Natural Ozempic diet: How to get the ‘Ozempic effect’ without the needles Natural Ozempic diet

By now everyone has heard of Ozempic, the weight-loss drug reportedly used by Sharon Osborne, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk and a host of other A-listers.

Seen by many as a miracle quick fix, Ozempic and other brands such as Wegovy contain a substance called semaglutide, which works by mimicking a hormone that our bodies produce naturally when we eat.

That hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), to give it its scientific name, makes you feel full, which means you don’t eat as much and, hey presto, you lose weight.

Yet plenty of people don’t want to take Ozempic.

I’m a qualified nutritionist, and at my weight-loss clinic on Harley Street I see plenty of women who don’t like the idea of a weekly jab and would much rather take a natural route to shedding the pounds.

In some, too, it has unwanted side-effects such as nausea and muscle loss.

And it’s expensive — if you don’t meet the strict criteria to access one of these drugs on the NHS, you’re looking at £300 (AUD$580) a month to source it privately.

But here’s the good news.

You can easily tap into the ‘Ozempic effect’ — that feeling of being perfectly sated — in your kitchen at home without turning to the drug at all.

Through diet alone, we can stimulate release of the hormones that make us feel full, preventing grazing and snacking, and helping us achieve the calorie deficit we need to lose weight.

All in the knowledge that we’re eating plenty of tasty, nourishing food with zero side-effects except a healthier you.

So here’s my seven-step guide to the ‘natural Ozempic’ feeling and a jab-free, lean and healthy autumn.

THE EASY WAY TO 30 PLANT FOODS A WEEK

GLP-1, our body’s natural version of Ozempic, is a hormone produced in the gut known as an incretin.

Incretin hormones regulate our blood sugar by telling our brains that we’ve had enough to eat and our stomach and intestines to slow down the movement of food.

What stimulates our natural ‘Ozempic hormone’ is our gut bacteria, part of the ecosystem known as the microbiome that lives in our intestine.

To some degree the gut microbiome is genetically determined but it’s also influenced by diet and lifestyle.

GLP-1 production is boosted by fibre and polyphenols (compounds naturally found in plant foods) and is negatively impacted by those ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) that are stripped of them.

I know they’re easy to reach for when life gets busy, but UPFs — foods that come in a packet with a list of more than five ingredients and include additives such as preservatives — really do interfere with our body’s ability to regulate metabolism and appetite.

The answer is to eat more wholefoods and to aim for 30 different plant foods per week (including herbs and spices).

This may seem daunting, but remember that nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and legumes — as well as the more obvious fruit and vegetables — all count.

Grab a pack of mixed raw (unroasted) nuts containing almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts and Brazils and you’ve already hit five.

Sprinkle some mixed seeds onto your breakfast — pumpkin, sunflower and flax — and that’s another three.

Throw a tin of mixed beans — cannellini, flageolet and adzuki — into your soup or stew and that’s three more.

Vegetable crudites — celery, cucumber, carrots and pepper — with a homemade guacamole is an easy snack and five more ‘plant points’.

At each meal, ask yourself: “How can I get one more plant food into this dish?”

Keeping a food diary and totting up as you go may help.

BUST THE SNACK HABIT WITH FIBRE

Midafternoon snacking is the downfall of many, so reducing the urge to eat outside of meal times is key.

Fibre in our diet not only stimulates the release of GLP-1, but another hormone that decreases appetite, too, called Peptide YY.

To maximise our body’s natural appetite suppressants, fill up on vegetables packed with fermentable fibre and phytochemicals (bioactive plant compounds).

Most people pile their plates with starchy carbs such as pasta or noodles and then add a small portion of veg on the side.

Aim to reverse that by making your veg portions as varied and exciting as possible.

Try roasted Mediterranean vegetables, and spicy stir-fries with fibre-rich ingredients such as broccoli, sprouts, and leafy greens such as Swiss chard.

Fruit is a good source of fibre but you need to be mindful of sugar, so aim for two pieces per day maximum as part of a meal.

