Peptalk: Peptides Unpacked

#5 GLP-1 vs. GIP: Understanding the Peptides Behind Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro

• Dr. Kylie Burton

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The rules of metabolism are being rewritten—and the script is simpler than you've been told: your body runs on signals.

In this episode, Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke dive into GLP-1 and GIP—the gut-brain messengers behind Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound—and show you how they restore the conversation between your pancreas, liver, and brain.

When those messages are clear, blood sugar steadies, cravings quiet down, and energy lasts. When they're muffled by stress, poor sleep, and inflammation, insulin resistance takes over and everything feels harder than it should.

What We Cover:

  • How GLP-1 and GIP work as gut-brain messengers to restore metabolic communication
  • Insulin resistance explained with a lock-and-key model you can picture instantly
  • How insulin resistance connects to fatty liver, rising cholesterol, and brain fog
  • Semaglutide (GLP-1) vs. Tirzepatide (GLP-1/GIP dual agonist): what's the difference and why it matters
  • Why the GIP layer often means gentler tolerance and broader metabolic benefits
  • Candid talk on side effects, microdosing, and smart titration strategies
  • How peptides ease whole-system strain across cortisol, thyroid, and sex hormones
  • What long-term wins actually look like: steadier energy, better focus, and a healthier liver

For Anyone Ready to Stop Chasing Skinny and Start Chasing Stability: This episode gives you a clear path forward—grounded in science, free of hype, and focused on what actually works.

Want to connect more with the hosts? We'd love it! Connect with Jess at B2BwithJess.com or on Instagram @JessB_LMT_NC. Connect with Dr. Kylie at her other podcast Unshakeable Brain where new episodes are posted weekly.

Ready to explore peptide therapy for yourself? Visit the company we recommend for advanced peptide therapy and one-on-one support at drkylieburton.com/peptides

Want to offer peptide therapy in your business? Whether you're adding it to your existing practice or building something new, learn how to get started—and how we'll help you make the sales and marketing much easier—at drkylieburton.com/peptides

Legal Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new health protocol. Dr. Kylie Burton and Jessica Briecke are affiliates and may receive compensation for referrals. Individual results may vary.

You have the science. You have the tools. Now it's time to take the next step.

This is PepTalk: Peptides Unpacked—science made simple, results made real.

SPEAKER_01:

Peptides are powerful and often misunderstood. But we're here to change that. I'm Dr. Kylie Burton. And I'm Jessica Brigie. This is Peptoc. Peptides Unpacked. Science made simple, results made real. At this point, I sure hope you understand that peptides have been around for decades. But lately, two of them have taken center stage, GLP1 and GIP. They're the buzz behind medications like Ozempic, Wagovi, and Manjaro. And they've completely changed the conversation about metabolism.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, for the year, for years we focused on eat less, move more, and now we finally understand that metabolism isn't just about calories, it's about communication. And these gut brain peptides are part of that conversation. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

Your body already makes GLP1 and GIP every time you eat. They help balance blood sugar, signal fullness, and tell your pancreas and liver how to respond.

SPEAKER_00:

But when stress, poor sleep, inflammation get in the way, those natural messages start to fade. And that's when metabolism goes off the rails.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's why peptide therapy with GLP1 and GIP isn't just about weight loss. It's about restoring those messages so your body can actually hear itself again.

SPEAKER_00:

So today we're breaking down what these peptides really do in plain English and how they're leading what I call the metabolic evolution. We'll talk about semaglutide versus trisepatide, how they improve insulin sensitivity, and what long-term success really looks like.

SPEAKER_01:

This isn't just a fad. It's the first time we've had a tool that addresses metabolism, inflammation, and brain gut signaling all at once.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh man. And man, this is this is not about just chasing skinny. It's about chasing stability.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. GLP1 and GIP, what the heck do they actually do and how do they function?

