In our body, there’s a tiny but powerful hormone called Glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, that plays a big role in letting our brain know it’s full. When you eat, especially foods rich in carbohydrates, your intestine releases GLP-1 like a little messenger that tells your body to slow down the emptying of your stomach. This makes you feel full and helps control how much you eat.
GLP-1 also has a few more important jobs including telling the pancreas to release insulin, which helps lower your blood sugar levels. It also increases feelings of fullness so you will eat less.
How Does GLP-1 Help with Obesity and Diabetes?
Over the past 35 years, scientists have studied GLP-1 and discovered its many benefits. Because of its ability to control the appetite and manage blood sugar, GLP-1 has been developed into a medication to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. In fact, it’s considered one of the best treatments for obesity and is recommended for people with type 2 diabetes who also have a high risk of heart disease.
Aside from regulating insulin release in the pancreas, there are other ways GLP-1 works in the human body.
- GLP-1 can help protect your heart by preventing or slowing down a condition called atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in and on the artery walls. It also helps lower blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels.
- GLP-1 also stops your liver from releasing too much stored sugar into your bloodstream.
- GLP-1 can help you lose weight by working in your brain to control your appetite and how much food you eat.
By keeping your blood sugar and weight in check, GLP-1 helps you avoid serious health problems in the future.
How Does GLP-1 Help with Weight Loss?
When it comes to losing weight, GLP-1 medications make you feel less hungry, so you eat less without feeling like you’re starving. This reduction in food and calorie intake leads to weight loss.
If you’re taking a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic or Wegovy, you’ll likely notice a decrease in hunger. You’ll eat less, and as a result, lose weight. Research on semaglutide, a common GLP-1 drug, shows that people feel full faster and have fewer cravings. They also find themselves thinking about food less often.
GLP-1 Drugs for Weight Loss
The FDA states that around 70% of American adults are overweight or obese. Losing just 5% to 10% of your body weight can greatly reduce a person’s health risks like heart disease. There are several GLP-1 drugs that are now available to help with weight loss and type 2 diabetes. Some of the popular ones are:
Wegovy (semaglutide)
Approved for weight management in adults who are clinically obese or overweight. Administered weekly via subcutaneous injections.
Zepbound (tirzepatide)
Used for weight management in obese or overweight adults, as well as for treating type 2 diabetes under the brand name Mounjaro. Administered weekly via subcutaneous injections.
Rybelsus (semaglutide)
Approved to improve blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes, and used off-label for weight loss. Taken daily as an oral tablet.
Ozempic (semaglutide)
You’re probably familiar with Ozempic. It’s approved for controlling blood sugar in type 2 diabetics and also used off-label for weight loss in people without diabetes. Administered weekly via subcutaneous injections.
Any and all of these medications should be used along with lifestyle changes, including exercise and diet.
New Discoveries About GLP-1
A study led by Prof. Daniel Drucker at Sinai Health’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute found a new role for GLP-1 in the brain. They discovered a gut-brain-immune network that controls inflammation in the body.
The researchers found that GLP-1 drugs reduce said inflammation, which can lead to organ damage if left unchecked. Inflammation usually occurs when the immune system fights off foreign agents like viruses and bacteria, but chronic inflammation can persist without an external cause.
Drucker’s team discovered that GLP-1 drugs interact with GLP-1 receptors function in the brain to reduce the inflammation, even in organs that don’t have many GLP-1 receptors. They found that blocking these brain receptors in mice stopped the anti-inflammatory effects of GLP-1 drugs, which basically proves that there’s a GLP-1-brain-immune axis controlling inflammation throughout the body.