Something as simple as adding a slice of apple to a salad can make a difference.

Apples contain an antioxidant called quercetin which is understood to be particularly good at stimulating secretion of GLP-1.

You should be aiming for around 30g of fibre a day to achieve maximum effect.

A medium-sized green apple, 80g of raspberries, a 25g serving of almonds, 50g of hummus and 100g of cooked quinoa together would provide 18g of fibre.

If you can’t break the readymeal habit, look for explicitly healthy brands.

FILL UP ON (VIRTUALLY) CALORIE-FREE NOODLES

You might not have heard of it before but it’s time to add konjac to your weekly shopping list.

Konjac is a Southeast Asian plant, also known as the elephant yam, which contains a dietary fibre called glucomannan that can absorb significant amounts of water.

That means it expands in your stomach to keep you feeling fuller for longer.

You can buy it in supplement form or try konjac noodles.

They require minimal cooking, are virtually calorie-free and are a great option for bulking up a stir‑fry or chilli.

Imagine feeling as full as you would after a plate of pasta, but consuming almost no calories.

Konjac also delays ‘gastric emptying’, meaning that food takes longer to leave the stomach, which can decrease hunger.

It even reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and fats consumed alongside it, resulting in a lowered calorie intake. All in all it’s a powerful addition to your meal planner.

QUASH YOUR APPETITE WITH A PROBIOTIC

In recent months, one probiotic has taken social media by storm, with many celebrating it as ‘nature’s Ozempic’.

It goes by the very un-catchy name of Akkrmansi a Muciniphila, a strain of bacteria that occurs in our gut and is said to increase our GLP-1 levels.

A healthy gut should contain levels of between 1-4 per cent, but some people can have no detectable traces at all.

It’s not cheap, but it is cheaper than Ozempic.

USE GOOD OLIVE OIL TO BOOST FULL-UP FEELING

Cook with olive oil rather than butter.

Studies have shown that an olive oil-rich meal triggers a higher GLP-1 response than one swimming in butter, suggesting that unsaturated fatty acids are better at stimulating your full-up signals than saturated fatty acids.

But don’t overdo it.

When weight loss is the aim, we want to include olive oil in our diet but not ladle it on.

It’s worth spending more on a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil likely to be high in flavonoids, which are naturally occurring compounds that have been found to stimulate GLP-1 secretion.

Pick a glass bottle, which will be better at preserving it.

You’ll also find flavonoids in avocados and nuts, so add some to your spring salads.

BANISH THOSE TUMMY RUMBLES WITH PROTEIN

Recent research has revealed dietary proteins are potent GLP-1 stimulators.

We also know that a protein-heavy meal packs a powerful punch when it comes to keeping you fuller for longer, unlike a carbohydrate-based dish that will have less of a GLP-1 stimulating effect and will leave your stomach rumbling after a relatively short time.

To get our gut/brain messengers working to their best ability, you should be aiming for about 20g to 30g of protein with every meal.

That’s three large eggs, for example, or a 150g serving of meat, fish or tofu.

Lean cuts of organic meat, chicken and fish are the best sources, while vegans and vegetarians should look to tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, lentils and other pulses to build up their protein intake.

High-quality protein powders mixed into porridge or a smoothie can also be helpful.

STOP OVEREATING BY TAKING YOUR TIME

Did you know that our digestion process starts before we swallow even our first bite of food?

It’s called the cephalic phase, a primal response that stimulates our gastric juices, and it’s triggered by the thought, sight and smell of food, often kicking in when we prepare and cook a meal.

When we eat mindlessly, however, grabbing a ready meal from the supermarket or snacking in front of the TV, we miss out on this phase — meaning we are much more likely to overeat without realising.

Cook meals from scratch when you can and really enjoy the ritual of making food for yourself and others.

Unplug from electronic devices when you eat so that you can focus on, and appreciate, every mouthful.

Chew slowly and imagine the food nourishing your body as you swallow.