Newsletter 10 - Positive GLP-1 Success Requires Adequate Hydration and Protein Intake

During the weight loss process with GLP-1s, because of its action on the brain’s satiety centers to decrease appetite and hunger and reduce food intake, it is important to consume adequate fluids and adequate protein. GLP-1 weight loss is about 75% from fat and about 25% from lean muscle tissue. This is the reason why so many successful individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight look thinner, more stressed and older but not healthier.

Hydration - Without drinking at least 60 to 80 ozs. of water each day individuals tend to suffer from headaches, fatigue, muscle cramps, dizziness, weakness and have dry rough skin. Hydration is necessary for the liver to metabolize excess fat and then excrete toxic waste products through the kidneys. Drinking adequate water doesn’t add extra fat while dieting, but extra carbohydrates and salt can retain and hold onto this extra fluid, often referred to as edema, to cause the scale to increase but not the waist size from fat.

Protein - Without eating at least 4 to 8 ozs. of protein (eggs, red meat, fish, fowl, soy, etc.), depending on one’s height, weight, and health, each day while dieting, individuals can lose lean muscle mass, lose facial structure and have a wasting of muscle tissue throughout the body. When taking a GLP-1 medication, aim for 0.6 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of your goal body weight daily. This roughly translates to eating at least 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal.

Losing excess fat is definitely helpful for enhancing metabolic health by reducing blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugars, and specific inflammatory hormones that are linked to certain cancers, but losing lean muscle tissue from dieting and not consuming adequate protein and water may make the body thinner, but weaker, fatigued, gaunt with muscle and skin sagging, but not healthier.