December 10, 2024 • 29 mins
GLP1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss are all the rage right now. But how safe are these diabetes medications? Karolyn talks with diabetes expert Dr. Daemon Jones about these drugs. Dr. Jones is a respected naturopathic physician and founder of the Healthy Daes Naturopathic Medical Center in Washington, DC. She explains how these drugs work, how effective they are, and potential side effects. She also talks about other effective weight loss strategies.
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Five To Thrive Live is broadcast live Tuesdays at 7PM ET and Music on W4CS Radio – The Cancer Support Network (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Five To Thrive Live Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Any health related information on the following show provides general
information only. Content presented on any show by any host
or guest should not be substituted for a doctor's advice.
Always consult your physician before beginning any new diet, exercise,
or treatment program.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hello everyone, and welcome to five to Thrive Live. I'm
Carolyn Gazella and I co host the show with my
good friend, doctor Lise Olschuler. I think our topic today
is very important, and I am going to tell you
right up front. I'm not personally a fan of using
diabetes drugs like ozembic and Wagovi for weight loss, but
(01:04):
I'm open to hearing more. Before we begin, however, I'd
like to thank our sponsors, beginning with Amuse, a unique,
patented post biotic that gives your immune system a key advantage.
Ammuse is an ingredient in many immune supporting dietary supplements.
Look for Immuse on the label or go to ammusehealth
dot com for more information. Also cognizanceiticoline, which is nature's
(01:25):
way of keeping the brain's energy centers firing on all cylinders.
If you're looking for a way to enhance your brain function,
including memory, focus, and attention. Look for Cognizant on the
label or go to Cognizant dot com for more information.
Prothriver's Wellness Brain is a product that contains Cognizant as
well as other brain supporting nutrients and herbs. You can
find Prothriver's Wellness Brain online at pure formulas dot com.
(01:50):
There's also Prothriver's Wellness Sleep, which combines higher dose melatonin
and other sleep supporting natural ingredients specifically designed for thrivers.
And find pro Thrivers Wellness Sleep also at pure formulas
dot com and doctor o Here is Probiotics. It's a
best selling probiotic for more than thirty years, and it
contains twelve probiotic strains that are shelf stable so no
(02:13):
refrigeration is required because of a unique three year fermentation process,
It's a very effective probiotic. Learn more at doctor Ohier
probiotics dot com. So I have the perfect guest to
talk about this important subject with me is doctor Damon Jones,
also known as doctor Day, who is a naturopathic physician
(02:35):
and diabetes expert. She is also the founder of the
Healthy Days Naturopathic Medical Center in Washington, DC. Doctor Day,
thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Thank you for having me, Caroline.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes, and you and I have talked about this subject
on my other podcast, and I think this is such
an important topic. So these drugs, which are known as
GLP one medications, are now being used for weight loss,
but how do they work when it comes to diabetes
and how important are these drugs for someone with diabetes.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
So I'm really glad that you asked that question. You
gave the history these glp ones. What we actually produce,
GLP one is called glucagon like peptide, and we produce
them in our bodies. Actually, every single person includes them
in their bodies in very small amounts, and we use
them very quickly when we are when we're eating or
(03:37):
processing a meal maybe a better.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Way to say that. So we all have those.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And then when people are dealing with diabetes, what happens
is the golp ones what their function is is to
help us regulate blood glucose levels. So when people have diabetes,
what's happening is there our blood glucose levels are high
because they have an impairment of their body's ability to
(04:06):
manage their blood glucose and their insulin levels. So the
GLP one helps us to use insulin, which I would
consider a key to opening up our cells. So the
glucose goes from our bloodstream into the cells so we
can use it as energy. That's part of what GLP
(04:27):
one does in our bodies normally. And then these drugs,
the reason why they've been used in diabetes for over
twenty years is they increase the amount of insulin that
your body's producing to help your body get the glucose
from the bloodstream, which is where we test it, and
we get those high numbers of glucose or high numbers
(04:48):
of HbA one C and get that into the cell.
So it's doing what it's supposed to do, which is
provide us with energy. And so that's how these drugs
started being used for diabetes in the first place.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Okay, perfect. So when it comes to weight loss, how
do they work for someone who doesn't have diabetes and
just wants to lose weight?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
So the you know that have two ways of answering that.
The first way I.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Would say is that they talk about that you increase
your insulin level, it also decreases your appetite. So it
does that in working on your brain and centers of
your brain that are saying that you're hungry. And it
also reduces the digestive track. It slows it down, so
(05:38):
it slows down the ability of the food going from
your stomach into your small intestine, so you continue to
feel full, and it uses that as a way of
slowing down the process. So that's how it's being used.
It also blocks glucagon, which is another hormone that's the
(06:02):
opposite of insulin, and so your blad sugar doesn't go up.
