Episode 81
How Ozempic Works and Why Diets Still Matter
What Is Ozempic or Zepbound, Really?
You’ve probably heard about Ozempic or Zepbound. Maybe from a friend, a celebrity, or a TikTok ad. These are powerful medicines used to help people lose weight and manage diabetes. But what do they actually do?
Ozempic is a GLP-1 receptor agonist—a type of drug that helps control hunger, improve blood sugar, and lower the risk of heart disease.
But here's the big surprise: the real power of these drugs isn’t in your stomach—it’s in your brain.
How It Works in the Brain
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic work in two big ways:
- They help you feel full.
- They slow down how fast your stomach empties, so you stay full longer.
- They quiet the “food noise” in your brain.
- That’s the big one. These medicines reach areas in the brain like the hypothalamus and mesolimbic system (which includes parts like the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area). These areas are responsible for cravings, rewards, and motivation to eat.
When GLP-1 hits these areas, it reduces dopamine, the chemical that makes you want things like cake or chips. It also increases serotonin, which helps with mood and feeling satisfied after eating.
This makes it easier to stop eating when you're full and harder to overeat just because food tastes good.
📚 Reference: Mechanisms of GLP-1 receptor agonist–induced weight loss. Am J Med. 2024.
What About “Natural GLP-1 Boosters”?
You might see ads for supplements or foods that say they boost your “natural GLP-1.” Some are even called “natural Ozempic.”
Here’s the truth:
- Your body makes GLP-1 naturally.
- Yes, fiber-rich foods help make more of it.
- But no, it does not stay in your system very long—only a few minutes.
That means your natural GLP-1 never reaches your brain like Ozempic does.
Synthetic GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic) are made to last for days. They stick around long enough to enter your brain and turn down cravings.
So no—berberine, vinegar, or sea moss are not the same thing.
📚 Reference: GLP-1 in brain health and food reward. Front Neurosci. 2022.
Common Myths You Should Ignore
Let’s talk about a few common myths—and what science says instead:
- ❌ “It’s a cheat code.”
- ✅ It’s not cheating. It helps your brain stop screaming for food all the time.
- ❌ “You’ll lose all your muscle.”
- ✅ Not if you eat enough protein and move your body.
- ❌ “You’ll gain it all back.”
- ✅ Only if you stop all your healthy habits. GLP-1s are tools, not magic.
- ❌ “It’s just for weight loss.”
- ✅ These drugs also lower your risk of heart attacks, stroke, and even possibly dementia.
📚 Reference: Semaglutide and cardiovascular outcomes. NEJM. 2023.
Want to Supercharge Your Results? Go Mediterranean.
People on GLP-1s who follow a Mediterranean-style diet lose more weight than those who don’t.
Here’s why:
- Supports your gut health.
- Boosts your own natural GLP-1.
- Helps the medication work better.
What’s in the Mediterranean diet?
- ✅ Vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains
- ✅ Olive oil instead of butter
- ✅ Fish and lean proteins
- ✅ Some fruit and red wine (in moderation)
And yes—less fast food and fewer ultra-processed snacks.
📚 Reference: Combining GLP-1s with dietary strategies. Nutrients. 2023.
One Final Thing: Obesity Is a Disease
Some people still think obesity is about willpower. It’s not.
In 2013, the American Medical Association said obesity is a disease.
It’s caused by a mix of genetics, hormones, environment, and brain chemistry.
Telling someone to “just eat less” is like telling someone with asthma to “just breathe better.”
📚 Reference: Obesity as a chronic disease. Endocr Rev. 2021.
In Summary
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic are powerful tools—but they work best with the right support:
✅ Use them with a healthy Mediterranean-style diet
✅ Talk to your doctor and registered dietitian
✅ Don’t fall for “natural GLP-1” scams
✅ Understand: This is real medicine—not a trend
About the Author
This article was written by Dr. Terry Simpson, a board-certified physician, surgeon, and food science expert.
