You may be hearing a lot about GLP-1 lately and how it’s associated with weight management. What you may not know is how GLP-1 works, what it does to help your metabolism, and how you can support GLP-1 production with probiotics.
What is GLP-1?
First off, GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1. GLP-1 belongs to a family of hormones called the incretins that enhance the secretion of insulin. This simplest explanation is that GLP-1 is a hormone produced in the gut in response to food consumption. This hormone response triggers a host of downstream metabolic effects including reducing appetite, releasing insulin, and controlling blood sugar.
How Does GLP-1 Help With Weight Management?
We already know that GLP-1 encourages the release of insulin. However, it also acts on the appetite centers of the brain to slow the emptying of the stomach and to increase satiety, or the feeling of fullness during and between meals. Research suggests that people with obesity may have problems with GLP-1 production. As such, it has become a key focus in obesity, diabetes, and general weight management treatments.
How You Can Increase GLP-1 Production
Of course even if you’re not clinically obese or have diabetes, you may want to support your GLP-1 production to help with weight control and for general metabolic health.
Research has found that eating high protein foods such as yogurt and whey proteins may increase GLP-1. This is an easy, natural way to stimulate GLP-1 production.
Another easy way to support GLP-1 is by taking targeted probiotics. Certain probiotic strains, such as Akkermansia muciniphila, have been shown to stimulate GLP-1 levels. Akkermansia is a novel, next generation strain that’s been associated with a healthy weight, as well as with strengthening the gut lining for optimal gut health.
Learn more and shop for Akkermansia here.
Metabolic Daily is a blend of probiotic strains (including Akkermansia) formulated by PhD doctors and scientists from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Berkeley, and Stanford to naturally optimize your metabolism and support a healthy weight. This targeted formula also contains Anaerobutyricum hallii, Clostridium beijerinckii, and Clostridium butyricum, all strains that support GLP-1 production. This probiotic blend also breaks down fiber and produces butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid associated with a spectrum of health benefits including healthy blood sugar response, gut permeability, and immune function. It actually boosts metabolism, and reduces sugar cravings.
Learn more and shop for Metabolic Daily here.
The good news is that the understanding of the critical role of GLP-1 in maintaining a healthy weight and metabolic health is quickly growing not only in the healthcare community but in the general population. The even better news is that there are easy ways to help you support your GLP-1 production yourself.