9 Natural Appetite Suppressants Better Than Ozempic

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I'm JJ Virgin, PhD dropout. Sorry mom turned four time New York Times Best selling author. Yes, I'm a certified Nutrition Specialist, Fitness hall of Famer and I speak at health conferences and trainings around the globe. But I'm driven by my insatiable curiosity and love of science to keep asking questions, digging for answers and sharing the information I uncover with as many people as I can. And that's why I created the well Beyond 40 podcast to synthesize and simplify the science of health into actionable strategies to help you thrive. In each episode we'll talk about what's working in the world of wellness, from personalized nutrition and healing your metabolism to healthy aging and prescriptive fitness. Join me on the journey to better health so you can love how you look and feel right now and have the energy to play full out at 100.

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You to suspicious texts, emails and deepfake videos. Learn more@mcafee.com online protection Ozempic may be the hot new weight loss drug, but it's not your only option for controlling cravings and hunger. It if you want to skip the expensive injections and the potential side effects by harnessing the power of these nine natural appetite suppressants, then tune in because I'm revealing Mother Nature's best kept secrets for crushing hunger and shedding weight more effortlessly. And of course, the first one. Wait for it. It's gotta be protein. So there was a 2020 systemic review and meta analysis that was published in Physiology Behavior that found that eating protein can help you make help make you feel less hungry. In fact, when people had protein, they felt less hungry, they didn't want to eat as much and they felt fuller for longer. It also showed that protein can lower levels of a hormone called ghrelin. This is a hormone produced in your stomach that makes you feel hungry. And check it out. It increased levels of hormones like GLP1 and something called cholecystokinin CCK. These things work to make you feel full. This is what Osembek and Moon.

And.

It was especially true when people ate at least 35 grams of protein. There's another 2020 systemic review and analysis of randomized controlled trials that was published in Physiology and Behavior Journal where researchers found that consuming protein can reduce hunger, lower levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin and increased levels of appetite suppressing hormones like CCK and GLP1. And protein also increases PYY, that's peptide YY, which also reduces appetite. So I mean there's massive amounts of research out there showing the positive effects of protein as a way is basically kind of like nature's osynpic, right? We know that when you eat, when you eat certain foods and a lot of foods, you're going to raise GLP1. But protein is the biggie. Plus remember, not just is it doing this, is it improving both satiety and cravings. You also get a thermic effect from protein more than you do from carbs. And fat. About 20 to 30% of the calories from protein when you eat it are utilized in metabolizing it, in assimilating it in muscle protein synthesis. Compare that to basically negligible for fat. You eat fat, it's very easy to store it as fat. And carbohydrates. You use about 5 to 10%. So there you go. That alone, if all you did was take some of the food that you were eating from carbs or fat and replace it with protein, not only would you not be as hungry, but you'd also have a little bit better metabolic effect. The other thing that protein is key for is muscle preservation. Here's the thing, you've probably heard about these drugs causing muscle wasting. It's actually not the drugs, it's the diet. If you look at any poorly designed diet caloric restriction with not optimal protein, it can cause anywhere from 25 to 50% muscle loss. We know that protein helps maintain muscle mass during weight loss and supporting metabolism, which is really important because that can help prevent that metabolic adaptation that you hear about where at the end of the diet your metabolism is lower than it should be. So maintaining or better yet, increasing muscle as you're losing fat is key. So what do we do with this information? Make sure that you're eating protein first. The reason I have people eat protein first is then I know that they got it in because when you eat it first, you're not going to be as hungry. You'll make better food choices. You'll have that better thermic effect of food. So I have a an eat protein first challenge. It's seven days and free that you can grab@jjvirgin.com seven day number seven. And it will take you through exactly how to do this and calculate how much protein you need. Now we know that protein and fiber work together and raise up GLP1. So fiber is the next one. There was a study in 2022. It was a review article published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition that explained how dietary fiber helps control appetite. Now, there's a variety of ways it does this. It increases satiety because it promotes a feeling of fullness. It reduces overall intake, calorie intake. Because of this, it also slows digestion. Now we know GLP1 slows digestion. Well, fiber does this too. And what's great about this is it's a very great way to keep your blood sug balance because that means you're going to get a more gradual release of glucose into the bloodstream. It also lowers ghrelin levels. And if ghrelin's high, you're hungry. This is a hormone made in the stomach that