®, and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy® and Ozempic® – are being hailed as potentially transformative solutions.
The ads are very convincing with testimonials from consumers and endorsements from doctors, scientists, etc.
And the commercials are convincing with everyone dancing and singing around their new bodies and how they found success with these injections (while all the small print with legal jargon fills the bottom of the TV screen).
And, of course, celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Oprah Winfrey and others add to all the hype, and let’s not forget the recent Oscar’s where it was joked by the host that Ozempic had its own seat there.
How the GLP-1 Protocol Works
Full Disclosure: I am NOT against the GLP-1 Protocol for the clinically obese and diabetics who need it. I am vehemently against the blitz marketing campaigns targeted toward consumers who just want to lose a few pounds the “easy way.” It is pure profiteering with total disregard for side effects, risks and potential death.
Some don’t even hide the fact that they don’t offer lifestyle coaching or education, because ‘you just need to take the shots’.
Plus, there are literally hundreds of “compounded” versions of these drugs (“off brand”) with the same ingredients that can be purchased online and self-injected. Eli Lilly, Amazon and many others like Ro, Hims and Juniper are also all building out their online order filling capacity as fast as they can.
Earlier this year, even the American Heart and Stroke Association signed off to include GLP-1s on their list of items they suggest to include for stroke prevention. Much more on this in another post!
100% virtual offerings with convenient direct to the user with prescribing physicians standing by online to make it all legal.
How GLP-1s work
I’ll keep this really simple. GLP-1s basically slow the stomach from emptying. In some cases, it can literally paralyze the stomach causing severe side effects. Watch this video
Thus, nutrients that would normally be broken down and distributed throughout the body are not entering the digestive tract as they naturally would (this is why people feel “full” and often nauseous). I posted about this in a note here on Substack.
This combination of slowed digestion and non-distribution of nutrients is also the cause of “muscle wasting”.
As a PT, there’s a lot more detail to this part on loss of lean muscle mass, but that’s for a different day post. I did previously mention how all these pills are playing out on our declining mobility here.
What’s Missing?
Who’s really helping GLP-1 patients with a “GLP-1 Lifestyle plan” to help offset these side effects through proper exercise and nutrition?
Everything is Affected, Forever??
Here’s the other point that concerns me, in this case, there doesn’t seem to be knowledge if using GLP-1s includes a pathway to wean people OFF the GLP-1 injections. It appears it is a lifelong protocol as far as most of the data is showing and for those that have tried to come off there are many reports the weight returns and fast!
One way to help GLP-1 patients is to help them UNDERSTAND how EVERYTHING in their bodies including bones, muscles, organs, blood….right down to the cellular level — are synergistically CONNECTED and need to be fed and nourished daily with all the key vital nutrients, many of which are not getting there on GLP-1s.
Let’s Follow the Logic…
So, if food cannot leave the stomach and enter the digestive tract, it makes sense that nutrients are NOT entering the bloodstream for distribution to those aforementioned bones, muscles organs, etc.
And, following that same stream of logic, it makes sense that all kinds of bodily functions become compromised. Some, more than others.
I can guarantee that most clients have no idea how their bodies actually function — much less how these bodily functions all work synergistically and how this is impeded on GLP-1s.
What can possibly go wrong with this fast track approach to weight loss?
The naked truth will reveal itself in due time. In my next post I’ll help explain why GLP-1s should not be the only answer as drug lobbyists work their magic to get them covered for all. Plus, bottom line- why we simply can’t afford them.
We Need to Try a Different Approach to Achieve Balance!