SPEAKER_00:

I laugh when I hear this because I feel like no matter how you approach this conversation, unless you're saying the brand names people don't know, like what's GLP1? I think you're getting, you know, people are understanding that one a little bit more. They definitely are not getting GIP or peptide therapy. Like they're not grasping these names. So every time I see them like, well, what is GLP1? Right? It's Ozempic. Right? It's Ozempic. That's what it is. That's the FDA approved drug that's out there. But um, but when we're talking about it, you and I and everybody listening, we're talking about it in terms of peptide therapy. But today we're gonna get real down down to the ones that people want to hear about the most, which is what's gonna help me lose weight, because that seems to be the most the things that people are most curious about, they're struggling with the most. So we're gonna focus on that today. So um, just to kind of break it down, GLP1 and GIP are gut-brain peptides, hormones that your body's already making after we eat. So GLP1 is a glucagon-like peptide number one. That's what it stands for. It's going to signal insulin. That's ridiculous. I didn't know that until today. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

They all they all do, even so, even though glucagon-like peptide GLP1. Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. So all of these do actually have names, but some of the, you know, it's just easier instead of the mouthful, we break it down into the acronyms for them. So that is what it is. Glucagon-like peptide that signals insulin release. It's going to slow stomach emptying. It reduces our appetite because the signaling is starting to kick in again. Like when are you really hungry versus bored or angry or sad? And when are we full?

SPEAKER_01:

Just remind me, it's been a while since I've had amenphysiology. Yeah. Glucagon is opposite of insulin, correct?

SPEAKER_00:

It yes, yes, it is. So glucagon is kind of like what we want to go into the cells. Um, glucagon is what we are doing. What like when we have excess, it goes into the liver where we're stored. Like there's glucagon, uh glucose, and uh glycogen, which all get a little bit confusing and messy. So without overwhelming everybody, they all have different jobs with blood sugar balancing.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is a good way to put it, they all impact blood sugar. They all impact. The core of so many symptoms lies blood sugar imbalance.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, exactly. Um, so it's going to help us to stabilize blood sugar. Then we have the GIP, uh, which to me is like the magical comp the magical part of trisepatide, having just a little bit of GIP. We don't have as much in the compound of GIP as we do GLP1. But GIP stands for glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide. That's a tongue twister. So GIP is definitely the way to go when we're talking about it. And this works as a partner with GIP GLP1 to help kind of fine-tune what insulin is doing in the body as well as fat metabolism. So both of them are part of the body's metabolic messaging system, but fat metabolism is a big part of what's happening in the liver when we're consuming too many carbohydrates, or we are no longer responding to insulin anymore, and we have this excess glucose floating around in the body. That glucagon is that's heading to the liver to be stored as fat. We get a fatty liver. The liver is like a tiny little coat closet. It can only hold so many coats before it starts busting out. And so now you have all this extra fat, essentially, that the liver has made that's now out into the body. And that is when we start to see things like increased levels of cholesterol. So the GIP component here that is in a compound like trzepatide, where it's the dual agonist, is so important in the whole metabolic process and helping to lower cholesterol levels, reduce our fatty liver, and help GLP1 stabilize blood sugar. Does that make sense? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's multifaceted.

SPEAKER_00:

It really is, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So they don't I just want to point out, too, that these the blood sugar imbalance, it's like the key to having stable hormones. It's the key to so many things, but people just assume, like, oh, my hormones are off. That's really not getting down to the root cause. Right, exactly. One of the root causes of hormones being off is blood sugar instability.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. I think peptides is is is a key that unlocks doors that allows other things to go in and out of the doorway.

SPEAKER_01:

Worlds we don't even do exist. Right. So we just start it and we realize, oh, feeling like crap.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So I called it normal. I know. And now I'm feeling like a million bucks. All right. Now I want to live till I'm 95, not 80, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so true. So I think like when we are looking at, like when I I mentioned that as a key, I'm just gonna pull up really quick, and I'm not gonna share this on the screen here, but I just want to pull this up because I want to look at this as I'm saying this. I have these notes in this thing that I teach people with about a healthy cell versus a non-healthy cell when it comes to insulin response. And I'm looking at my diagram because I want to say this right. So, in a normal healthy cell that is insulin dependent, okay, so it needs insulin to function. We think of that insulin coming onto the cell to what would be a door lock, the insulin receptor, right? So insulin comes in, it unlocks that door. But on the other side of that door is this little like like doorway that opens, like a tube that opens up. And when that key is unlocked and that tube opens up, goes to the cell membrane, that's what allows glucose after we eat to come into the cell to help us make energy.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Okay, say that one more time. Let me picture it in my mind as you're describing it.

SPEAKER_00:

So we have a we have a nice healthy cell, okay. On this cell would be what would be a lock to the door. It's a door lock, all right? And there's only certain keys that are going to fit into it. In this particular case, the key is insulin. All right. So the key is insulin. Insulin goes into this door lock, unlocks the door, but the door is the chute that goes up into the cell that allows opens up so glucose can come in. So there might be multiple doors on the cell, but this key unlock insulin onto the insulin receptor unlocks the pathway for glucose now to come into a healthy cell to make energy. Does that help? Okay. But in an unhealthy cell, when the signaling starts to break down, that insulin is kind of floating around. It's like it no longer fits into that door lock. Like something has happened, or there's a jam, or there's something in that door lock that's not allowing that key to go in to open that door that we just spoke about, right? So what happens?

