Nutrition support for staying healthy and dealing with unwanted side effects like with weight loss meds is something we love to talk about on the blog.
The wellness brand that we have used for our natural nutrition supplements that bridge the gap of what we don’t get from our foods is the most clinically proven wellness company in the world.
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We also get educated on a lot of health topics by partnering with this company.*
Some of that information we are sharing with you today in regard to nutritional support that can be helpful if you take weight loss meds, GLP-1 agonist medications.
What We Have Learned
First, we did not realize that one in eight American adults have used a GLP-1 agonist medication.
While many (including people I know) have used this medication for many years because they have diabetes or are trying to regulate their blood sugar due to a health challenge, more recently people are using it for weight loss.
People who I know that have used it to help with diabetes have found it to be beneficial.
With weight loss, it is much newer and there are challenges.
It can be helpful to understand how this medication works and if you might benefit from some nutritional support while taking it.
What is GLP-1 medication
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), also known as GLP-1 agonists or GLP-1 analogs, are a class of drugs that is used to manage both weight and blood sugar levels. Some common brand names of GLP-1 medications are Ozempic, Wegovy, and Trulicity. GLP-1 medications are designed to mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which is a hormone naturally released by the gut after eating to help regulate metabolic processes. GLP-1 medications have two main benefits:
- Weight management: GLP-1s slow gastric emptying, which reduces your appetite to support weight loss.
- Glucose control: GLP-1s help increase insulin secretion and decrease glucagon levels, helping to stabilize blood sugar.
Source: go.shaklee.com
Whatever the reason you may take this medication, you may have some challenges.
Challenges
Because of the way GLP-1 meds work in your body, there may be some nutritional gaps that you have.
First, many diets that aren’t well balanced don’t include all the vitamins and minerals your body needs for optimal health.
Second, if you eat less you might not be getting enough nutrients.
Solutions
You want to make sure you are getting the nutrients you need to stay healthy.
If you are not getting them from your food, you can fill the gaps with a natural nutrition food supplement.
What is a balanced meal?
Nutritionists will tell you that your plate should include mostly vegetables and fruit, lean protein, and healthy grains.
One of the first thing we learned when we started on a healthier lifestyle path some four decades ago was that even if we try to eat a well and balanced diet, we still may not be getting all the nutrients we need for our best health.
We strive for optimal health – really feeling strong, energized and healthy every day – over so-so health.
The first way we learned that can fill the nutrient gaps is to take a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral.
We chose the Shaklee multivitamin because it is clinically shown to increase nutrient levels in the blood. This is what I meant by the most clinically proven company – Shaklee does the research and has the clinical proof.
We have learned and personally believe that multivitamins in general help you to round out your meals by giving you the nutrition you aren’t getting in your food.*
Your Gut
We have personally seen one of the side effects that taking GLP-1 medications can do in terms of your digestion system.
They can make your stomach hurt, cause nausea, give you indigestion, and make you vomit.
We understand that this medication slows down the process of your stomach emptying the food you eat and also have you eat less.
This affects your gut microbiome, and truthfully the way we understand it, it’s not certain what these meds used for weight loss are going to do long-term to your health.
Some people who are very over weight and obese may not have other alternatives that will work for them.
Personally, we’re not sure there is enough known about the health consequences of using GLP-1s for as many people who are deciding to go this route.
From what we understand you may have to take it for the rest of your life. The cost is high in terms of dollars, but what about health.
Digestive Health
There are ways to support your gut if you’re taking these meds and if you’re not.
We take a gut supplement every day, in the form of probiotics and prebiotics.
There are many factors in our lifestyle today that challenge our gut microbiome and so much research showing that a lot of our health comes from our gut.
So why not take GOOD CARE of your gut!
You should have a good balance of both good and bad bacteria in your gut. This can be hard.
There are also so many gastrointestinal health challenges today. Those doctors are super busy!
Probiotics and prebiotics are beneficial to both parts of your body.
We try to eat foods that help. Examples are:
Fiber-rich foods: asparagus, bananas, apples, dandelion greens, onions, barley, and oats
Probiotic Foods: fermented vegetables, yogurt, miso, kombucha, and tempeh
And we also believe for the same reason that we take that multi-vitamin to bridge the gaps that it is beneficial to me to take a probiotic supplement to make sure we are giving our gut and intestines enough to help me stay healthy.
We get both a probiotic and prebiotic in Good Gut & Go. A bonus is that it is a drink you can easily mix at home with water or take along with you in the convenient stick – and it tastes so good!
Optiflora DI is another probiotic and it is clinically proven for digestive balance and comfort.
Muscle
Another nutrition challenge you have when taking GLP-1 agonist medications is that when you lose weight, you may be losing muscle right along with fat.
There are all kinds of challenges with losing muscle including to burn calories.
Protein is key to muscles and most Americans don’t get enough of it. Most don’t have the challenges of these medications but still don’t eat enough protein daily.
We take a protein supplement to make sure that we get enough and also to add lean, low calorie protein into the mix. The Shaklee protein we take is a complete protein, meaning it has all of the amino acids and it also has leucine for maintaining lean muscle.
We have taken the Soy version for over 40 years. Dr. Shaklee developed the very first protein isolate supplement in the country and believed in the health benefits of the soy formulation he made.
The way we understand it, most of the reasons why soy is not preferred are because of the way it is processed which results in some negative health claims that we are not sure were ever definitively proven to be true.
Shaklee has a unique way to clean and process soy beans and stands behind the efficacy, although they have also developed a non-soy, plant based protein with all amino acids and leucine to give people the option if they really are against soy.
If you are looking for low calorie, high quality protein options, we invite you to consider these. They are also complete meals with all of the nutrition included that you would find in a meal.
The commitment to science, clinical testing and research, and always verifying a product will work before selling it are some of the reasons why we have used Shaklee products for so long and what sets the brand apart from many.
They do not manufacture a hot product that gets attention and most every brand quickly brings a product to market.
It can take years (and years and years) for Shaklee to develop a nutritional product.*
Shaklee shared the following as part of the information they provided to help us learn about this subject:
‡Individuals who have been prescribed a GLP-1 agonist medication need to manage their usage of this medication with the prescribing physician. Shaklee is not endorsing these medications but simply offering information and nutrition product suggestions that may be helpful for supporting nutritional needs during weight loss.
The natural nutrition brand we recommend here on the blog are products we have personally used for the past 43+ years. We are not medical professionals. We are on a personal health journey to live younger, energized and healthy longer.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.