Quick Fixes For Weight Loss Or Diabetes

“Losing weight does not make you healthy.  Artificially lowering your blood sugar without fixing the issue that caused the insulin sensitivity in the first place will not give you better outcomes in the long term.  The research just does not support this.”

Introduction:

I’m not one to sugar coat things or make the truth more palatable.  My intention is never to be unkind or hurtful.  Rather, I just don’t have the patience for dancing around a topic.  Time is precious to me and quite limited, so it makes more sense for me to be concise but thorough as I answer the questions my clients, friends, and family ask.

With that in mind, I’d like to share with you answers to two of the questions I’ve been asked over the last few days.

Semaglutide and Tirzepatide:

First, what are my thoughts on the new weight loss or anti-diabetic injections?  This client was referring specifically to semaglutide (Ozempic), which is a GLP-1 receptor agonist and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) which is a dual agonist acting on both GIP receptors and GLP-1 receptors.

Contrary to what you may think, I am not anti-medicine or anti-doctor.  I love our healthcare providers and am proud to have worked among them for over 26 years.  However, there are no quick fixes without consequences.  Every choice you make has either a positive or a negative consequence and you are fooling yourself if you choose to believe otherwise.

Choosing these medications in place of addressing the root cause of your diabetes or obesity will equate a negative consequence.  I cannot predict what that consequence will be, but I am confident that you will not gain the outcome you are hoping for by choosing either of these medications.

But Theresa, what if it helps me lose weight?  Or lower my blood sugar?  Isn’t that a good thing?

Maybe in the short term.  Maybe.  But those are just symptoms of a much larger problem. 

Losing weight does not make you healthy.  Artificially lowering your blood sugar without fixing the issue that caused the insulin sensitivity in the first place will not give you better outcomes in the long term.  The research just does not support this.

I encourage you to redefine what being healthy really means.  The numbers on a scale are not sole predictors of health.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  If your body does not have the right nutrition at a cellular level, you will still be sick.  It is more important to fix the underlying causes and then trust your body to balance itself once it has been given what it needs to fix itself.

Let me give you an example.  When you fix your gut and improve the ratio of good bacteria versus harmful bacteria, your short chain fatty acids are able to activate the production of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) which affects satiety or how full you feel.  This is one of the big selling points of Ozempic and Mounjaro. 

When you support adequate digestion and detoxify your liver, limiting the harmful things that make it difficult for these two things to function properly, your bile acids will be able to function the way they were designed.  Proper bile acid signaling increases the release of GLP-1.

There are also targeted practitioner-grade supplements that increase the activation of GLP-1 without the potential adverse side effects of drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro.  I can teach you more about these if you're interested.

If you are considering taking one of these drugs, be sure to read the warnings and understand the potential side effects and possible drug interactions.

Fad Diets and Processed Foods:

The second question I researched and answered in the last few days concerned a popular health program that encourages people to consume a low-calorie diet by eating 5 meals a day from processed foods that are shipped to their home and then preparing a low-calorie meal heavy in animal products for dinner.

Low-calorie diets involve the participant consuming a low amount of calories. When you do this, you lose weight. However, there are consequences associated with consuming a low-calorie diet. The most concerning consequences are muscle loss and multiple nutrient deficiencies.

"Dietary intake must include the minimum basic building blocks and key nutrients to prevent deficiency-related diseases." - Dr. Thomas Guilliams

There are also negative consequences associated with consuming lots of animal products, such as the effects of TMAO, endotoxins, a disruption to the microbiome, and the the gunking up of your insulin receptors.

Let me ask you this question.  Why do you eat?  What is the purpose of eating?

I explain this in detail inside my 90-day program but here is the short answer.  Your body needs not only the calories and glucose for fuel, but also the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, phytonutrients, and fiber from the food you eat.  Without these things, you will experience negative consequences. 

That’s not my opinion or some holistic mumbo jumbo.  It’s just truth.  

Your cells need these things and without them, they will attempt to compensate.  This may work for a while, but the deficiencies will manifest in other ways.  New symptoms will develop, all related to the lack of proper vitamins, minerals, nutrients, phytonutrients, and fiber from the foods you should have been eating. 

Here is an image of a product label from the health program I researched for a client. 

As you can see, there are very few recognizable food ingredients.  Soy protein isolate is a heavily processed version of soy and is typically a genetically modified version (GMO) of soy.  GMO foods often contain a higher concentration of glyphosate which is a chemical commonly used as a pesticide.

The next three ingredients are forms of sugar, then cocoa, then polydextrose.  Did you know that Dupont is one of the big manufacturers of this synthetic, non-digestible, complex carbohydrate made of glucose?

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the remaining ingredients, but I teach my clients that if you cannot readily picture ingredients in your mind as you read them, then perhaps they should not be considered to be food.

And if you haven't read the China Study by T. Colin Campbell yet, who explains the relationship between the casein protein and cancer, you might want to do so.

And should you be consuming any processed food at all?  Much less five processed meals a day? 

Also, if the label says bioengineered food, maybe reconsider?

If you’re interested in really getting healthy, I may be able to help you.  My approach is not a quick fix and requires effort on your part, but it works.  It is also evidence-based and will give you long-term, lasting results.  I’m happy to talk with you and answer any questions you may have.  Just send me a message.

References

Soy Protein Isolate:  https://www.wellandgood.com/should-you-avoid-soy-protein-isolate/#:~:text=Soy%20isolate%20protein%20is%20probably,with%20pesticides%2C%22%20says%20Middleberg

Polydextrose: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037538/

Glycerol: https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4720

Fructose: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-is-fructose-bad-for-you

GLP-1 Agonists for Type 2 Diabetes: https://www.verywellhealth.com/glp1-receptor-agonists-4134034

Ozempic: https://online.epocrates.com/drugs/797810/Ozempic/Monograph

Ozempic: https://www.ozempic.com

Semaglutide: https://www.pdr.net/drug-summary/Ozempic-semaglutide-24167

Mounjaro: https://www.pdr.net/resources/edrug-updates/jun2022?month=June&year=2022

Mounjaro: https://www.mounjaro.com

The China Study: https://nutritionstudies.org/the-china-study/

Buy the China Study on Amazon with my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3Q9ZG0l

Dr. Thomas Guilliams - Supplementing Dietary Nutrients: https://www.pointinstitute.org/product/supplementing-dietary-nutrients-second-edition/