Dear Natural Health Friends,

As I sit down to write about this new Medi-Herb product (it’s called GLP-1 Bitter Complex) I am reflecting on what we know about GLP-1, herbs, weight loss, and how the body works. I am intentionally deciding at this moment to share my own understanding here, without the help of AI (which is sooooo tempting). I hope you get something out of it!

What is GLP-1?

GLP-1 (short for glucagon-like peptide-1) is a peptide hormone that is produced in your gut after you eat. It has several functions, like slowing digestion, signaling fullness to the brain, and telling the pancreas it’s time to make insulin. The currently popular GLP-1 medications for diabetes and weight loss have the same effect, but because higher amounts are used than what your body would normally make after a meal, the magnitude is much greater. It is also not without its side effects that I wrote about here.

There are a couple of other hormones that have similar functions, which are secreted by your gut after you eat. These are called PYY and CCK. Just keep that in mind for later.

Nutrition vs. Pharma

So, after reviewing what GLP-1 is, and what it does, it brings me to the question…why do we need a GLP-1 drug? Why doesn’t our body just make enough GLP-1? I’m not sure anybody really knows the answer to this (just like the topic of pathophysiology explains what the disease process is, but never explains WHY it occurs), but the nutritionist in me says it simply MUST have something to do with our diet.

The American diet is now, what, 60% ultra-processed foods? Of course, eating these Frankenfoods is going to affect our guts, and affect our GLP-1 levels. It is possible gut microbiome disruption is affecting GLP-1 production as well. In this study, Akkermansia muciniphila (a beneficial gut microbe that has been observed to be low in people with disrupted gut flora), was observed to produce a GLP-1 of its own in mice.

I have also observed that even after changing their diet, cutting back on carbohydrates, optimizing nutrient levels, and supporting stressed organs with the appropriate whole food nutrition (in short…even after being on a nutritional healing program 😊), some people—not all—still have trouble losing weight.

What is going on? Their body is holding on to the weight for some reason. One could conjecture why this may happen. But in my observation and experience, the body doesn’t make mistakes. Symptoms such as being overweight show that the body is trying to adapt to some situation—be it physical, emotional, mental—that is not optimal.

I’m concerned about GLP-1 drugs because they bypass what the body is trying to do on purpose (whether we understand the reason or not) and force something to change in the physiology. On the other hand, I have seen some patients benefit tremendously from these drugs. Others have had severe issues with them.

Where do we go from here, for patients who don’t want GLP-1 drugs or can’t tolerate them, but sill want to lose weight? Or for patients that prefer a more natural approach?

Pharmacologic vs. Physiologic

Herbs were the original pharma. They contain chemical compounds which have a pharmacological effect on certain biochemical functions in the body. They work because they are altering something. Typically, these effects are much milder than drug effects. This contrasts with whole food nutrition (for example, as utilized in Standard Process products) that have more of a physiological effect. This means they help the natural processes that keep us alive to work better by providing raw materials.

Herbs vs. Pharma

Pharmaceuticals are laboratory synthesized substances that alter a biochemical function in the body. The benefit of using herbs as opposed to pharmaceuticals, is that they have multiple effects across several enzyme systems. One could argue that the effects are naturally balanced. Since herbs occur in nature, one could also argue that herbs were designed to fit with human physiology better than a crystalline-pure, lab-synthesized pharma compound could. Herbs don’t tend to have as strong of an effect as pharma either. And of course, there are situations when only a drug will do a needed job.

GLP-1 Naturally, with Herbs!

The new Medi-Herb product GLP-1 Bitter Complex contains hops and feverfew. These are both bitter herbs that promote digestion and GLP-1 production. Just like you would expect from an herbal product, there are multiple beneficial effects. Subjects in this study lost about 10lbs of fat and gained muscle—a fantastic result! (The intro to that article is an interesting read, too.)

I will be trying this product myself—the rationale makes sense to me, and the research looks promising! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Sincerely yours, and in health,

Laura Sheehan, MSACN

Sheehan Natural Health Improvement Center