tells your body to eat when you have fiber. It slows down stomach emptying and it helps keep those ghrelin levels low so it's not stimulating hunger. And of course, like I mentioned, it enhances your GLP1 secretion just like protein can. Not only is it enhancing the secretion of GLP1, it also does CCK and PYY, the other hormones I mentioned that all reduce hunger and improve satiety. And one of the best ways that you can support good blood sugar control is of course increasing the fiber in your diet because fiber helps stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent those hunger spikes and cravings. And that is not all, of course. It also is great for your gut microbiome. Fermentable fiber specifically supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, which can produce short chain fatty acids that support again, the production of GLP1 and PYY. And one other thing it does is it adds some bulk to your diet, which is fantastic because now you're going to feel full without the extra calories. And that bulk also helps you with increasing your transit time through your gut. It helps detoxify you. It's good for getting your cholesterol levels where they need to be. So I've got a great little sheet that I'll put in the show notes on my top fiber foods. But I'll tell you a couple of them. I love berries for the win. I try to eat 2 cups of berries every single day. Legumes can be another great one and one you might not have thought about. That's really great in fiber. Avocado. So not only is avocado got great fish fats and it's got glutathione. It's a rich fiber source too. So look at how you can get your fiber levels. The turns out the average American's eating somewhere in the 5 to 14 grams a day. We want to be hitting 30 grams and up. Look how you can do that. And if you're using the Cronometer app, which I love to do, you can actually track your fiber intake too. If you're starting low, make sure that you increase over time, not overnight. And, and that you also are getting in plenty of water, which is my next tip for you, is water. Now water is such an easy one. Drinking water before a meal can help you eat less, help you feel more full, help you reduce overall food intake. Now I will tell you full Disclosure, one of the things I've changed my mind on is I used to tell people, do not drink water during the meals because it can impair digestion and lower stomach acid. Not true. Reversed my opinion on this. Went and I went and dug into all the research. It turns out that it's the opposite. Water can help break down food. It can allow for better absorption of nutrients and slow down digestion, which is what GLP1 does too, right. It also can reduce calorie intake. And here's why. If you're drinking, and I hope you're not, because the last thing we want to do is drink our sugar, right? But if you're drinking any high calorie drinks, just swap it out with water or sparkling water. And I love my sparkling water and I'll throw in some of my electro replenish and it just tastes like a soda. And that is how you can reduce your overall calorie consumption and you won't even miss it. And we also know, of course, that water can improve the secretion of GLP1 and it also supports a healthy metabolism. It's crazy that when you look at mild dehydration, what it can do to your metabolism. Mild dehydration can slow down metabolism, raise stress hormones, and actually it can cause your body to take glycogen from the liver, convert it to fructose and store it as fat, which is absolutely not the way you want to go with this. It also one other thing that happens with water is, of course, we talked about it so often, we are not hungry, we're thirsty. It's like we've got this overactive hunger mechanism and an underactive thirst mechanism. So always try drinking water first. When you feel like you're hungry, have a glass of water or two and see what happens. And you can always throw a little bit of fiber into that water as well. Because one of the cool things with water is you got no calories there. Water's going to add volume without the calories. You'll feel full without having added in extra energy. There was a 2014 study that was published in the Journal of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine that found that 50 overweight females who drank 500 milliliters of water 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch and dinner. Right? That's what they started with. And then this was in addition to their regular water consumption. They did this for eight consecutive weeks and they experienced a reduction in body weight, body fat, body mass index, and they also had appetite suppression. That's all they did. I love it when you can add before you take away. So my recommendation is half your body weight. If your body weight's in pounds, half your body weight in ounces. If you're in kilograms, then just your body weight in ounces and then add in a half to one ounce for every minute of exercise. And that's real exercise. You go to the gym for an hour and you really worked out for 30, 30, if it's hot, add a little bit more. And then I like to do electrolytes in at least one or two of my servings of water each day as well. So I use my electroreplinish one to two times a day too. Now something that I become a little bit obsessive on is allulose. Mainly because I met the guys who created Rx sugar and they showed me all the research on this amazing rare sugar. So allulose is this low calorie sweetener. In fact, it's got 0.4 grams calories per gram. And so really it's not absorbed, it's negligible calories. That gives you the sweetness of