Can we talk GLP-1 drugs?
Nov 03, 2025
A lot has unfolded since last week! A new definition of obesity has just been released; nearly 70% of Americans now fall into that category. According to The New York Times, the government (forehead slap) may soon subsidize GLP-1 prescriptions, allowing some to pay as little as $159 a month. On the surface, it sounds promising until you look deeper. Most people stop these medications within two years, often due to side effects like gastrointestinal distress (including bowel obstruction), nutrient deficiencies, or hair loss. Even more concerning, studies show that about two-thirds regain the weight they lost and lose up to 40% of their lean muscle within a year of discontinuation.
So, is the answer really an endless cycle of heavy-hitting meds?
In September at the Mindshare conference, I sat next to the brilliant and kind Dr. Ashley Lucas of PhD Weight Loss, whose programs have helped thousands lose weight. Straight away, I asked if she uses GLP-1s. She smiled and said, “No, and I don’t plan to.”
Her reason? She’s seen too many complications, for all the same reasons I listed above:
- Severe hair loss
- Obstructed bowels
- Slowed metabolism and rebound weight gain after ending the medication*
- Expensive to maintain long-term
- Significant loss of lean muscle mass*
Personally, it's been a mixed bag with my clients, nutrient deficiencies being a particularly notable outcome of GLP-1 use. As a consummate advocate of patient choice, I want you to be informed as much as possible, but if you’re here, you likely value natural, sustainable health solutions. If weight loss is one of your health goals, here’s the exact order of operations I’d follow:
- Health & Wellness Coaching — Optimize sleeping well, mindful awareness, eating healthy, reducing sugary drinks, being active, and getting stronger for more sustainable behavior-change results.
- Intermittent Fasting — 12:12, 16:8, 24-hour fasts once per month. Cycling ladies, check out Dr. Mindy Pelz's fasting cycle theories.
- Functional Nutrition Counseling — Identify gene markers (like FTO SNPs) and use nature’s Ozempic, dihydroberberine, to calm the leptin and ghrelin hormones. Oral peptides are also used at this level.
- Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) — Maintain results or taper off medications safely while supporting a microbiome and metabolic reset.
- Personalized Supervision — Partner with a licensed provider for peptide therapy (microdosing injections), bHRT, and don't skip the foundations of #1.
Natural Metabolic Support: Dihydroberberine
What if there was a plant compound that offered many of the same benefits of the weight loss meds, without injections, prescriptions, or the price tag?
Dihydroberberine (a highly absorbable form of berberine, 5x more effective) supports:
- Lower blood sugar and improved insulin sensitivity
- Enhanced fat burning and metabolic flexibility
- Better energy, cholesterol, and inflammation balance
This formula is customized to your DNA, especially if you have FTO SNPs (like me and many clients) and naturally calms leptin and ghrelin (your hunger and satiety hormones). *It's important to take your full therapeutic dose to reap the daily benefits.
👉Order your DNA Test kit and save $50 on a genetic interpretation consultation.
Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) for a True Reset
If you’ve followed a Mediterranean-style diet, want to prevent metabolic disease, or taper off your weight loss medication, the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet offers the benefits of fasting without deprivation. You eat real food, stay nourished, and still activate cellular renewal.
Professionally, for clients with metabolic disease, think Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, or those with over 100 pounds to lose, I’d refer them to a licensed provider who offers microdosing approaches and builds in a clear exit plan. This is where L-Nutra’s Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) comes in for sustainable weight loss for those aged 18-80 years old.
Better Than the Mediterranean Diet?
Real breakthroughs come from behavior change and root-cause work. If you want to explore why, consider that twenty days of Prolon equals 120 days of the Mediterranean Diet in terms of metabolic benefit. It’s one of the few interventions clinically tested as part of a safe taper-off plan for weight loss drugs. Watch the expert interview below, and we've chaptered it on YouTube to make it easy to jump to your area of interest.
In just 5 days, you can experience:
- Metabolic flexibility and reduced visceral fat
- Cellular cleanup (autophagy)
- Better energy, mood, and motivation
I’ve completed four Prolon fasts myself this year and love how it helps balance my gut and reset my hunger cues as someone with FTO SNPs.
Consider bringing in Prolon's FMD to your workplace wellness program. Book a call for details.
Your Metabolic Support & Weight Loss Plan
Persistent organic pollutants (a.k.a. toxins) may be fueling the rise in metabolic syndrome and obesity. These fat-soluble toxins are stored in adipose tissue and released during weight loss, making proper detox sequencing essential.
If you want to start planning your whole-system reset and finally get to the root cause, book a call with me and together, we’ll design a personalized plan that fits your health goals and lifestyle, so you can step into the new year fully in charge of your health.
👉Order your FMD kit and save up to 30% with my practitioner code.
*People regain an average of two-thirds (2/3) of the weight they lost after they discontinue the medication. The weight is back on within 8-52 weeks. New research from Jan of 2025 shows GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide or tirzepatide can strip away 20 years' worth of muscle in under 18 months. It's an alarming side effect of rapid weight loss. That's not success, it's just another "thing" that doesn't work and that can have long-term drawbacks.
Sources:
Chou, R. et al. Meta-Analysis of Weight Regain After Discontinuation of Anti-Obesity Medications. BMC Medicine, 2025. Found significant regain between 8–52 weeks after stopping GLP-1 RAs.
Mechanick JI, Butsch WS, Christensen SM, Hamdy O, Li Z, Prado CM, Heymsfield SB. Strategies for minimizing muscle loss during use of incretin-mimetic drugs for treatment of obesity. Obes Rev. 2025 Jan;26(1):e13841. doi: 10.1111/obr.13841. Epub 2024 Sep 19. PMID: 39295512; PMCID: PMC11611443.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11611443/
Mishra, S., Brandhorst, S., Longo, V. D., & Lucchin, L. (2023). Fasting mimicking diet cycles versus a Mediterranean diet and cardiometabolic risk in overweight and obese hypertensive subjects: A randomized clinical trial. npj Metabolic Health and Disease, 1(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44324-023-00001-y
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. (2024, September). Ozempic and thyroid cancer: What you should know. https://www.roswellpark.org/cancertalk/202409/ozempic-thyroid-cancer
Epocrates. (2025, November 5). New obesity definition pushes U.S. prevalence near 70%. https://www.epocrates.com/online/contextuallink/article/new-obesity-definition-pushes-u-s-prevalence-near-70
TL;DR:
At the Mindshare Conference, Dr. Ashley Lucas of PhD Weight Loss shared why she avoids GLP-1 medications like Ozempic; she’s seen too many complications: severe hair loss, slowed metabolism, bowel obstruction, muscle loss, and rapid weight regain after stopping. New research confirms that most users regain two-thirds of their lost weight within a year and can lose decades of muscle mass in under 18 months.
Instead of relying on short-term fixes, I recommend a sustainable, root-cause approach: start with health coaching to optimize foundational habits, explore intermittent fasting and functional nutrition counseling, and use natural metabolic supports like dihydroberberine—nature’s version of Ozempic. For a deeper metabolic reset, try the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) to boost energy, reduce inflammation, and restore hunger balance.
Both dihydroberberine and FMD can support long-term weight and metabolic health without the risks of GLP-1s, helping you lose weight while protecting your lean muscle, energy, and longevity.