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Chances are you know someone who has been on
Speaker:Ozempic.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Maybe you've heard someone whisper at brunch.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: That they're on the shot.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Or maybe you've seen some of the headlines about some of the miracles that.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: The GLP1s like Ozempic and Zeppbound can
Speaker:do.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Today we're going to talk about those.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: GLP1 Ozempic, also known as
Speaker:WeGovy, Zeppbound.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Also known as Terzepzide or Manjaro. These are
Speaker:not diet pills. These are precision
Speaker:metabolic therapies.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: And no, the real magic is not in your
Speaker:gut. The real magic is in your
Speaker:brain.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: I'm your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terri.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Simpson, and this is Fork U Fork
Speaker:University, where we make sense of the madness,
Speaker:bust a few myths, and teach you a little bit about food
Speaker:and medicine.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Here's how the GLP1s work.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Work in your brain.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Now, if you remember neuroanatomy, you are.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Going to love the next three sentences.
Speaker:If not, just hang in there. You'll learn some
Speaker:fancy words and it's okay to use them.
Speaker:GLP ones work in something called the
Speaker:hypothalamus, where they activate satiety
Speaker:neurons and suppress hunger. Got that so
Speaker:far. Right. In the mesolimbic
Speaker:reward system, the ventral.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Tigeminal area and the nucleus accumbens, they.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Reduce dopamine release, blunting food's
Speaker:reward effect. They also modulate
Speaker:serotonin, impacting mood, reducing.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Emotional eating, and improving satiety.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Okay, you got through it.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Here's the bottom.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Food noise is gone.
Speaker:When you hear people saying that, they're not just
Speaker:manifesting, they are describing, uh, a
Speaker:complex neurochemistry that
Speaker:we have never heard before,
Speaker:people talking about food noise being gone.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: We've also seen it in patients who've taken these drugs, and
Speaker:they've noticed that.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: They have a decreased interest in alcohol
Speaker:or tobacco. There are more things that
Speaker:GLP1s do, and we're going to talk about some of those a little
Speaker:bit.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: But these drugs literally
Speaker:rewire the drive to eat.
Speaker:It's not just a sensation of fullness.
Speaker:What makes them transformative is in the brain.
Speaker:It's not the nausea, it's not the gastric slowing.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Those help, but that's not the primary
Speaker:mechanism.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: And now I want to address the.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Influencer lie or quack lie of the Week.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: You've seen them. Natural GLP1 Boosters
Speaker:or Buy youy Natural GLP1. The
Speaker:reason these quacks have that form is because the
Speaker:pharmaceutical companies are still.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Charging too much for the GLP1s.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: But yes, let's start with the obvious. Your body
Speaker:produces GLP1. It produces it in the
Speaker:distal part of the small bowel. And fiber
Speaker:rich foods which change your microbiome
Speaker:enhance the production of your own natural
Speaker:GLP1. And we also
Speaker:discovered that some ultra processed junk
Speaker:foods not only blunt production of
Speaker:GLP1, but they actually
Speaker:destroy the cells.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Well, the food doesn't.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: The food causes you to have an increase in a certain
Speaker:bacteria which actually.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Destroy cells that make your own
Speaker:GLP1. What about your
Speaker:GLP1?
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It is metabolized in minutes.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It's cleared by an enzyme called DPP4.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Long before it ever reaches your brain.
Speaker:Semaglutide, on the other hand, is synthetic.
Speaker:It stays active in your body for days.
Speaker:It's engineered so it can cross the blood brain
Speaker:barrier, bind to the receptors.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: And the reward centers, and actually help.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: You change your behavior.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Think about this. If you are trying
Speaker:to dig a trench and you have
Speaker:a little tiny shovel like one of those you use.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: In the garden, it's going to take you forever. You're going to get discouraged and
Speaker:you're.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Going to give up.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Get a backhoe. You can do it quickly.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: GLP1s are like the backhoe.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: What about sea moss and berberine and all these other
Speaker:fiber things?