sugar. And what's cool is it doesn't raise blood sugar. So you don't get the calories, you don't raise blood sugar. In fact, it actually has the opposite effect. It's really interesting. What happens with RX sugar is you can take 10 to 15 grams of RX sugar. Remember, you won't really get any calories before you eat and it actually can lower the blood sugar response to your meal. The other thing that they found with this, and it has to be in the right amount, about 10 to 14, 10 to 15 grams, is that it can enhance GLP1 secretion. In fact, studies suggest that allulose can cause the release of GLP1 just like as if you were eating. And what's cool is it really doesn't get in there and do any kind of disruption of the gut bacteria because some of these other sweeteners really don't do well with your gut and in fact can make you have a lot of gas that does not happen here. So you're not going to have any of those digestive issues, issues that you might feel with some of these other sweeteners out there. So there was a 2022 study that was published in the Nutrients Journal that found that allulose suppress hunger associated feeding in mice and inhibits hunger promoting neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, which could be great and possibly counteract obesity and diabetes. So I tell you what, I'll do And here's what's interesting. I don't really like stuff sweet that much, but I have made it a point to use RX sugar. And so I got all of their syrups. They have vanilla and chocolate and caramel. I mean, so these are amazing. And they have plain. So sometimes I'll make like a mocha in the morning with my coffee or I'll put it into my smoothie. So I get my 10 to 15 grams there. The other thing I like to do is they have these things called Swelthy snacks and they are fiber and allulose. So a great thing for GLP1 and dark chocolate. And that might be my little chocolate treat for the day. They have those in caramel and vanilla and mint chocolate and chocolate. They are amazing. In fact, I'm going on a long trip and I'm taking boxes of them with me. So give that one a try. And the dosing to get that GLP one effect is about 10 to 15 grams. You can also cook with it. So it's been how I've been making my different like dairy free cheesecakes and puddings and my avocado mousse. I've been using allulose. So give that one a try. Now I was at the anti aging conference, a forum conference last year and I heard a lecture on Akkermansia. It was the company pendulum and they did a lecture on Akkermansia. And the minute I heard this lecture I was like, okay, this is in my regimen. So it is a probiotic strain that can promote the secretion of GLP1. And I've been really thinking about this going, why is, why is, why are these drugs working so well? And could it be that we are not producing GLP1 like we need to? Because GLP1 does a whole host of great things in the body beyond just, you know, the satiety signaling. And turns out that if you're insulin resistant, if you've got fatty liver, which we now know 25% of people do, most people don't know they do. If you've got any kind of poor metabolic health, you're obese, you will have impaired GLP1 secretion. So this is one of those ways I look at and go, you could rehab your gut using Akkermansia. It's got beyond raising GLP1, it's got a bunch of other benefits. Improves your gut barrier function. So it can help with leaky gut, it can lower inflammation, it can help get your gut microbiome healthy, and it can improve metabolic function and reduce fat storage. So I am all in on this one. I've been taking it since last December. There was a 2019 randomized double blind placebo controlled pilot study that was published in Nature Medicine that examined how taking Akkermansia muciniphila affected metabolic parameters like insulin sensitivity and body weight. And while the study didn't stress specifically focus on appetite control, the improvements in insulin sensitivity and reductions in body weight suggest that supplementation with Akkermansia might indirectly influence appetite by affecting metabolic processes related to hunger and satiety. For example, improved insulin sensitivity could help regulate blood sugar levels, which might affect appetite regulation. And additionally, body weight and fat mass reductions could change change appetite and food intake over time. Now, the other one that I started taking alongside Akkermansia, I was at another conference in February. I was speaking at something called the Integrative Healthcare Symposium, a great conference in New York City. In February, I met the founder of this company, Calicurb. Turns out that in New Zealand the government worked on this product for 10 years. They spent $30 million on this and it was a blend of bitter hops. And what they discovered was that it acted like a GLP1, but short acting. Where you take a GLP1, it can be in there for a week with a semaglutide or one of those with keeping GLP1 up. This will work for a couple of hours, but a couple of hours is pretty amazing. So they had a 2019 randomized control trial that was published in Nutrients that found that taking these bitter hops extract, this is what they have the patent on, during a 24 hour water only fast, significantly reduced hunger. The study involved 30 men who fasted for 24 hours on the same day each week for three weeks. During the fast they were given either a placebo or this bitter hops extract, which again is that active ingredient in calicob twice a day. And those who took the bitter hops extract felt significantly less hungry during the later hours of fasting compared to those