And those are the major ways it works in the body.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Okay, perfect, that was a great explanation for both of those,
so thank you for that. So there are both mild
side effects as well as life threatening side effects with
these drugs. Take us through the list, starting with the
more mild and then move us into the more serious.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yes, so there's one thing I forgot to say, and
then I will answer that question, which when when I
work with people in my practice, because of the lab
testing that I do, I often find that.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
My patients are insulin.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I do a test called fasting insulin, and I find
that those fasting insulin numbers are higher than normal, and
sometimes those numbers can be higher before we see it
in the fasting glucose and the fasting HPA one C.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So part of the reason why I think.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
This works is people are already on their way to
becoming pre diabetic and insolent resistant, and as a result
of that, these medications work on people who are gaining
weight but haven't actually had the labs that actually show
that they've moved in the pre diabetic or diabetic category.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So I wanted to make that point.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Also, Yeah, that's a really important clarification, so thank you
for that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, I think that whenever we work with prevention and
any doctors that are doing that, nature pathic doctors, functional
medicine doctors, they're doing that. We're trying to get to
the place where we prevent the diseases from happening by
looking at different markers and looking at different symptoms before
people have gotten to disease. So I think that's part
(07:57):
of the reason why it also works from a weight
loss perspective. But when we talk about the types of
many of problems or symptoms that people can have, very
common things that happen is digestive issues like nausea or diarrhea,
or vomiting or constipation. These may be considered mild or
(08:19):
they may happen in a very transient way, very often
when people start taking these medications and after a few
days or as their body adjusts or after a few weeks,
depending on who you talk to.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Those may go away.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Then if we look at things that could be a
little bit more serious, is abdominal pain, if that's cramping,
for upset, stomach, dizziness, because these could cause you to
not only not feel well, but could cause other effects.
If you're dizzy and you happen to fall, it's not
(08:58):
that's not a good thing. So I put that on
a little bit different category than someone who feels just
doesn't feel not just feels a little bit nauseous. Then
you could have tiredness and fatigue, which sometimes is so
prominent that people don't feel like they can go to
work for the day, where they feel really sluggish, and
(09:19):
so again it could affect your daily activities.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
We can move it up to.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Pancreatitis, which could be considered abdominal pain, but it's specifically
an inflammation of your pancreas, and your pancreas is responsible
for helping you to digest your food and it's also
responsible for the release of insulin. So pancreatitis is definitely
something you don't want to play with, and you don't
(09:46):
want to have a chronic pancreatitis. It could lead to
something more concerning, like abnormal cells, which could lead to cancer,
which we would never want. And I think the biggest
issue that people have a moment of pause around is
(10:06):
cancer itself. And there's been some studies in animals that
show that thyroid cancer can develop from these medications.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
So you want to think about the list, and.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
You want to think about your own health and your
history and your family history before you make decisions about
whether this is right for you or not.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah. Good point, And we're going to talk about risk
to benefits and your recommendations. But I've been reading a
lot about these drugs, and I also want to clarify you,
doctor Day know that I am not anti pharmaceutical I
personally happen to be on a drug for my autoimmune condition,
so pharmaceuticals are life saving, So I wanted to just
get that out there. But I have been reading a
(10:49):
lot and it seems like the application for these drugs
is expanding beyond diabetes. So if someone has a heart
disease risk, you know the drugs may be recommended. I
recently read that the drugs can reduce alcohol cravings. They
may benefit the kidneys, may benefit the brain. Is this
because weight loss in general helps these organs, like, for example,
(11:12):
with dementia, if you're obese, you have a higher risk
of developing brain issues, cognitive issues, et cetera. Is it
the weight loss in general, or is there something else
going on that explains such a diverse list of conditions
that it could help.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Well, I think that we don't think.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
The quick answer is we're not entirely sure. What I
can say is GLP one, like I said before, is
produced in the body. It's an amino acid put together
with other amino acids that create something called a peptide.
So when we think about hormones, there are other hormones
besides GLP one that are considered peptides that do really
(11:54):
important things in our body.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
So, yes, it's true that if if.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
We are overweight, and unfortunately, about forty two percent of
Americans are overweight at this time or obese, so there's
a large percentage of people that are overweight.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
As we lose weight, then you could.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Think of it as you're lifted, you're making it easier
for the body to do its normal functions, so the
kidney can function better, the heart doesn't have to pump
as much. Obesity, which used to be a symptom of diabetes,
it didn't have its own category of an illness up
(12:38):
until about twenty years ago. So when we think about overweight,
it was a symptom of cancer. It was a symptom
of that could lead to a higher risk of heart disease.
It was a symptom that could lead to higher risk
of diabetes. But so many people started to have so
much extra weight that they actually reclassified it from a
(12:59):
symptom to its own disease. So if we think about
it from that historical perspective that if you have a
normal weight and can maintain a normal weight, then you
don't create as much stress and strain on the other
organs of the body, and therefore the body can operate better.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
But the research that I have.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Seen about the peptides because they work like a hormone,
and a hormone is a chemical messenger that sends signals
from one part of the body to another part of
the body.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
To tell it to do something.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
And so the preliminary research is showing that these peptides
may help reverse damage that happens in the kidney, it
may help reduce damage that's happening to the heart. They've
shown that that from a.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Craving perspective, this is so interesting and they.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Don't know why that not only can it help with
cravings for food, but cravings for gambling, cravings for alcohol,
cravings for different types of other substances, which up until now,
we don't have any substance that actually can help reduce
(14:18):
cravings across the board before we had. If it's alcohol,
it's one thing. If it's an opioid, it's another thing.
