Weight Loss Injections

Last week a drug rep came to see us in our GP practice. Drug reps come relatively frequently and it’s their job to tell us about new medications that come on the market and advise us on recent research. Last week it was the turn of the Diabetes rep and he had a new drug on the market – a new addition to the expanding family of medications licensed as weight loss injections. Or for us medics; a GLP1.

Great news for those with diabetes and the potential for those wanting to lose weight is great too. These new injections lower the blood sugars, but also lead to weight loss which of course decreases the blood sugars even further!

Then why do I have mixed feelings?
To be totally honest I feel conflicted

On one hand this is great because we want patients to have lower blood sugar and here we have a medication that does just that with weight loss. Amazing!

However, a big part of me is sceptical. Much of my days as a GP is advising people about side-effects of tablets, or organising blood tests to monitor kidney/liver function tests because tablets can do harm. And I know these particular group of medications make people feel nauseous and full…this is of course exactly how they work!

Can this medication really change everything? Do we want to be a nation of tablet takers?

At the moment the license for weight loss is only for two years – what happens then?

I don’t know. 

The irony of course is that these injections mimic the effects of naturally occurring hormones. The ‘incretins’ keep you full after a meal. But did you know by tweaking what you eat, or the order you eat food..you can amplify the same impact?!

And did you know the exact food that triggers these hormones (the one’s that keep you full) is protein?

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs cause the same hormone release as the weight loss injection.

Our bodies do have sensors inside our gut to let our brain’s know when we’ve had enough food…it’s just that we’re not using them!

Our sensors are looking for fat and protein…it is carbs that we struggle to detect. And what do we mostly fill our plates with…you’ve got it..carbs!! This is why we have portion size recommendations. 

If we increased the amount of protein we ate every meal (try to aim for 20g as a starting point) we would lose weight? This is especially effective if you also lowered the carbs!

And not just that; protein helps cell repair, prevent osteoporosis, sarcopenia (weak muscles), helps our immune system and much more..

And if you ate protein as the first part of your meal then you would end up eating a smaller amount overall than if you ate the carbs for example first!!

This makes more sense to me; using food as medicine, and using food cleverly to manipulate natural processes in your body is what I’m all about!

I do have a quick reference guide about protein which might help you work out how much to add to each meal.

Click this link to see what 20g of protein looks like.

Dr Nerys Frater

Ps If you found that useful you may be interested to join our Masterclasses where we’ll be discussing the macronutrients; protein, fat and carbs and understanding how a change in the ratio of these can unlock weight loss, lower the blood sugars and give you a better understanding of the hacks that work.