who took the placebo. Additionally, the usual increase in hunger around lunchtime was absent in those taking the bitter hops extract. So we know that it increases satiety, it can help with feelings of fullness and reduce overall calorie intake. And it stimulates GLP1 secretion and it also reduces ghrelin levels. And those are the hunger hormones produced in the stomach that of course when they're produced, they trigger hunger. It also can improve blood sugar control because it can help regulate blood sugar levels and prevent Those roller coaster spikes and crashes that will also increase hunger and cravings. But what's also cool is that inheritance enhances digestive health by promoting healthy gut function, which of course can then contribute to better appetite regulation. Now, another thing the founder told me about was the impact it could have on metabolism. Turns out, and you know this, if you're a menopausal woman, that when estrogen drops, your metabolism can drop a couple hundred calories a day, like 200 or so. And what she found was using this with perimenopausal women, that it was offsetting this, that the bitter compounds can enhance metabolic rate indirectly. Also, of course, that will help with appetite suppression. And there's the natural calorie control that bitter hops can do because it's reducing appetite and increasing satiety. So yes, I started taking these too, like wouldn't you hearing all that stuff? I've been taking two before each meal and wow. So that's another one. And of course I've got to mention exercise. Now here's the thing again. When you look at everything going on, anytime you've got anything going on with your health, exercise always comes in for the win. And we know that exercise can also enhance the secretion of GLP1. It can help regulate leptin and ghrelin, which then will lead to reduced feelings of hunger. And of course it improves your mood and gives you an endorphin release. So if you're feeling stressed, rather than going to the kitchen, go and work out, because that's going to also cause increased energy expenditure. It's going to improve your sleep, have better sleep. You're not going to have the cravings and not going to have the hunger and you're going to improve your gut microbiome. And of course when you're working out, especially when you're putting on muscle, you're going to have better insulin sensitivity and better blood sugar control. There was a 2022 paper in Nature that revealed that researchers have identified a compound induced by intense exercise that travels to the brain to stifle appetite. And they're calling it the anti hunger molecule. It's a combination of lactate and phenylalanine that they estimate is responsible for about 25% of the anti obesity effects of exercise. And it's especially when I look at what will do that the most, there's a specific kind of high intensity interval training that really is going to help with that pushing that lactate that will then go to the brain. It's called the Norwegian 4x4. So what do we do with this with exercise? Well, I want you moving more and getting in those 8 to 12,000 steps every day, especially after meals. If you can't go out for a walk after meals, just do some air squats or push ups. Suck that sugar that you ate into your muscles rather than storing it as fat and that's going to get that nice steady blood sugar response. And then of course resistance training. Not only is it going to boost your metabolism, its metabolic spanx, but it also improves insulin sensitivity quickly. It's the fastest way to do it. Now apple cider vinegar is such an interesting one. Right now I'm working with someone helping them lose £200 and I have them doing two tablespoons every single day for the different reasons you're going to hear about. First of all, there was a randomized clinical trial that was published in the journal functional foods in 2018 and showed that 15 or 30mls of apple cider vinegar per day combined with caloric restriction over 12 weeks effectively reduced body weight, BMI, hips, circumference, visceral adiposity, which is the most important body fat appetite and also increased HDL C in overweight or obese individuals. So one of the things we know with apple cider vinegar is it can help lower the blood sugar response to the meal, may help with insulin sensitivity. So it's really easy one to integrate in. And I just have people use one or two tablespoons a day, especially before the biggest meal of your day or if you're eating over carbohydrate rich meal. And now one of the things that's been all the buzz as the GLP1s have come out is berberine as this like natural, natural GLP1. But it really isn't, it doesn't directly impact GLP1. What it's doing is improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity because it activates something called AMP activated protein kinase or ampk. And this is referring referred to as the metabolic master switch. So what I like to do with berberine is have people do. If I'm working with someone who really needs to work on insulin sensitivity and blood sugar, I'll have them do 1 to 2 caps before a meal. So there you go. I know those are a lot, obviously you don't need to jump in on all of them. I like to do add in one at a time so I can kind of check in, connect the dots, dots between what I'm doing and how I'm feeling. But now you have them, those top natural appetite suppressants, you've got plenty of ways you can control hunger. Be sure to join me next time for more tools, tips and techniques you can incorporate into everyday life to ensure.

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