If it's food, it's another thing. So what is really
interesting as they're trying to find out more about it,
is that right now it seems to be able to
(14:38):
area hit an area of the brain that it doesn't
matter what that craving or gambling or you know, over
over a response to wanting to do something, it's hitting
that area of the brain. So we don't know enough
to know exactly why. They're starting to think maybe we
(14:59):
should you more research in all of these different areas
to see why this hormone is impacting and improving helping
to heal certain areas of the body.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, that research is going to be really interesting to
follow because I would agree that would be life changing
for many individuals. So I want to talk to you
about your weight loss strategies. But first I'm going to
ask you that I'm going to ask you the tough question. So,
if somebody comes into your clinic they want to lose ten, fifteen,
(15:33):
maybe twenty pounds tops. They don't have diabetes, from what
you can tell, they're not pre diabetic, they don't have
any other issues, it's just the weight loss. Will you
what do you think about these drugs as an option
for that particular patient.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So I have only recently started using these drugs for
weight loss. So I've been in practice for over two
twenty years. So what I have found is that it's
that it is not the first go to. I never
use it as a first go to. What I have
been able to do. I was talking. I was just
(16:12):
talking to a patient. Her name is Samantha, and she
came in and she was super frustrated because she had
gone to her doctor and a doctor said just exercise
and eat better, didn't give very specific examples, and didn't
look into her lifestyle at all, and she was feeling
really frustrated and she was feeling like she was doing
(16:32):
something wrong. And so when I was working with her,
we did not use these drugs, but we did look
at her lifestyle. We did she thought she was eating well,
but there were some things that she didn't realize that
she wasn't doing right for her metabolism. We made those
changes and that was eighteen months ago, and now she's
lost over fifty pounds. So I can say that lifestyle
(16:55):
looking at are you nutritionally deficient? Are do you have
hormonal bolences? Do you think that you're doing the right thing,
but maybe you don't understand what the right combination or
timeframes of when to eat? What's your exercise protocol those things?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
What is your stress management? How are you? Are you
skipping meals because you're so busy at work? Are you
sleeping correctly?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
These are all functions that cause our body to metabolically
become compromised, and they also cause our body to start to.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Become insulin resistant.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
So let me do a synopsis food, stress management, sleep,
and how you move those four things. If you change
those four things, I have had people like Samantha have
tremendous success, but having to understand how to make those changes.
(17:53):
So someone who has twenty pounds or less to lose,
I certainly would use those tax dicks and work with
them first to see if we can stimulate their bodies
in order to be able to lose weight.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
If people have.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
More than twenty thirty, forty fifty or so pounds to lose,
I'm still implementing those strategies, but I may also implement
what I'm considering microdoses from the research that I've been
doing so much smaller doses than what conventional medical doctors
do to help stimulate the metabolically active components that help
(18:34):
people to lose weight without increasing their symptomology or their
you know, the symptoms that we talked about beforehand.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, so okay, so this is not the first's This
isn't your first go to. Your first go to would
be looking at food, stress, sleep, movement. And what I
love about your approach, Doctor Day is that it's highly individualized. So,
for example, I happen to have been I've been doing
overnight fasting for a year now or more, and I
(19:06):
have lost a pant size and yeah, it works really
well for me and my sister who can't wait to
eat breakfast. She has blood sugar issues whatever, she would
never be able to do intermittent fasting or overnight fasting.
Fasting just does not work for her, so she uses
a different strategy. You know, we're in the same family
(19:29):
and we have two very different approaches. So I love
the individualization. I also like the fact that you're bringing
up things that most doctors don't think about. Conventional doctors,
nutrient deficiency, hormonal imbalances. You do a lot of testing
to get to the bottom of each individual patience scenario.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And what I hear you saying is, when you've exhausted
all of that and you, you know, I can't find
an under line caused, you may do a microdose of
the GLP one medication.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Yeah, Because I think the biggest problem that we have
in our society right now is people are metabolically compromised.
So maybe they have high blood pressure, maybe they have
high cholesterol, maybe they're pre diabetic, maybe their waste circumferences is.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Higher than it needs to be.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
These are all examples from what's called metabolic syndrome. So
when people start having two or three of the when
you have three of these different things, you are considered
that you have metabolic syndrome and a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I don't think.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
People really know what that is, but it is this
place where your body is not working appropriately and correctly,
and it can be a very frustrating experience for people.
So sometimes it's not just lifestyle, but sometimes your body
needs extra support. And that's where looking at nutritional deficiencies
(20:58):
and looking at hormonal balances can make a huge difference.
And I will also say that there are people that
come into my practice and they're already taking GLP ones. So,
for example, Susan came into my practice. She had been
taking it for two months. She hadn't lost any weight.
She was feeling totally exhausted, couldn't get off the couch,
(21:19):
was missing work some days, was feeling terrible. But her
the doctor that gave her the medications, didn't give her
any other support. And it wasn't until I started working
with her, and I'm still doing the same things. What
are you eating, what time are you eating, How are
you eating? No, it's not good to have fried food
(21:40):
or extra oils that will make you feel even more nauseous.
So we talked about the changes that she needed to make,
and then in the next three months she's lost thirty pounds.
