GLP-1s and How to Protect Your Energy

GLP-1s can make weight loss look simple. Eat less, lose weight, move on. But for many women, what starts as progress can slowly turn into something that feels harder to explain. The scale may be going down, yet energy feels off, workouts feel heavier, and your body starts giving subtle signs that something is missing.

In this episode, Sara Estes unpacks how GLP-1 medications can create nutrient gaps, and what women can do to protect their energy, strength, and sense of self. She explores what can happen when appetite drops but your body’s needs do not, and why eating less does not automatically mean feeling better. With her signature blend of science and clarity, she shares a more supportive way to think about nourishment, strength, and what your body may be asking for during weight loss. Listen in to learn how to support your body wisely while using GLP-1s, so your progress feels good on the inside too.

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Transcript

Speaker 0:00

If you're on a GLP1 weight loss drug or you're thinking about it, this episode is for you. Because while the scale may be going down, your nutrition might be going down with it. You're eating less, that's the whole point of the medication, but less food means less protein, less iron, less B12, less of everything your body runs on. And a lot of women start to feel it. Hair starts shedding, energy drops, the brain gets foggy, weight loss and nourishment are not the same thing. And today we're gonna talk about how to make sure you're getting both. Welcome to Wild is Wise. I'm Sara Estes, a former private investigator who ditched the high stress legal life after a major health crisis. I rebuilt my health from the ground up through nutrition and functional medicine. And now I'm here to uncover the truth about women's wellness and translate it so you can make informed decisions about your health. On this podcast, we break down women's nutrition and physiology with real research and actionable tips. And here's the core philosophy: what's found in nature is often exactly what our biology is wired to thrive on. We get nerdy with the science, but keep it practical for everyday life. If you're ready to understand what your body actually needs, you're in the right place. As always, this podcast is educational, not medical advice. Please talk to your healthcare provider before making any changes. Let's jump in. Today we're talking about GLP1 medications, things like semiglutide, terzepatide, the whole family of weight loss injections, ozembic, wagovi, all of those, because a piece of the story often gets left out, which is nutrient loss. Not just weight loss, but protein, vitamins, and minerals that disappear from your day when your appetite drops. A 2025 review in the journal Nutrients found that across multiple studies, people on GLP1 therapies reduced their calorie intake by roughly 16 to 39%. That's a massive drop. Another 2026 paper in clinical obesity, they reported that more than 60% of GLP1 users were consuming below estimated requirements for calcium and iron, and that vitamin D intake was around 20% of the recommended amount. Protein intake and B vitamins also tended to fall over time. So while the scale may say progress, inside there can be a growing nutrient deficit. Women often feel at first as fatigue, brain fog, hair shedding, muscle weakness, feeling flat or anxious, or just a sense that their body isn't as resilient as it should be. Those are not moral failings. They are often the felt experience of not getting enough high-quality protein and micronutrients that match your new, smaller intake. Let's talk briefly about how GLP1s work in plain language. So these medications mimic a gut hormone that does three main things. It reduces appetite, it slows how quickly food leaves your stomach, and it changes signals in your brain related to craving and fullness. From a weight loss perspective, that's the whole point. You feel fuller faster, you stay fuller longer, and you're less interested in food overall. So for a lot of people, that nagging voice that is pulling them towards food all day just goes completely quiet. And that can feel like a huge relief for people. But there's a catch. When your total food volume drops by 20, 30, even 40%, you're not just cutting out late night snacks, you're cutting out the delivery system for your nutrients. Let's use a house comparison here. If your old four-bedroom stomach had room for everything, some protein, some vegetables, some healthy fats, and yes, some random snacks, on a GLP1, your stomach behaves more like a studio apartment. The square footage is smaller, every bite has to earn its own rent. If you use that limited space on crackers, pastries, or just enough to take the edge off, there literally isn't room left for your protein, your iron, your vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12. Clinical guidance and newer reviews are starting to say this out loud. That nutrients review that I mentioned noted that GLP1 users often end up with insufficient intakes of essential vitamins and minerals, especially when daily calories fall below about 1200 for women. Another paper looking specifically at the micronutrient status in GLP1 users found lower ferritin levels, so lower iron stores compared with people on other diabetes medications, and that more than 60% of GLP1 users were not meeting estimated needs for calcium and iron with vitamin D intake at just 20% of target. I also want to mention a 2025 analysis in Frontiers in Nutrition found that during GLP1 use, average protein intake sat at around 18% of calories, which sounds okay on paper, but it is not enough to protect the lean mass for most people in a calorie-restricted state. The authors recommended 1.2 to 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day to preserve muscle during weight loss. So let's say you weigh 150 pounds. The recommended daily protein intake of 1.2 to 2 grams per kilo of body weight would translate to around 82 grams to 136 grams of protein per day. Now, layer all that on top of being a woman. Women already have higher nutrient demands at baseline because of menstrual cycles, pregnancy and postpartum, and the way our hormones interact with our metabolism. Many women step into GLP1 therapy already a little low on iron, B12, or vitamin D. And when you then drop intake by 20 to 30 percent and you don't deliberately pack those smaller meals with protein and micronutrients, you can move from fine on paper to not very fine, very fast. Women's Health magazine recently ran a whole piece on GLP1 weight loss drugs and hidden nutrition risks. And the experts that they interviewed said something very simple. If you're eating very little, especially if protein is low and you notice unexplained fatigue, muscle