The initial discovery path of the Ozempic led diet revolution oddly stems from the elusive venomous Gila monster lizard. Glia monsters are venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Their venom contains exendin-4, a peptide which shares structural similarities with GLP-1 which became Ozempic.
Exendin-4 regulates Gila Monster blood sugar levels. These monsters maintain stable blood sugar levels when eating very little food. Understanding how they mange unlocked the secret of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists (also called incretin mimetics). Exendin-4 from Gila monster venom served as inspiration for the development of all GLP-1-based weight loss medications.
OBESITY’S ORIGINS AND OUR APPROACH TO WEIGHT CONTROL
Old school mantras of weight loss involves. eating clean, overeating control, and exercise or ‘burning calories off.’ Realistically this doesn’t work for sustainable weight loss for most people overweight or obese. The overweight and obesity epidemic in the USA today resulted from multiple contributing factors, including genetic, medical, environmental, behavioral, and socioeconomic influences. There isn’t a single origin for the epidemic or specifically your metabolic situation. But rather a combination of factors interacting over time. This knowledge subsequently leads to successful and sustainable therapy.
For those presenting for weight loss, we have a system including assessment, prescription medications, medical supervision and monitoring, a plan for hormonal balance, and guidance for your nutrition and supplements. We advise on fitness, offer fitness programs, body composition strategies, and helping you understand the scientific advances beneficial for long term success, No matter how good a medication is, attention to healthy eating and lifestyle ultimately determines the degree of successful weight management and ideal body composition. Attention to your skin and judicial use of cosmetic procedures can help you look your best.
EVOLUTION OF FOODS AND MEDICINES HAS CONTRIBUTED TO POPULATION WEIGHT GAINS
Dietary changes blamed for the obesity epidemic processed foods, sugary beverages, and high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. We will encourage healthier options. We help you sort the research on sweeteners and other diet advice. Modern technologies and changes in work and leisure activities have led to decreased physical activity levels. The ratio of calories burned verses consumed contributes to weight gain. We encourage efforts for a fitter lifestyle. Calories, portions, types of food all contribute to being overweight and obese. We help you negotiate the information on type of diet whether you are vegan, vegetarian or neither. People often unknowingly consume more calories than they need due to portion distortion and other factors of modern lifestyle.
HORMONE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION OF CHRONIC STRESS
Chronic stress and inadequate sleep cause weight gain and obesity. These factors can affect hormones related to hunger and metabolism. Hormonal balance decreases inflammation, improves immunity, and helps stabilize weight. Some medical conditions and medications contribute to weight gain or make weight management more challenging. Obesity runs in families, genetics plays a role, but engaging others in your family unit help all interventions that relate to weight management and stress.
APPETITE CONTROL FOR THOSE WHO JUST NEED A BIT OF A BOOST
Appetite suppression medications are alternatives or complementary treatments to GLP-1 receptor agonist medications for weight management. Phentermine is a controlled substance medication prescription stimulant. It works by increasing brain active compounds or neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, that affect hunger signals in the brain. Phentermine in the past was prescribed for short-term use, and now has a place for longer term management to prevent weight re-gain. Qysmia combines phentermine with topiramate a migraine suppression and anticonvulsant. The combination targets different pathways in the brain to help control appetite and promote weight loss. Contrave components bupropion and naltrexone reduce food cravings and improve eating behaviors. Contrave addresses both anxiety and depression component associated with metabolism disorders, making you a camer and happier dieter.
MORNING VERSES EVENING MEALS
Many hormonal and genetic factors control our circadian rhythms also known as biological clocks. Sleep, exercise, age and lifestyle play an important role in controlling how fit and lean we are. When we eat during the day directly correlates with caloric intake. Therefore, the timing of food consumption finds the same meal eaten during the night versus the day is associated with increased levels of blood glucose and blood fat triglyceride levels.
THE DIET REVOLUTION DRUGS TODAY
Thanksgiving dinner releases a surge of GLP-1 in your blood stream. Wegovy, semaglutide, a version of GLP-1 at full dosage releases 5 times the blood level of a Thanksgiving feast. The resulting weight lost benefits over 400 medical risks and conditions. Because of the control of blood sugar, the generic molecule was first FDA approved as a diabetic medication, Ozempic. This became the Ozempic led diet revolution.
GLP-1 a 30 amino acid compound, is made naturally in endocrine cells of the intestinal wall and in the brain. However, what we produce has a circulating half-life of 2 minutes in our blood stream. Saxenda, a daily injectable GLP-1 diet medication, formula (extra palmitic acid side change and a spacer between the amino acids brings it to a 15 hour half life. Semaglutide (further modified including steric acid diacid on a peptide, another amino acid modified and more spacers) has 165 hour half life.
There are other diabetic GLP-1 medications, which work well for diabetic control, but haven’t realized the weight loss Wegovy produces. Semaglutide used for weight loss activates GLP-1 receptors in the body, leading to increased insulin secretion and reduced appetite. Furthermore, it reduces emptying of the stomach. This contribute to a feeling of fullness and reduce the rate at which nutrients are absorbed, helping to control eating behaviors and reduce calorie intake. GLP-1 receptors are also found in the brain regions that regulate appetite and food intake. Activation of these receptors by semaglutide can influence neural pathways involved in hunger and satiety, leading to reduced appetite and decreased food cravings. Those using semaglutide in our weight loss program often experience gradual and sustainable weight loss, which can be beneficial for those struggling with obesity or overweight.
The newest diet medication Zepbound, the brand name for trizepatide is a dual action GLP-1 and GIP. It also was first approved as a diabetic medication, Mounjaro. The data indicates that the dual nature of it’s effects on metabolism is the most effective weight loss medication on the market. These come as once a week self-injection medications.