So one of the things I'm concerned about around these
GLP ones is people are like getting them and they think, Okay,
I'm going to get them and lose all this weight.
(22:00):
It's going to be great, and sometimes it isn't and
they have symptoms and they don't feel well. So if
you are not making lifestyle changes, if you're not exercising,
if you're not looking at your muscle mass and making
sure that you're not losing muscle mass, then you're more
likely to be unsuccessful or to think that it doesn't work.
(22:21):
So the lifestyle changes are required, period, whether you use
the medications or not, whether you're pre diabetic or diabetic,
or you just.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Want to lose weight. That is an important.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
Piece of the puzzle that has to be talked about
and it has to be made. It has you have
to talk to people about it in ways that are tangible.
I had a young lady today who she's having a
really hard time with what I'm recommending. She just retired
and she doesn't have a schedule, so before we could
(22:55):
even talk about what she could eat, because she was
racing out to do these things. We have to on
a schedule so she could make time to eat, so
she could make time to figure out when she was
going to exercise, and she was used to her schedule
at work, but now that she's retired, she doesn't have
a new schedule. So that's what we had to start
on before we could even address any of the other
(23:17):
lifestyle issues. That's how crucial it is for people to
understand that lifestyle is always going to be the key
to help with any chronic disease.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I would agree. And if your appetite is being suppressed
and you're not eating as much, you're not eating as frequently.
You also have to worry about the nutritive value of
the food that you are putting in. So I would
think that, you know, whatever food you're eating has to
be healthy or you're going to develop nutrient deficiencies potentially.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, and people, again, I don't there's not a full
understanding when people are taking these medications, because there is
no I would never recommend anyone go to a fact
food restaurant if they're taking these medications, because first of all,
the extra amounts of oil and fat can make you
actually feel nauseous and not feel sick, and no one
(24:09):
wants to feel that way. But you have to put
in the right type of food so that your body
can lose weight and you can make it sustainable. So
if you are not thinking about, oh, I'm just going
to eat less, so I'm going to feel I'm going
to lose weight, that's where they make the conversation point
(24:31):
of you're going to have to take these medications forever.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Because you're acting like you're starving yourself.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
No one, no doctor, would say, I think it's a
good idea for you to starve yourself to lose weight.
But if you're not giving the information about what to
eat and how to eat and how to manage these medications,
you're literally putting people into the state of starvation. So yes,
(24:59):
they might lose weight temporarily, but then when they come
off of the medications, they tend to gain the weight back.
And the problem is that if you lose muscle as
well as fat, muscle is the key to our longevity.
So we can have good muscle strength, we could have
(25:21):
good bone strength. We can live into our seventies, eighties,
and nineties and do all the things that we want
to do. But if you lose that muscle mass and
then you gain the weight back and you gain the
fat back, and you don't gain the muscle back, it's
going to be harder for you to lose weight the
next time you try it, and you've actually put your
(25:42):
body at higher risk for age related illnesses. And nobody
wants to do that.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah. Absolutely, And actually that's one of my concerns as well,
that these drugs are becoming so widely available that people
aren't getting the support that they need and deserve when
they embark upon using these drugs. And that's what you provide,
is the support, the guidance, and you know, everything else
(26:12):
that's associated with successfully using these drugs, getting off these drugs,
not using the drugs whatever. I like your approach very much.
So I've got one last question for you. What about
natural substances like burberine for example.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
So one of the cool things that we've done in
our research is that we know that there are things
that can support the digestive tract. So they're actually isolating
probiotics and like acromancia and so that actually helps produce
GLP one in the body. So that's a great thing
(26:52):
for people to use. There's been research studies on burberines.
Like you said, burberines have been shown to be as
effective as another oral medication called met foreman, and sometimes
it can actually be more effective depending on the studies
that have been shown. So met format helps us to
utilize our insulin and make sure our insulin is working
(27:14):
to the best way possible. So that is another example
of there are certain things that can really help people.
Fiber in the foods that you eat slows down gastric emptying.
So while that is one of the things that's been
touted for the GLP ones, when you eat foods, plant
(27:36):
based foods are the things that have fiber. They absolutely
cause the digestive tract to be able to feel full,
so you're not feeling as hungry and you're not eating
like junk food or extra sugar or hidden sugar. So
there certainly are different pieces that can support the digestive.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Function to help lose weight.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
And we're all almost out of time, so I want
to just ask you one last question. Where can people
find out more about you and your work? Do you
have a website you'd like to share with us?
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yes, So my name is doctor Day. That's what everyone
calls me Dae. So my website is Healthy Days which
is DAEs or you can find me on LinkedIn under
doctor Damon Jones, or Instagram or Facebook on Healthy Days.
These are places where we have discussions like the one
I'm having with you, Carolyn. So I love to talk
(28:33):
to people about how to get better.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Absolutely, I highly recommend doctor Day, so look her up.
She's a wealth of information. Thanks again, Doctor Day for
joining me.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Thank you for having me. I always feel welcomed in
your presence.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Absolutely, it's always a pleasure. Well, that wraps up this
episode of five to Thrive Live once again. I'd like
to thank our sponsors pro Thrivers Wellness Sleep Formula, Amused
post biotic to give your immune system that extra boost,
cognizance and Coolon to help enhance memory, focus and attention,
and of course doctor o'hira's award winning shelf Stable Probiotic.