weakness, hair loss, or new symptoms after starting the medication, that's your cue to talk to your provider because those are classic signs of nutrient gaps. That lines up with what the researchers see. Calorie intake drops, lean tissue can make up 15 to 40% of the weight loss, and nutrient intake is often not tracked or supported unless someone is really paying attention. So, what do we do with all that information? One really helpful way to think about GLP1 nutrition is to borrow lessons from bariatric surgery without the surgery. Bariatric surgery and GLP1s are very different tools, but they do share one core outcome: less food in. Bariatric guidelines have long emphasized that when you permanently reduce stomach size or change the gut, you create risk for deficiencies in iron, B12, folate, calcium, vitamin D, and the fat-soluble vitamins A, E, and K, unless you compensate with concentrated sources of those nutrients and regular lab monitoring. And newer GLP1 nutrition guidance is starting to echo that. A 2026 study in clinical obesity and a 2025 practical review both warn that GLP1 users are more likely to fall short on protein, iron, B12, vitamin D, calcium, and certain B vitamins and recommend more intentional protein, more nutrient-dense foods, and smart supplementation. The principle is simple: if you keep eating less, your nutrition has to get more concentrated. This is where the whole idea of organ-level nutrition really shines, especially in a GLP world. You've probably heard people call grass-fed beef liver nature's multivitamin, and that is not an exaggeration. Studies measuring nutrients in beef liver and other organs show that gram for gram, they contain far higher levels of vitamin A, B12, folate, riboflavin, iron, zinc, copper, and selenium than muscle meat or most plant foods. One analysis of New Zealand beef found that small portions of liver delivered massive, not toxic, amounts of vitamin A and B12, plus heme iron and highly available copper and zinc in a way that your body recognizes and can use. The problem, of course, is that most people are not going to sit down to eat, you know, liver and onions three times a week, and GLP1 users have even less appetite for big plates of food. When your appetite is blunted or your studio apartment sized stomach fills up fast, it becomes very hard to get that level of nutrient density from food alone. A few capsules of freeze-dried beef organs or a small serving of organ-based concentrate can deliver those vitamins and minerals with almost no volume. That's why beef organ supplements make so much sense here. They act like a nutrient-dense concentrate that fits into tiny appetites. To be clear, this is not about replacing food. It's about recognizing that if your plate has literally shrunk, you need to be strategic about two things what foods you do eat and what concentrated supports you pair it with. For women on GLP1s, the key priorities here are first protein. Aim to make protein the anchor of every meal and snack, even if that meal is small. That might look like eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, tofu, or a well-formulated protein shake if solid foods feel like too much. The goal many experts now suggest for weight loss while preserving muscle is at least that one to two grams of protein per kilo that we talked about. Hitting that target takes planning. Second, color and micronutrients. Fill whatever space you have left with vegetables and some fruit, especially ones rich in vitamin C, folate, and other antioxidants. That might be as simple as a handful of berries, some roasted vegetables, or a small salad. Third, concentrated nutrient support. This is where organ-based supplements are incredibly helpful for GLP1 users. When you can't eat much, but you still need iron, B12, vitamin A, copper, zinc, the full matrix of vitamins to keep your hair, your energy, your teeth, your thyroid, and your immune system happy. A small daily dose of beef organs can help give you that without requiring a giant meal. For women who have a history of low iron or B12, who are seeing hair changes or feel weaker in their workouts as their dose increases, this kind of organ-forward food-derived support can be the difference between I lost weight, but I feel terrible, and I'm losing weight, but I still feel like myself. So if you're on a GLP1 and you're starting to notice that your hair feels thinner, your workouts feel harder, or your brain just feels a little more in the clouds and a little foggier, here's a very simple one to two month experiment you can run with your clinician's blessing. Of course, for the next month or two, every day you take your GLP1, also commit to three things. One, center protein at your first meal. Even if it's small, make it protein forward, like Greek yogurt with some berries, scrambled eggs, a protein smoothie with a scoop you tolerate well. This sets your muscle and your nervous system up for the day. Number two, look at your plate through the nutrient per bite lens. Ask, is there at least one color? Is there some healthy fat to help me absorb fat-soluble vitamins? Is there more than just crackers and toast? If your stomach is gonna get full fast, make each bite count. And number three, add one organ forward supplement daily. Not a giant stack, not 10 new bottles, just one concentrated source of beef organs that deliver iron, B12, vitamin A, and other micronutrients in the forms your body actually uses. At the same time, talk with your provider about checking your ferritin, B12, vitamin D, and maybe your protein intake alongside your A1C and weight. If you've been on a GLP1 for several months and your energy, hair, or mood are changing, those labs can give you real data instead of just guessing and making assumptions. The big mindset shift I want you to take from this episode is this GLP1s change your capacity. They shrink how much food you can or want to fit into a day. And that doesn't automatically equal better health. It just means you've become much more intentional about what goes into that limited space. Weight loss without nourishment is not the win it looks like. You deserve to lose weight if that's your goal, without losing hair and muscle and your sense of self along the way. You deserve to feel supported and not drained. GLP1s can be one tool on that path, but they are not the whole story. Food still matters. Nutrients still matter, and organ-level nutrition still matters as well. Maybe more than ever when your portions shrink. All right, that's it for this episode of Wild is Wise. I hope you found this information helpful and valuable. If you want to stay up to date on new episodes, be sure to follow the podcast on Spotify or Apple. And if you feel so generous, leave us a review. Until next time, stay wild, stay wise. I'll see you next week.