13. Did you know that some foods mimic the effects of weight loss medications like Ozempic?

Imagine unlocking the secrets to weight management, not through expensive medications, but by harnessing the power of the very meals you eat.

In this episode, we'll explore the natural alternatives to weight loss drugs like Ozempic that could save you money and enhance your health. Drawing from my dual expertise in family medicine and weight loss, we'll unpack the role of proteins, fats, and fibers in mirroring the benefits these medications offer - without the strain on your wallet.

This episode is a treasure trove of practical, everyday choices that can make a significant impact on your weight loss efforts, particularly through those challenging menopause years.

We'll discuss not just what to eat, but how these foods work in harmony with your body's natural chemistry to promote fullness and balance blood sugar levels.

Dive into a discussion rich with tips for a sustainable lifestyle tune-up, as I highlight the drawbacks of medication dependency and the virtues of a diet that can truly go the distance in your health journey.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello, my friends, hello, hello, welcome to my channel. Today, I will be bringing you some information about foods that mimic the effects of OZAMPIK. I'm so excited today because this is the information that you have been waiting for. I've had so many questions on this one here. Lately, weight loss drops the OZAMPIK, munjaro, wegovi have been so popular that we are wondering is it for me, should I take it, should I not take it? And I know several people that are on it. So is this something that's worthwhile that I should take and, most of all, is it safe for me? I just don't know. Anyway, this podcast or this talk today is not about the weight loss drop.

Speaker 1: 0:54

It's about bringing you some healthier and cheaper options that you may include into your nutrition to help you have the same effects like the drop.

Speaker 2: 1:05

Welcome to the thriving through menopause podcast, dr Inaka Yenbe. Your host is dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause, particularly focused on achieving menopausal weight loss and reducing belly fat. As a post-menopausal physician herself who has helped thousands of women experiencing the significant life stage, she understands the unique challenges you face. Listen in as we explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting you in your health and wellness journey. Hopefully, the practical tips and strategies offered potentially help you adopt an empowering approach towards menopausal weight loss and belly fat reduction. And now here's your host, dr Inaka Yenbe.

Speaker 1: 1:50

All right. So Ozempic, mungeru, wegovi these are all brand names of the substance semaglutide. What is semaglutide? We're going to first of all talk about the effects of the medication and then it's going to make sense when we talk about the foods. I have my show notes here so I don't miss anything. And this talk, don't worry, is going to become a podcast, which would also be saved. So if you miss it and you want to listen again, or you want to listen again, it will be saved Go ahead and tell me in the chat where you are watching from. Anyway, these drugs are all names of the substance, semaglutide, which functions as a glucagon like peptide, one receptor agonist. We're just going to say glp1, glp1. That's it. It's a glp1 agonist or a glp1 booster. Some foods also function like glp1 boosters. That's why they are called natures ozempic. So very quickly, briefly, about myself. I'm Dr Yenbe. I'm a family medicine physician. I work full-time, emergency medicine Part-time. I run the weight loss clinic. I also have an online weight loss program and I do coach one-on-one online as well.

Speaker 2: 3:14

My passion for weight loss comes from my personal story.

Speaker 1: 3:18

I was that child that hit the world at 10 pounds, blossomed my heaviest weight in 2005, was over 300 pounds, and since then I started working but became so serious in 2010. So this is my 14th year of working on my weight, so I leave the journey. I am the journey and I know personally because I also practice weight loss professionally. All right back to the medicines.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Ozempic, for example, is a costly medicine. You get it by prescription only. It is approved for those who have diabetes. It helps them with their blood sugar control. However, it's also used for weight loss Very popular. Most insurances will not cover it if you're not taking it for your diabetes and or if you have not proven that other medicines that are a lot cost effective will work for you. However, if you're taking it for weight loss only and I don't have any problems with people taking it for weight loss you just need to know. You just need to know that it's going to set you back by about a thousand dollars a month or more. So this is very expensive. The average weight loss with Ozempic is about 10 to 15% of your body weight.

Speaker 2: 4:32

So you're looking about in about nine months.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Yes, ma'am you have lost the weight. It's set you back about 26 to 40 thousand dollars. Is it worth it, Plus when?

Speaker 1: 4:42

you get off the medicine, which you will have to at a certain point if you did not learn healthy lifestyle changes. You went to backtrack and go back to your previous weight. So now you're behind 26 thousand dollars. What do you do? Get back to the medicine? Yes, you can. You can actually do that. So let's talk about this science behind the medicine.