(29:11):
Great show. May you experience joy, laughter and love. It's
time to thrive. Everyone, have a good night.
Any health related information on the following show provides general
information only. Content presented on any show by any host
or guest should not be substituted for a doctor's advice.
Always consult your physician before beginning any new diet, exercise,
or treatment program.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hello everyone, and welcome to five to Thrive Live. I'm
Carolyn Gazella and I co host the show with my
good friend, doctor Lise Olschuler. I think our topic today
is very important, and I am going to tell you
right up front. I'm not personally a fan of using
diabetes drugs like ozembic and Wagovi for weight loss, but
(01:04):
I'm open to hearing more. Before we begin, however, I'd
like to thank our sponsors, beginning with Amuse, a unique,
patented post biotic that gives your immune system a key advantage.
Ammuse is an ingredient in many immune supporting dietary supplements.
Look for Immuse on the label or go to ammusehealth
dot com for more information. Also cognizanceiticoline, which is nature's
(01:25):
way of keeping the brain's energy centers firing on all cylinders.
If you're looking for a way to enhance your brain function,
including memory, focus, and attention. Look for Cognizant on the
label or go to Cognizant dot com for more information.
Prothriver's Wellness Brain is a product that contains Cognizant as
well as other brain supporting nutrients and herbs. You can
find Prothriver's Wellness Brain online at pure formulas dot com.
(01:50):
There's also Prothriver's Wellness Sleep, which combines higher dose melatonin
and other sleep supporting natural ingredients specifically designed for thrivers.
And find pro Thrivers Wellness Sleep also at pure formulas
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(02:13):
refrigeration is required because of a unique three year fermentation process,
It's a very effective probiotic. Learn more at doctor Ohier
probiotics dot com. So I have the perfect guest to
talk about this important subject with me is doctor Damon Jones,
also known as doctor Day, who is a naturopathic physician
(02:35):
and diabetes expert. She is also the founder of the
Healthy Days Naturopathic Medical Center in Washington, DC. Doctor Day,
thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Thank you for having me, Caroline.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes, and you and I have talked about this subject
on my other podcast, and I think this is such
an important topic. So these drugs, which are known as
GLP one medications, are now being used for weight loss,
but how do they work when it comes to diabetes
and how important are these drugs for someone with diabetes.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
So I'm really glad that you asked that question. You
gave the history these glp ones. What we actually produce,
GLP one is called glucagon like peptide, and we produce
them in our bodies. Actually, every single person includes them
in their bodies in very small amounts, and we use
them very quickly when we are when we're eating or
(03:37):
processing a meal maybe a better.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Way to say that. So we all have those.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
And then when people are dealing with diabetes, what happens
is the golp ones what their function is is to
help us regulate blood glucose levels. So when people have diabetes,
what's happening is there our blood glucose levels are high
because they have an impairment of their body's ability to
(04:06):
manage their blood glucose and their insulin levels. So the
GLP one helps us to use insulin, which I would
consider a key to opening up our cells. So the
glucose goes from our bloodstream into the cells so we
can use it as energy. That's part of what GLP
(04:27):
one does in our bodies normally. And then these drugs,
the reason why they've been used in diabetes for over
twenty years is they increase the amount of insulin that
your body's producing to help your body get the glucose
from the bloodstream, which is where we test it, and
we get those high numbers of glucose or high numbers
(04:48):
of HbA one C and get that into the cell.
So it's doing what it's supposed to do, which is
provide us with energy. And so that's how these drugs
started being used for diabetes in the first place.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Okay, perfect. So when it comes to weight loss, how
do they work for someone who doesn't have diabetes and
just wants to lose weight?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
So the you know that have two ways of answering that.
The first way I.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Would say is that they talk about that you increase
your insulin level, it also decreases your appetite. So it
does that in working on your brain and centers of
your brain that are saying that you're hungry. And it
also reduces the digestive track. It slows it down, so
(05:38):
it slows down the ability of the food going from
your stomach into your small intestine, so you continue to
feel full, and it uses that as a way of
slowing down the process. So that's how it's being used.
It also blocks glucagon, which is another hormone that's the
(06:02):
opposite of insulin, and so your blad sugar doesn't go up.