HOW TO OBTAIN WEGOVY (SEMAGLUTIDE) or Zepbound (trizepatide
Wegovy” (semaglutide) has become a first line therapy for chronic weight management , and now Zepbound has followed for adults with obesity or who are overweight with a BMI of 27 and have at least one weight-related comorbidity (such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol). Consultation includes evaluating medical history, current health conditions, medications you are taking, and any previous weight loss attempts. We want you to weigh potential benefits and risks of Wegovy for weight loss, including potential improvements in weight-related health conditions.
After creating an individualized treatment plan including dietary and lifestyle changes in addition to the medication, we will see you monthly. At regular follow-up appointments to monitor your progress, adjust your treatment plan if needed, and assess any potential side effects. We help you with your health insurance provider to determine if weight loss medication is covered by your plan and what the associated costs might be. There are reputable generics for semaglutide combined with B12 currently manufactured which can be cost effective for some individuals.
KEEPING A SUSTAINABLE WEIGHT AND BODY FAT PERCENTAGE
Many questions remain unanswered regarding how to best achieve your best body. Our goals for you include sustainable lifestyle habits, new set point of weight, improved fitness, best body composition, and cardiovascular fitness. The GLP-1 medication semaglutide reduces strokes, heart attacks, and death from heart attacks by 20%. The cardiovascular fitness improvements of sustained weight loss extend into improved organ function of every part of your body. In the initial study of semaglutide, in the second year patients lost on average an extra 8% of their body weight. Those followed with diet, exercise, and no medication, gained a mean of 7%.
Body treatments can be an integral piece of achieving ideal body composition.
WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD TESTS
Monitoring of weight loss includes intermittent blood work testing. We see blood sugar and Hba1c levels improving on weight loss medicines. Once consequence of obesity fatty liver disease showed normalization of liver fat in 9/10 people on one of the new GLP-1 medicines. Other testing for liver fat, deep visceral fat, and monitoring bone health may be important on an individual basis.
THE FUTURE AND THE OTHER PEPTIDES, HORMONES AND COMPOUNDS THAT CONTROL METABOLISM
Focus on GLP-1’s role in prevention, reversal, and control of obesity overshadows the complex physiology of metabolizing food and regulating caloric intake. Peptides and hormones affect each other and select regions of the brain. This creates a complex regulatory system of eating behavior, appetite, and weight gain. In this section we discuss the other compounds that may hold the key to many questions regarding weight control and why some dieters plateau before goal weight, and why some of us will need to continue on weight medications to maintain losses. Undoubtably, dysregulation of these peptide systems contributes to overweight, disproportion in body composition, obesity and eating disorders.
METABOLISM CONTROLIS A BALANCE OF EATING MORE OR LESS IN RESPONSE TO THESE SIGNALING PEPTIDES
Fat cells produce leptin which acts on the hypothalamus in the brain. When leptin levels are high, it indicates sufficient energy stores, triggering reduced appetite and increased energy expenditure. Therefore, the nickname, the ‘satiety hormone.’
SOME PEPTIDES PROTECT US BY ENCOURAGING FOOD INTAKE WHEN WE NEED IT
Ghrelin the “feed me hormone,” is primarily produced in the stomach ghrelin signals the brain to stimulate appetite and food intake. Ghrelin levels increase before meals and decrease after eating. Therefore, regulating energy balance and promoting the storage of energy as fat. Though why we are driven to over consume in response to normal activity is unclear. Generally, less leptin and ghrelin, and more of another compound, adiponectin, the less we eat.
Peptide YY, release from small intestine in response to meals, signals satiety and reducing gastric motility, which slows down the emptying of the stomach. Consequently, PYY and GLP-1 thus make us feel full. CCK is released by the small intestine in response to the presence of fat and protein. It promotes feelings of fullness and satiety by slowing down stomach emptying and affecting the release of digestive enzymes. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) produced in the brain stimulates stimulating appetite and slowing calorie burn.
HORMONES OF METABOLISM CONTRIBUTE TO HEALTH DIGESTION
Insulin, primarily known for its role in regulating blood sugar levels, influences appetite and metabolism. It affects the brain’s response to hunger and satiety signals. Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH): CRH releases cortisol in response to the body’s stress. Stress-related changes in CRH levels can influence eating behavior. Orexin (hypoocretin) from hypothalamus and is involved in regulating wakefulness and appetite. It stimulates us to eat and energy expenditure, and similarly plays a role in the reward system related to eating.
FROM CONTROL OF SLEEP TO A POTENT DRIVER OF OUR BIOLOGIC CLOCK MELATONIN CONTROLS WEIGHT
Melanocortins are a group of peptides that include alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and melatonin. Accordingly, they result in appetite control, energy expenditure, and metabolism regulation. They act on receptors in the brain to influence and decrease eating behavior. Agouti-Related Protein (AgRP) produced in the hypothalamus stimulates appetite by inhibiting the activity of melanocortins. It has an orexigenic (appetite-stimulating) effect.
THE MEDICATIONS TO COME AND CONCLUSIONS
The medications in development include Eli Lilly’s retatrutide. Soon others will enter the market such as Amgen’s AMG 133 is in development, and ZYOG1 is an investigational oral GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Zealand Pharma. Gila monsters fueled the current monster diet revolution.
The first GLP-1 medication for diabetic blood sugar control, Byetta came about, after the research on the Gila Monster. The discovery of GLP-1 and its role in blood sugar regulation and weight loss was more specifically a result of continuing research into gut hormones and their effects on metabolism. The research forges ahead, lets discuss how to keep you healthy!