Speaker 1: 5:01

Osempic, wegovi, munjaro these are all name brands for Semaglutide. Again, semaglutide is a GLP1 analogue. Works like it. Glp1 is a hormone that is produced in your bowel that is responsible for telling your brain and your bowel that you are full. No wonder the medicines are so effective in curving your appetite. You take a shot, you go up to certain dosage and you are full even without eating, so it actually creates satiety. It also works on the hypothalamus, a part of your brain that also tells you that you are full. It also slows down gastric emptying, which is good because it also makes you full, and that's how the medicine works. So it's fantastic. Again, studies show that people on the medicine while you're on it, you can lose up to 15 percent of your body weight.

Speaker 1: 6:01

It also helps control blood sugar. So it's really really important for the patients who are diabetic, especially when they are on control. It really helps them also control their blood sugars. So one of the things that we want to remember knowing that it improves your blood sugar control which we need especially those of us in menopause.

Speaker 1: 6:21

I'm almost 56, so menopause is here. I'm insulin resistant, so if I was taking ozempic, it's going to help me with insulin sensitivity and weight loss. So it has several different ways in which, overall, it helps. So the medicine when you take it without a medical problem the medicine forces you into a lifestyle change.

Speaker 1: 6:47

What that means is a shock of your hunger keeps your belly full, so automatically you're consuming less calories and that's how you lose weight. So the only way, in all honesty, one of the best ways to lose weight is by controlling your nutrition, and studies now show that it may change the way that you relate with food. So all good, all good so far. All good news, all right. Some side effects you need to know of. Now. In my clinic I have three kinds of people, three kinds of people. There's that person who comes in doesn't want to take any medicines. They do what we really push the most, which is a healthy lifestyle change learning what to eat, how to eat, how much to eat. That person I have that. Those people lose weight with no medicines. I have some people who come in. They don't want to learn the lifestyle change. They take the medicine and hinge on the medicine only to help them lose weight. Now those people are divided into two categories. Some of them take the medicine and do not lose the weight.

Speaker 2: 7:54

Some of them take the medicine and lose the weight.

Speaker 1: 7:57

So it just depends. But anyway, ozmpic and all the other medicines, they do have side effects. Number one they will cause loss of weight, including loss of lean muscle mass. What is lean body mass? Lean body mass is muscle, so when you take those medicines most people lose quite a bit of muscle in the face, the arms are pretty much everywhere. It also has GI side effects, so stomach problems, nausea, just bowel upset, some people have diarrhea and things like that. It can cause some serious digestive problems like pancreatitis. There's a small box warning that says it can cause thyroid cancer, which honestly that's so, so rare because they give high doses to rats and it caused a change in the thyroid gland of a rat. So they had to extrapolate from that data and say it can cause thyroid cancer, which is true. So I mean, if you have some thyroid problems or history of thyroid cancer, you do not want to take that medicine. Now there's one very serious side effect that most people don't even talk about.

Speaker 1: 9:06

And I want to say this here If you have anxiety or if you have depression, because OZMPIC and similar medicines. They work in the brain and so people who are depressed, and especially if you've ever had suicidal thoughts or suicidal attempts, do not take this medicine, because OZMPIC will make you more anxious and can trigger suicide in some people. So we don't talk about that too much, but that's a real side effect. You won't be careful with that. It's very rare. But if you have a family member who is depressed and has things like that, do not allow them to take the medicine Now. I don't want you to get me wrong. These are excellent tools in medicine that have helped and have changed the trajectory of obesity management. So the excellent tools.

Speaker 2: 10:01

I don't have any problem.

Speaker 1: 10:02

The only problem that you need to know is that they work short term. The effects will only last so long as you are taking the medicine. So, if you consider taking the medicine, please spend some time also learning healthy lifestyle changes. In fact, start practicing healthy lifestyle changes in addition to taking the medicine. In my clinic, I see people who have been handed these tools or who went for the tools and never learned healthy lifestyle changes. They've had things like lack band, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, taking different medicines, ozempic, munjaro, egove and hinging on the tools to be the only way to lose weight. Well, once the tool is pulled in about 2 to 3 years, most of these people are back to square one.

Speaker 2: 10:57

Even if you had a gastric surgery.