And those are the major ways it works in the body.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Okay, perfect, that was a great explanation for both of those,
so thank you for that. So there are both mild
side effects as well as life threatening side effects with
these drugs. Take us through the list, starting with the
more mild and then move us into the more serious.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yes, so there's one thing I forgot to say, and
then I will answer that question, which when when I
work with people in my practice, because of the lab
testing that I do, I often find that.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
My patients are insulin.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I do a test called fasting insulin, and I find
that those fasting insulin numbers are higher than normal, and
sometimes those numbers can be higher before we see it
in the fasting glucose and the fasting HPA one C.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
So part of the reason why I think.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
This works is people are already on their way to
becoming pre diabetic and insolent resistant, and as a result
of that, these medications work on people who are gaining
weight but haven't actually had the labs that actually show
that they've moved in the pre diabetic or diabetic category.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So I wanted to make that point.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Also, Yeah, that's a really important clarification, so thank you
for that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, I think that whenever we work with prevention and
any doctors that are doing that, nature pathic doctors, functional
medicine doctors, they're doing that. We're trying to get to
the place where we prevent the diseases from happening by
looking at different markers and looking at different symptoms before
people have gotten to disease. So I think that's part
(07:57):
of the reason why it also works from a weight
loss perspective. But when we talk about the types of
many of problems or symptoms that people can have, very
common things that happen is digestive issues like nausea or diarrhea,
or vomiting or constipation. These may be considered mild or
(08:19):
they may happen in a very transient way, very often
when people start taking these medications and after a few
days or as their body adjusts or after a few weeks,
depending on who you talk to.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Those may go away.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Then if we look at things that could be a
little bit more serious, is abdominal pain, if that's cramping,
for upset, stomach, dizziness, because these could cause you to
not only not feel well, but could cause other effects.
If you're dizzy and you happen to fall, it's not
(08:58):
that's not a good thing. So I put that on
a little bit different category than someone who feels just
doesn't feel not just feels a little bit nauseous. Then
you could have tiredness and fatigue, which sometimes is so
prominent that people don't feel like they can go to
work for the day, where they feel really sluggish, and
(09:19):
so again it could affect your daily activities.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
We can move it up to.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
Pancreatitis, which could be considered abdominal pain, but it's specifically
an inflammation of your pancreas, and your pancreas is responsible
for helping you to digest your food and it's also
responsible for the release of insulin. So pancreatitis is definitely
something you don't want to play with, and you don't
(09:46):
want to have a chronic pancreatitis. It could lead to
something more concerning, like abnormal cells, which could lead to cancer,
which we would never want. And I think the biggest
issue that people have a moment of pause around is
(10:06):
cancer itself. And there's been some studies in animals that
show that thyroid cancer can develop from these medications.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
So you want to think about the list, and.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
You want to think about your own health and your
history and your family history before you make decisions about
whether this is right for you or not.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah. Good point, And we're going to talk about risk
to benefits and your recommendations. But I've been reading a
lot about these drugs, and I also want to clarify you,
doctor Day know that I am not anti pharmaceutical I
personally happen to be on a drug for my autoimmune condition,
so pharmaceuticals are life saving, So I wanted to just
get that out there. But I have been reading a
(10:49):
lot and it seems like the application for these drugs
is expanding beyond diabetes. So if someone has a heart
disease risk, you know the drugs may be recommended. I
recently read that the drugs can reduce alcohol cravings. They
may benefit the kidneys, may benefit the brain. Is this
because weight loss in general helps these organs, like, for example,
(11:12):
with dementia, if you're obese, you have a higher risk
of developing brain issues, cognitive issues, et cetera. Is it
the weight loss in general, or is there something else
going on that explains such a diverse list of conditions
that it could help.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Well, I think that we don't think.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
The quick answer is we're not entirely sure. What I
can say is GLP one, like I said before, is
produced in the body. It's an amino acid put together
with other amino acids that create something called a peptide.
So when we think about hormones, there are other hormones
besides GLP one that are considered peptides that do really
(11:54):
important things in our body.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
So, yes, it's true that if if.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
We are overweight, and unfortunately, about forty two percent of
Americans are overweight at this time or obese, so there's
a large percentage of people that are overweight.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
As we lose weight, then you could.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Think of it as you're lifted, you're making it easier
for the body to do its normal functions, so the
kidney can function better, the heart doesn't have to pump
as much. Obesity, which used to be a symptom of diabetes,
it didn't have its own category of an illness up
(12:38):
until about twenty years ago. So when we think about overweight,
it was a symptom of cancer. It was a symptom
of that could lead to a higher risk of heart disease.
It was a symptom that could lead to higher risk
of diabetes. But so many people started to have so
much extra weight that they actually reclassified it from a
(12:59):
symptom to its own disease. So if we think about
it from that historical perspective that if you have a
normal weight and can maintain a normal weight, then you
don't create as much stress and strain on the other
organs of the body, and therefore the body can operate better.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
But the research that I have.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Seen about the peptides because they work like a hormone,
and a hormone is a chemical messenger that sends signals
from one part of the body to another part of
the body.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
To tell it to do something.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
And so the preliminary research is showing that these peptides
may help reverse damage that happens in the kidney, it
may help reduce damage that's happening to the heart. They've
shown that that from a.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Craving perspective, this is so interesting and they.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Don't know why that not only can it help with
cravings for food, but cravings for gambling, cravings for alcohol,
cravings for different types of other substances, which up until now,
we don't have any substance that actually can help reduce
(14:18):
cravings across the board before we had. If it's alcohol,
it's one thing. If it's an opioid, it's another thing.