SPEAKER_01:

I think about the people with the key rings like myself, who has 15 different keys, and you're like, I have no idea what key goes to what. Yeah. You know, like one key access is the one door that you always use, but it turns like insulin turns into the multiple key concept where it's like, I good luck, sales. Good luck getting the trigger that you need to do the rest of the jobs that you're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. That's exactly right. So what happens then is the body is seeing that glucose is staying in the body, right? Because now, for whatever reason, and there's multiple reasons, we've become insulin resistant. Okay, so this is insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction, borderline diabetes, type 2 diabetes. All of those basically mean the same thing. So I don't care what anybody's been told about their body. Essentially, it means the same thing, and that's that our body's not responding to that insulin signaling anymore. So the key is not fitting in that door lock. Okay. We are metabolically busted with a lot of keys on the same Kiwi. Right. So now what happens? We have a lot of glucose floating around because the door didn't get open for the glucose to go into the cells, and the body starts panicking. Oh my gosh, what's happening? We got to get this glucose level down. Send more insulin, send more insulin. So the body makes more insulin. It sends more out. And this does this over and over and over. It is pumping out insulin, pumping out insulin, pumping out insulin, and the body is just flat out ignoring it. It's kind of like when you know, as a mom, you have your kids going, mom, mom, mommy, mom, mom. And you, you as a mother are really good at shutting that down to know the boy sort of like, oh no, they're in trouble. I have to pay attention, versus, yes, they're just calling my name for the five billionth time today. Mom, mommy, mom. So insulin. And all the feeling very well.

SPEAKER_01:

Insulin's for 30 minutes. I don't want to hear my name.

SPEAKER_00:

So insulin resistance is kind of like that same thing. So we have now we have an increased blood glucose level. So we're gonna see things like fasting insulin, uh fasting blood glucose is high, our A1Cs are rising, right? Because this whole signaling thing, this unlock is not happening. All right. So now what's gonna happen? We're gonna start, like I said, the liver is gonna start storing excess sugars in the form of glucagon, in glucacon, and fat. Um, our body doesn't know what to do with all that extra storage. So even when we have a low blood sugar, it doesn't even know how to pull that out anymore to use that effectively as energy making. So even in our sleep, our blood sugars will drop and our body wants to stay nice and even. But when the signaling is happening, that is no longer happening, right? So basically, insulin's knocking on the door, nothing's happening, and we have all this extra stuff. So the result is blood sugar, like I said, is staying high, fat storage is increasing, energy is and focuses are crashing. Um, we have inflammation that's rising, and our risk, again, for type 2 diabetes is increasing. So is the risk for stroke, so is the risk for Alzheimer's, because we call Alzheimer's diabetes type 3. Okay. This is insulin resistance. So GLP1 is gonna come in here for us and help hear that signaling again. It's gonna help the body recognize insulin and those receptors can be uh regenerated. Uh that's not the word I want to say. They can be um healed so that they're listening to that insulin signaling again. They're being regenerated. And so GIP helps that whole mechanism of how our body is now listening and using insulin to set off the rest of the cycle of the blood glucose cycle. GIP, on the other hand, kind of taps into when we are low blood sugar and tapping into our fat stores for energy. So we only need a little bit of that, but it is a co-partner in the whole mechanism of blood sugar, which is why semaglutide is great, but that is just GLP1. So that would be your Wakovi and your Ozempic for the FDA-approved drugs. So semaglutide by itself is just GLP1. FDA names Ozempic and Wagovi. Trisepatide, which is my favorite, is gonna be a dual agonist. It's gonna have the GLP1 and a little bit of that GIP. You're gonna see that in the brand names of Minjaro or Zepp Bound. Um, that to me is way more helpful because you're using these two things together to help all aspects of the blood sugar balancing. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So, why is this a metabolic evolution and not just a trend? So, for decades, medicine has treated blood sugar, insulin, and appetite separately, as if they're all individual issues within the body. However, they're not. Like if you understand a little bit, and it's easier to see when I give you a diagram, but when you understand the kind of steps that I just laid out, you eat some food, your blood sugar rises, your body, your pancreas releases insulin to allow that glucose basically to come into the cell to make energy. And when that's not working, we have an increase in all these other symptoms that I just spoke about. So the signaling here is just connecting the dots of all these things. They're gonna improve insulin sensitivity again. They're gonna help to reduce inflammation because our inflammatory response is better. It's helping to improve our gut health because these things are also restorative to our gut lining. It helps to balance cortisol. There's another buzzword we talk about all the time, right? So all of the hormones and peptides work together, like I think of a like a like a grandfather clock, and some of those you can see all the cogs inside, right? And so, in order for all those things, those gears to be working, everything has to be going in unison and doing their job. When one cog is broken, the whole system kind of shuts down. So that's the endocrine system, right? That is reproductive hormones, that is thyroid hormones, that is cortisol adrenals. Like all of those things are talking together. So when we get even this signaling under control, it's gonna help us balance our stress response. Our cortisol is gonna get balanced again, our energy production is happening again.

