Want a less expensive and healthier alternative to weight loss medications?
If your TikTok and Instagram feeds are blowing up with videos showing how to make the hunger-slashing foods and beverages like the oatzempic craze, the good news is that research verifies that specific foods, including oats, can trigger some of the same benefits of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s) like Ozempic, Zepbound and Victoza.
The GLP-1 agonist drugs help with weight loss by helping people feel fuller on less food, decrease appetite and reduce cravings for low-quality junk food. They do this by increasing levels of GLP-1, a hormone that promotes feelings of fullness. The good news is we can increase the levels of this hormone naturally. Some foods can increase GLP-1 levels just like Ozempic and other similar-acting weight loss medications.
Long before these weight loss medications, dietitians recommended foods that ranked high on the satiety index to help our clients lose weight and keep it off. The science behind these foods reveals that what you eat can impact your hunger and satiety hormones, including GLP-1 levels and several other hormones involved with hunger, satiety and weight management, including leptin, ghrelin, cholecystokinin and peptide YY.
Filling foods for weight loss
In addition to the foods you eat, sleep quality, exercise levels and alcohol intake can also help regulate your hunger and appetite. Lack of sleep, for example, has been shown to appetite and increase cravings for unhealthy, high-calorie food, while alcohol also acts as an appetite-stimulant.
If you want to lose weight through lifestyle changes rather than Rx medications, it’s smart to level up your diet, exercise and sleep habits first. And, for anyone currently on an anti-obesity medication, a diet rich in high-satiety foods will help ensure that you can achieve your weight loss goals on a lower dose.
What’s more, losing and maintaining a healthy weight with lifestyle changes will help you avoid the negative side effects of weight loss medications, which includes loss of lean muscle tissue, nausea and other GI conditions.
Foods high in protein, fiber and healthy fats can trigger the release of GLP-1 hormones and other satiety-enhancing effects. Here are seven healthy, high-satiety foods that can help control your blood sugar levels and increase feelings of fullness while improving the nutrient quality of your overall diet. As a bonus: Eating more of these foods is less expensive than weight loss medications and have none of the unwanted side effects.
Oats
Oats are rich in specific type of soluble fiber, called beta-glucan, which can delay gastric emptying and promote feelings of fullness. Numerous studies have reported that the oats, as well as the beta-glucan from oats, increases satiety and reduces energy intake by enhancing GLP-1 secretion, according to a review article published in Current Nutrition Reports.
Studies also show that oats can help to lower body weight and harmful LDL-cholesterol levels. They can also enhance insulin sensitivity. In one published study that included 106 women with obesity on a caloric-restricted diet with oats reported that at 8 weeks, subjects’ body fat and waist circumferences were significantly reduced, along with other improvements for biomarkers of health.
Barley
Barley is another food that contains beta-glucan, and it is also linked to aiding weight loss and other metabolic conditions.
One study published in the journal Nutrients reported that barley lowered leptin (a hunger hormone) and LDL-cholesterol. It also reduced fat absorption and helped reduce belly fat among study participants. Another animal model study reported in the journal Molecules reported that animals fed barley extracts lowered body weight gain and visceral fat gains among animals fed high-fat diets designed for weight gain. The authors suggest that barley provides an anti-obesity effect.
Legumes: beans, lentils, chickpeas
Legumes are a botanical family that includes all beans, lentils and chickpeas. Legumes are nutrient-rich and extremely filling. They’re slow-to-digest due to their high protein and fiber content. As a result, they help temper blood sugar levels, which together helps keep you more satisfied and turns up hunger-quashing hormones.
In one study that included more than 15,000 U.S. adults published in the journal Nutrients found that legume intake was inversely associated with weight gain over the 10-year study period. Adults in the study with moderate to high intakes gained substantially less weight over the past decade than those reporting no legume intake.
Eggs
Eggs are a nutrient-rich option to have any time of day but starting your day with eggs can help set your hunger and appetite hormones for the day.
One study published in Nutrition Research reported that those who had eggs for breakfast as opposed to a bagel breakfast reduced overall caloric consumption for the entire day. What’s more, the researchers found that among the egg eaters the levels of the hunger-signaling hormone ghrelin were lower and the satiety hormone PYY were higher. Other studies have reported similar findings that eggs can enhance satiety. The studies suggest that protein is an important nutrient to help control hunger hormones, but also that the timing of high-quality protein at your first meal can provide enhanced fullness throughout the day.
Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt is a healthy, must-have in your diet if you want to stay fuller for longer. Traditional Greek yogurt is strained so it has twice the protein and less than half the sugar of traditional yogurt. Research suggests that the protein coupled with probiotics enhances satiety and can impact your appetite-regulating hormones to keep your hunger and cravings in check.
One study with college athletes on a resistance training program found that when the student athletes supplemented their diets with Greek yogurt, they experienced significant improvements in strength and body composition compared to when they supplemented their diet with a carbohydrate-rich snack option.
Avocado
Avocados are rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are considered heart healthy. Avocados are also rich in dietary fiber. A medium-sized avocado has 10 grams of fiber, or more than half the fiber you need in a day. The high fat and fiber content of avocados leads to slower digestion, lower blood sugar and insulin levels and elevates hormones levels that trigger fullness.
In one study published in the journal Nutrients, overweight and obese adults were given an avocado-rich breakfast meal (with either half an avocado or whole avocado) versus a carb-rich bagel breakfast. All breakfasts were equal in calories. The results showed that the breakfasts that included avocado resulted in a slower rate of digestion, lower blood sugar levels and higher huger-suppressing hormones.
Adding avocado to your meals may be a delicious option to keep you on track to stick to your weight loss or healthy eating goals.
Fish
The long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in fish along with the high-quality protein help down-regulate your hunger and appetite. In fact, fish ranked among the top foods in terms of its satiety benefits.
One study published in the journal Appetite, subjects on calorie-restricted diets were provided supplemental omega-3 fatty acids. The results found that when omega-3s are provided, hunger declined, and fullness increased. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that fish was among the top foods when measuring satiety among subjects.
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Foods That Mimic the Effects of Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs originally appeared on usnews.com