If it's food, it's another thing. So what is really
interesting as they're trying to find out more about it,
is that right now it seems to be able to
(14:38):
area hit an area of the brain that it doesn't
matter what that craving or gambling or you know, over
over a response to wanting to do something, it's hitting
that area of the brain. So we don't know enough
to know exactly why. They're starting to think maybe we
(14:59):
should you more research in all of these different areas
to see why this hormone is impacting and improving helping
to heal certain areas of the body.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, that research is going to be really interesting to
follow because I would agree that would be life changing
for many individuals. So I want to talk to you
about your weight loss strategies. But first I'm going to
ask you that I'm going to ask you the tough question. So,
if somebody comes into your clinic they want to lose ten, fifteen,
(15:33):
maybe twenty pounds tops. They don't have diabetes, from what
you can tell, they're not pre diabetic, they don't have
any other issues, it's just the weight loss. Will you
what do you think about these drugs as an option
for that particular patient.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So I have only recently started using these drugs for
weight loss. So I've been in practice for over two
twenty years. So what I have found is that it's
that it is not the first go to. I never
use it as a first go to. What I have
been able to do. I was talking. I was just
(16:12):
talking to a patient. Her name is Samantha, and she
came in and she was super frustrated because she had
gone to her doctor and a doctor said just exercise
and eat better, didn't give very specific examples, and didn't
look into her lifestyle at all, and she was feeling
really frustrated and she was feeling like she was doing
(16:32):
something wrong. And so when I was working with her,
we did not use these drugs, but we did look
at her lifestyle. We did she thought she was eating well,
but there were some things that she didn't realize that
she wasn't doing right for her metabolism. We made those
changes and that was eighteen months ago, and now she's
lost over fifty pounds. So I can say that lifestyle
(16:55):
looking at are you nutritionally deficient? Are do you have
hormonal bolences? Do you think that you're doing the right thing,
but maybe you don't understand what the right combination or
timeframes of when to eat? What's your exercise protocol those things?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
What is your stress management? How are you? Are you
skipping meals because you're so busy at work? Are you
sleeping correctly?
Speaker 4 (17:21):
These are all functions that cause our body to metabolically
become compromised, and they also cause our body to start to.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Become insulin resistant.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
So let me do a synopsis food, stress management, sleep,
and how you move those four things. If you change
those four things, I have had people like Samantha have
tremendous success, but having to understand how to make those changes.
(17:53):
So someone who has twenty pounds or less to lose,
I certainly would use those tax dicks and work with
them first to see if we can stimulate their bodies
in order to be able to lose weight.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
If people have.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
More than twenty thirty, forty fifty or so pounds to lose,
I'm still implementing those strategies, but I may also implement
what I'm considering microdoses from the research that I've been
doing so much smaller doses than what conventional medical doctors
do to help stimulate the metabolically active components that help
(18:34):
people to lose weight without increasing their symptomology or their
you know, the symptoms that we talked about beforehand.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, so okay, so this is not the first's This
isn't your first go to. Your first go to would
be looking at food, stress, sleep, movement. And what I
love about your approach, Doctor Day is that it's highly individualized. So,
for example, I happen to have been I've been doing
overnight fasting for a year now or more, and I
(19:06):
have lost a pant size and yeah, it works really
well for me and my sister who can't wait to
eat breakfast. She has blood sugar issues whatever, she would
never be able to do intermittent fasting or overnight fasting.
Fasting just does not work for her, so she uses
a different strategy. You know, we're in the same family
(19:29):
and we have two very different approaches. So I love
the individualization. I also like the fact that you're bringing
up things that most doctors don't think about. Conventional doctors,
nutrient deficiency, hormonal imbalances. You do a lot of testing
to get to the bottom of each individual patience scenario.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And what I hear you saying is, when you've exhausted
all of that and you, you know, I can't find
an under line caused, you may do a microdose of
the GLP one medication.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Yeah, Because I think the biggest problem that we have
in our society right now is people are metabolically compromised.
So maybe they have high blood pressure, maybe they have
high cholesterol, maybe they're pre diabetic, maybe their waste circumferences is.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Higher than it needs to be.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
These are all examples from what's called metabolic syndrome. So
when people start having two or three of the when
you have three of these different things, you are considered
that you have metabolic syndrome and a lot.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I don't think.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
People really know what that is, but it is this
place where your body is not working appropriately and correctly,
and it can be a very frustrating experience for people.
So sometimes it's not just lifestyle, but sometimes your body
needs extra support. And that's where looking at nutritional deficiencies
(20:58):
and looking at hormonal balances can make a huge difference.
And I will also say that there are people that
come into my practice and they're already taking GLP ones. So,
for example, Susan came into my practice. She had been
taking it for two months. She hadn't lost any weight.
She was feeling totally exhausted, couldn't get off the couch,
(21:19):
was missing work some days, was feeling terrible. But her
the doctor that gave her the medications, didn't give her
any other support. And it wasn't until I started working
with her, and I'm still doing the same things. What
are you eating, what time are you eating, How are
you eating? No, it's not good to have fried food
(21:40):
or extra oils that will make you feel even more nauseous.
So we talked about the changes that she needed to make,
and then in the next three months she's lost thirty pounds.
So one of the things I'm concerned about around these
GLP ones is people are like getting them and they think, Okay,
I'm going to get them and lose all this weight.
(22:00):
It's going to be great, and sometimes it isn't and
they have symptoms and they don't feel well. So if
you are not making lifestyle changes, if you're not exercising,
if you're not looking at your muscle mass and making
sure that you're not losing muscle mass, then you're more
likely to be unsuccessful or to think that it doesn't work.