Speaker 1: 10:59

I have people back then who were having surgeries back in my clinic now. So if you use any one of these solutions, my story and my recommendation is the same you need to learn what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat and the other healthy lifestyle solutions. Alright, so now let's get back to the meat of this talk. What are the foods? What are the foods that can help us? Is there a more natural way to increase GLP-1? Because those medicines, what they do is they stimulate or they act like GLP-1, which tells you brain, your food tells you stomach, your food controls blood sugar and things like that. So are there foods in nature that can do this? Number one, number one I've said this, I keep saying it proteins. Now don't scream before you start rolling your eyes. Many studies. Specifically, there's a randomized double blind study in 2013 which showed that proteins adequate consumption of protein increases GLP-1 and peptide YY in your bowel the same like those I've said. So why not eat some chicken and some fish and get full from chicken fish, as opposed to giving yourself a shot once a week? I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, because adequate consumption of proteins can stimulate GLP-1, so when you consume proteins. They will slow down gastric emptying. They also act on the cells in the brain because that GLP-1, when it stimulates it, acts on the brain, causing you to be full. Proteins suppress hunger because of that. Remember, osepid semaglutide causes is a GLP-1 analogue. Protein is natural. So choose, you choose, you choose.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Now I recommend one gram per pound of your body weight. So one gram of protein per pound of your ideal body weight. I had this question that came up and most people say my ideal body weight is what I want to be. Yes, that's good. What you want to be is what you want to be. You do, you, I get it, that's fine. But when it comes to calculating your macros, especially proteins, carbohydrates and fats those are the three macros you want to go with the ideal body weight on the BMI chart. Again, don't scream, because the weight on the BMI chart may not be what you want to be, but it's the number. That number is what you will use for calculation.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Now, for those of us who are sedentary so if you would say I'm not very active person, especially if you are in menopause there's now evidence in research that says you can, and you should, increase your protein consumption to 1.2 grams per pound of your ideal body weight. You do the math and you Consume protein, prioritized protein. This is the reason why you will hear anybody who's any coach who's talking about weight loss will tell you about protein consumption. There is a science behind that and keep it in your mind. It will act like a natural ozempic. So things like lean proteins, chicken, fish, turkey, shrimp, all of those, tofu they all if you consume an adequate amount, they all stimulate GLP1, keep you feeling full longer, control your blood sugar, hey, and these are natural foods. All right. The second set of foods that act like ozempic.

Speaker 1: 14:55

These ones are the healthy fats. Back in my days, when I started my weight loss journey I was on that, so that was about 14 years ago I did not know much about weight loss, so I started off by going fat-free no fats whatsoever. That's very unhealthy, the wrong thing to do, because fats your body uses fats to produce your hormones, your enzymes, for optimal functioning. Your body is always looking for a way to function optimally and if you're trying to lose weight and you totally cut up fats, then you may be heading for trouble. All right, when I talk about fats, I'm not talking about the unhealthy ones.

Speaker 1: 15:37

All right, unhealthy fats, canola oil throw it away corn oil. Throw it away vegetable oil, throw it away corn oil. What is corn oil? You take a seat of corn and make oil, but corn is the starch. Oh my gosh. There's so much processing going in that that's the bad fat that one will give you heart attack. So good fats are the ones that stimulate out, that trigger GLP1 secretion. The good fats are the ones with the omega-6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, things like avocado, olive oil in the nuts, salmon, mackerel olives those kinds of fats are healthier and better for you. And no, not the fats in the fried chicken. No, no, not that one. So the healthy fats also trigger GLP1 secretion, which we've talked about it. Just, we've just talked about it. What it does is it slows down gastric emptying, makes you feel full, stimulates your brain and tells you you don't need to eat anymore, so it causes you to feel full.

Speaker 1: 16:46

Number 3, you've already heard this story, you know this. This one is the high fiber foods. They are digested slowly in the bowel and they move so slowly. They also trigger GLP1 and also peptide YY, make you feel full, and the most helpful ones are those that are fermentable. So fiber in oats, beans, peas, lentils, apples, green bananas, leafy greens, broccoli, chia seeds, flax seeds all those fibers are great. Alright, number 4, whole grains.