SPEAKER_01:

And so we I'm hearing from you, yeah, is uh you really want to get into root cause medicine. You have to incorporate peptides 100%. Like you're talking about root causes of a variety of symptoms, of a variety of quote diagnoses, because one like GLP1, GIP, they have such a profound effect on insulin, which then impacts everything else down the food chain. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you're like, hey, I need to find root causes, peptide therapy, peptide therapy for the wind for sure. For sure. And that goes to, you know, like again, stop treating these things as is individual. You and I have done this always. Like, that's what functional practice is. We look at the body as a whole because we understand a stomach problem isn't just a stomach problem. That stomach problem could come back to the liver, right? Not pooping isn't just because we haven't eaten enough fiber, might be, but it's so much more than that. And you keep coming back and you look at how all these systems work together, but that's what's happening when we're using these peptides because it's pulling all these systems together again. So again, they're communicating, they're amazing, but they're doing so much root-cause work. You're absolutely right. So it's gonna stop looking at the body as these individual parts that need attention because the only thing we're doing there is just making things more out of balance when we're handling only one aspect of it.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

That's when you get into taking lists and lists and lists of supplements and medications for the side effects, like there it's no different. It's just let's get to the root cause and let's and typically it's not just root cause, it's root causes, and start to unravel all these things that have made us unbalanced to begin with, and then we put our bodies back in an environment to heal, back in an environment to thrive, yeah. Back in that environment of I feel like I was 19 again, or in like in your case, you feel 20 years younger, even though you feel better now than you did 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_00:

The way my brain is functioning alone is like it was when I was young. Like it is, it is it's like, oh, yeah, she's smart, she knows what she's talking about. That's right, that's how the brain works because I was full of inflammation, because my body was not listening to insulin, even though I was doing all the right things. It just wasn't from stuff I did early in life, you know, like my teen years, my my 20s, I was pretty abusive to my body as far as how I nourished it. I certainly drank alcohol. Um, you know, I I did those things, and they we can't see it in that point in our life that those things are gonna hurt us down the road, but they certainly do. If I had had peptides back then, everything probably would be different for me now. And I wouldn't have necessarily needed peptides forever, but maybe I would have needed them to like kind of get things communicating again, you know, get it all functioning again. And I wouldn't have had to walk through some of the fires that I've walked to in my life with having some, you know, autoimmune issues or weight struggles or whatever, you know, hormone imbalances.

SPEAKER_01:

So give yourself a gift, and that gift is I want to say feeling better, but it almost doesn't even seem right to say that because a lot of people are just they're they experience normal as they are when they don't realize what isn't even possible for feeling better until they try. Right. So give your gift, give yourself a gift and discover what that gift can produce. And not just for you, but your reactions with your young adult kids are your different, your reactions with your clients are different, your reactions with your spouse are different, your zest for life is different, your uh motivation, your drive. Who doesn't want that? It's I don't care if you're 15, 75, or two, right?

SPEAKER_00:

It's endless. Like the possibilities with peptides are literally endless. But just to like kind of wrap up what we're talking about with GLPs, it goes so much further as we're saying beyond weightless, right? There's this long-term vision that we have. So weight change, in my opinion, is a side effect of this restored communication. So for me, I started it because I wanted to protect my brain, and if I lost weight, great, right? Fantastic. Long-term focus is really stabilizing our blood sugar, improving body composition, protecting our brain, protecting our liver. Improved insulin sensitivity is going to mean less inflammation, fewer crashes that spike than that crash that we might feel after we eat. Um, steady your hormones, steady your energy throughout the day. And maintenance at the end of us reaching our goals, kind of where this magic really begins to happen. And it's it's it's not just about again the weight loss of the first few pounds. We just want sustainable metabolism, not shrinking metabolism. This again, I've said this before, it's not about chasing skinny. We are chasing stability, we are chasing a longer, healthier, better life.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Okay, real quick, break it down. Semaglutide versus trzepatide. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So I feel like I did really good saying those things. Yeah. So yeah, I know, because they I know when they're they're like a foreign language at first. So uh semaglutide is the GLP1 by itself, and the FDA-approved drug name is gonna be something that people recognize as Ozempic and Wagovi. Then we have the combination of the GLP1 and the GIP, trisepitide, and those FDA-approved brand name drugs are gonna be known as Manjaro or Zep bound. In my opinion.

SPEAKER_01:

So one is just GLP1 and the other is a combo. Right, and both are gonna work.

SPEAKER_00:

Both are gonna work, by the way. Both are gonna do for the most part these things. I mean, the GIP obviously is gonna help with the liver function a little bit better and how we use store blood sugar. But um, with a semaglutide, you are gonna maybe have a little bit more side effects in the beginning. Um, it's a little gentler because it because it's a dual action and because it's doing multiple things. I think trusepatite is a little gentler on the body, but again, you have multiple areas that it's kind of working with the signaling. So, I, in my opinion, think that trisepatite is much better, but you will find success using either just the semaglutide or trisepatide.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And how should somebody know which one they should take? Right.

SPEAKER_00:

It depends on price point, may have something to do with it, right? So one might be a little bit more affordable than the other. So semaglutide might be a little less expensive than the trisepatide because it's only one agonist that you're using. So a compounded with two might cost a little bit more. So maybe financially that could impact your decision. Um, if it isn't, if that isn't a factor, then maybe the next thing you're gonna look at is side effects because it was with semaglutide, you are going to potentially have an increased incident of um constipation, headache, nausea, those kinds of things. Whereas with the trisepatite, you're not gonna see that happen as frequently. And either way, no matter what way you go, I am a big believer in microdosed amounts, starting with a small, tiny amount, allowing your body to remember what these signals are, getting the receptor sites, those door, the door locks to hear the signaling again, unlock those other doors. Um, so slow and low to me is always the way to go. Microdosing for weight loss, if that's your primary goal, you're probably looking at 25 pounds or less for microdose, um, if that's your goal. But if you are on the end where it's 25 pounds or more, 20 pounds or more, then you probably want to be on a weight loss program where you will need to increase those peptides up peptide amounts over time. But regardless of whichever way, I still feel that starting with a more microdosed, smaller amount slower is the place to start and then maybe transition to that weight loss goal so that you avoid some of those symptoms. So, in choosing, I think you can you can do well with both. It might come down to what you think about for your budget and your um symptoms that you might get. And you might get a Witcher's epitite also, but you're less likely.

SPEAKER_01:

Here's the cool part is that you can actually talk to a licensed physician who can prescribe these because neither Jess or I can prescribe them. So we're just here for educational purposes only. If you are interested in getting started, we highly recommend a certain telemedicine platform. Like I said in previous episodes, where you can trust us, we can trust them. Jess is taking them, family members are taking them. And I haven't gotten on to where I need them yet in my life. I'm sure I could benefit somehow. But, anyways, the bottom line is if you go to drkylieverton.comslash peptides, you'll be able to get started with a physician who you can speak to one-on-one and they can get your dosage, your recommendations specific to you and your needs, which is freaking cool. And then you can continue to chat with them as you go throughout this on your journey. Now, if you've been sent by somebody else to listen to this podcast, make sure you reach back out to them and get started through the same platform through them. If you are interested in offering this as a tool to your toolkit or offering this to your clients, um, or even starting a business with this, which is a total possibility for anybody listening who wants to create not just change in their health life, but change in their financial life. They can certainly do that. Get started at drkylieverton.com/slash peptides, where you can learn more as well. If somebody sent you here, please go back to them and get started through their link. And I'm Dr. Kylie.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm Jessica Brickie. Where can they learn more about you, Jess? You're gonna find me at my website, which is B2B. It's number two. So it's b2bwithess.com. Um, you can learn more about peptides there. And you can find me on my Instagram at JessB as in boy underscore LMT underscore N C.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm Dr. Kylie, like I said, get started at drkylyburton.com slash peptides. And to learn more, find me in other places. Go look up Unshakable Brain on your favorite podcast platform. I'm there every week. And this is Pep Talk, Peptides Unpacked. See you next time. See ya.