(22:21):
So the lifestyle changes are required, period, whether you use
the medications or not, whether you're pre diabetic or diabetic,
or you just.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Want to lose weight. That is an important.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
Piece of the puzzle that has to be talked about
and it has to be made. It has you have
to talk to people about it in ways that are tangible.
I had a young lady today who she's having a
really hard time with what I'm recommending. She just retired
and she doesn't have a schedule, so before we could
(22:55):
even talk about what she could eat, because she was
racing out to do these things. We have to on
a schedule so she could make time to eat, so
she could make time to figure out when she was
going to exercise, and she was used to her schedule
at work, but now that she's retired, she doesn't have
a new schedule. So that's what we had to start
on before we could even address any of the other
(23:17):
lifestyle issues. That's how crucial it is for people to
understand that lifestyle is always going to be the key
to help with any chronic disease.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I would agree. And if your appetite is being suppressed
and you're not eating as much, you're not eating as frequently.
You also have to worry about the nutritive value of
the food that you are putting in. So I would
think that, you know, whatever food you're eating has to
be healthy or you're going to develop nutrient deficiencies potentially.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, and people, again, I don't there's not a full
understanding when people are taking these medications, because there is
no I would never recommend anyone go to a fact
food restaurant if they're taking these medications, because first of all,
the extra amounts of oil and fat can make you
actually feel nauseous and not feel sick, and no one
(24:09):
wants to feel that way. But you have to put
in the right type of food so that your body
can lose weight and you can make it sustainable. So
if you are not thinking about, oh, I'm just going
to eat less, so I'm going to feel I'm going
to lose weight, that's where they make the conversation point
(24:31):
of you're going to have to take these medications forever.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Because you're acting like you're starving yourself.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
No one, no doctor, would say, I think it's a
good idea for you to starve yourself to lose weight.
But if you're not giving the information about what to
eat and how to eat and how to manage these medications,
you're literally putting people into the state of starvation. So yes,
(24:59):
they might lose weight temporarily, but then when they come
off of the medications, they tend to gain the weight back.
And the problem is that if you lose muscle as
well as fat, muscle is the key to our longevity.
So we can have good muscle strength, we could have
(25:21):
good bone strength. We can live into our seventies, eighties,
and nineties and do all the things that we want
to do. But if you lose that muscle mass and
then you gain the weight back and you gain the
fat back, and you don't gain the muscle back, it's
going to be harder for you to lose weight the
next time you try it, and you've actually put your
(25:42):
body at higher risk for age related illnesses. And nobody
wants to do that.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah. Absolutely, And actually that's one of my concerns as well,
that these drugs are becoming so widely available that people
aren't getting the support that they need and deserve when
they embark upon using these drugs. And that's what you provide,
is the support, the guidance, and you know, everything else
(26:12):
that's associated with successfully using these drugs, getting off these drugs,
not using the drugs whatever. I like your approach very much.
So I've got one last question for you. What about
natural substances like burberine for example.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
So one of the cool things that we've done in
our research is that we know that there are things
that can support the digestive tract. So they're actually isolating
probiotics and like acromancia and so that actually helps produce
GLP one in the body. So that's a great thing
(26:52):
for people to use. There's been research studies on burberines.
Like you said, burberines have been shown to be as
effective as another oral medication called met foreman, and sometimes
it can actually be more effective depending on the studies
that have been shown. So met format helps us to
utilize our insulin and make sure our insulin is working
(27:14):
to the best way possible. So that is another example
of there are certain things that can really help people.
Fiber in the foods that you eat slows down gastric emptying.
So while that is one of the things that's been
touted for the GLP ones, when you eat foods, plant
(27:36):
based foods are the things that have fiber. They absolutely
cause the digestive tract to be able to feel full,
so you're not feeling as hungry and you're not eating
like junk food or extra sugar or hidden sugar. So
there certainly are different pieces that can support the digestive.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Function to help lose weight.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
And we're all almost out of time, so I want
to just ask you one last question. Where can people
find out more about you and your work? Do you
have a website you'd like to share with us?
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yes, So my name is doctor Day. That's what everyone
calls me Dae. So my website is Healthy Days which
is DAEs or you can find me on LinkedIn under
doctor Damon Jones, or Instagram or Facebook on Healthy Days.
These are places where we have discussions like the one
I'm having with you, Carolyn. So I love to talk
(28:33):
to people about how to get better.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Absolutely, I highly recommend doctor Day, so look her up.
She's a wealth of information. Thanks again, Doctor Day for
joining me.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
Thank you for having me. I always feel welcomed in
your presence.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Absolutely, it's always a pleasure. Well, that wraps up this
episode of five to Thrive Live once again. I'd like
to thank our sponsors pro Thrivers Wellness Sleep Formula, Amused
post biotic to give your immune system that extra boost,
cognizance and Coolon to help enhance memory, focus and attention,
and of course doctor o'hira's award winning shelf Stable Probiotic.
(29:11):
Great show. May you experience joy, laughter and love. It's
time to thrive. Everyone, have a good night.
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