Speaker 1: 17:22

Another way ozempic works is to stabilize your blood sugars. So that's really, really beneficial, again for those of us in menopause who struggle with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that our blood sugars are up and down and everywhere They've gone up so many times that the insulin level stays high. And because your insulin level is high Number 1, your body ignores your own insulin. That's called insulin resistance and then your insulin level is high and all it's doing at this point is storing fat. We want to reverse that. There's several things to do intermittent fasting, yes, but also consume whole grain foods. Whole grains like quinoa, steel cut oats, legumes like lentils, chickpeas and also beans. These ones actually help stabilize your blood sugars as well. Alright, number 5, another thing that ozempic does that we know from research is that it stabilizes your gut microbiome, the microenvironment in your gut, so all your healthy bacteria in your stomach. Now the studies show that those of us who are overweight, we've eaten so many things that are unhealthy and eventually we have damaged our gut flora.

Speaker 1: 18:46

This is the reason why, if you are overweight, take a probiotic. Take a probiotic. That's my story. I'm sticking with it. Take a probiotic every morning, but anyway, or once a day, any time of the day, but just take it every single day. But ozempic has been shown to also improve your gut microbiome and it really creates a healthy balance, improves your digestion. So some foods that support a healthy gut microbiome can mimic that specific effect of ozempic. Yogurt, that's a good one, you know, you see. Yogurt with the live cultures. Sourcrout that's another good one. Garlic yay. Garlic, yay me. That's one of my best. Fresh garlic. Chocolate put in everything you know work well as a probiotic, actually feeding the bacteria. Onions that also helps. Or just take a supplement, like I do? I just take a supplement every day, all right, my favorite one, the big one, cerium husk. I've been talking about that recently, cerium husk. Why is that? It's one of those. You just buy your big bag, you can use it in everything.

Speaker 1: 19:56

Cerium husk is a fiber, natural fiber. It binds to water, creates a gel-like substance in your stomach, makes you feel full already and slows down digestion and also slows down the absorption of sugar. So how do you take it? You want to take it about an hour before you eat and you will notice that this cerium husk number one drink a full glass of water. What's the amount that you need to take? Now? Please speak to your doctor before you take any supplements. That's recommended by anyone that you're listening to. Your doctor knows you best to talk to your doctor first. But you want to take three to six grams two to three times a day? All right, so just go buy the one, the big, one pound bag, and just have it at home. You can put it in water and drink it. That is not my favorite, right? I like to just throw it in the food that I'm eating. But if you're taking it without food and just mixing it with water and drinking, you want to drink at least eight ounces of water with each each dose that you take. So 2-3 grams each time and drink 8 ounces of water. Drink water throughout the day.

Speaker 1: 21:13

I see people who say they took selium husk and they did not lose any weight. Well, it's just the same way, Like people who took ozentic or had gastric surgery and did not lose any weight. What else are you eating? Are you following a healthy lifestyle change? Are you watching the other things that you're eating? Because there's no specific magic solution. Selium husk is so versatile you can throw it in your smoothies, you can put it in your oatmeal, you can use it to thicken soups, you can use it to make homemade energy bars, you can use it in desserts, and I like to put it in yogurt and just eat it. But again, remember to drink lots of water each time that you consume selium husk and throughout the day, you should be drinking at least 7-8 glasses of water. So I think that's really it.

Speaker 1: 22:07

I hope I've brought you enough information that you can see that there are several foods in nature that mimic the effects of ozentic. Ozentic is not without side effects, but again, I am absolutely not against anyone who chooses to use the drug. Just know that you should marry that with healthy lifestyle changes. Most of all, if you stop ozentic, you start ozentic. Make sure that you consume an adequate amount of protein, which is hard because you don't feel like eating. Anyway, Make sure that you are exercising in order to maintain your muscle mass. All right, my friends, stay tuned. I will post on my page here, so follow me here. Also, go to my YouTube channel and follow me there, because there's information there also. Share this information, share this video, share this live so that those who need the information can get it as well. All right, my friends, thank you. Thank you and have a fantastic and a safe weekend ahead. Thank you, bye.

Speaker 2: 23:19

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Thriving Through Menopause. We hope you found valuable insights and practical advice to support your journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, share it and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Remember, menopause doesn't have to be a challenge. It can be an opportunity for growth, renewal and self-care. Connect with us on social media, where we share additional resources, tips and advice to help you along your path. Once again, thanks for listening in and we hope you'll join us again on the next episode of Thriving Through Menopause. Until then,