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: They don't do that.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: If they did, if they could last long in
Speaker:your body, they'd be prescription drugs.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: But instead they're Instagram ads.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Let's talk about some myths and lies and TikTok
Speaker:tragedies.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Myth one, it's a cheat code.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Nope.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: This does not erase responsibility.
Speaker:It makes responsible choices
Speaker:finally possible. Myth
Speaker:two, you're gonna lose your muscle mass.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Well, if your diet is err and.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Regret, yeah, it will.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: But if you eat a reasonable amount of protein, do some lifting,
Speaker:or do.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Some resistance training, you're gonna be fine.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: M Myth three, you're gonna regain it.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: All when you stop.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: You know, if you treat this like a crash diet.
Speaker:Absolutely. If you use it to help
Speaker:reset behavior and adjust your lifestyle.
Speaker:Not necessarily. But uh, remember,
Speaker:GLP1s are a treatment for
Speaker:obesity. And just like a treatment for blood pressure
Speaker:medicine, when your blood pressure gets under control, you don't
Speaker:stop your blood pressure medicine. When your lipids get under control,
Speaker:you don't stop your cholesterol medicine. When your
Speaker:obesity gets under control, you.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Don'T stop your GLP1.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Myth four, it causes cancer. Well,
Speaker:if you're a rodent and take.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Megadoses of it, you're going to have some thyroid issues,
Speaker:but not in humans.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: That's not your worry unless you have a rare genetic
Speaker:ailment called Men2 syndrome, which
Speaker:if you're an adult, you know you have it by now and you probably should
Speaker:not be on a GLP1 unless you're very well
Speaker:supervised, or if.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: You'Ve ever had a type of thyroid.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Cancer called medullary thyroid cancer.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Myth 5 It's totally safe.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Nothing is totally safe.
Speaker:Some suggestions have even suggested a possible link to
Speaker:a wet macular degeneration and a form of blindness
Speaker:after long term use, especially in diabetics and
Speaker:older adults. So if you are diabetic or you are
Speaker:an older adult, get your eyes checked.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: If you're on these medications now, that's not
Speaker:fear, that's follow up.
Speaker:Now let's talk about some benefits that.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Are more than just a smaller pant size.
Speaker:The select trial showed that there are fewer heart attacks
Speaker:and fewer strokes. Other studies have shown
Speaker:that blood sugar is under better control. There's less
Speaker:liver fat, there is reduced
Speaker:inflammation. Other studies have shown that it is
Speaker:an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.
Speaker:Other studies have shown that it improves kidney function.
Speaker:Others have suggested a lower dementia risk,
Speaker:especially when combined with statins.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Now, do you want to supercharge your GLP1
Speaker:experience, go Mediterranean?
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: No, I don't mean go to the.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Mediterranean, although I think that's a perfectly good
Speaker:idea.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: But studies show that people on GLP1s who
Speaker:follow a Mediterranean style diet lose
Speaker:more weight than those who just inject in coastal. The
Speaker:original studies done on GLP1s done on these patients,
Speaker:they all were given a Mediterranean style diet to follow,
Speaker:and.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Some were given placebo and some were given GLP1s.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Those who followed that do better. When we study
Speaker:people who are not.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Following any sort of a diet, we find
Speaker:they just don't do as well.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: As those on the original study. So we're talking more
Speaker:vegetables, more legumes, more nuts.
Speaker:We're talking olive oil instead of butter. We're talking
Speaker:fatty fish instead of processed meat.
Speaker:So why does the Mediterranean diet work to support this?
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Well, number one, Mediterranean diet, as you.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Know, has a decreased risk of all of those diseases. We're worried
Speaker:about obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
Speaker:strokes, cancers and dementia. And
Speaker:number two, because Mediterranean diet is rich in
Speaker:fibrous food, it helps support.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Your gut, your gut, hormones, and even.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Your body's own natural GLP one response.
Speaker:Now, the Mediterranean diet has the advantage of it's not just
Speaker:food in the.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Mediterranean, it's food you can get anywhere.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: The Mediterranean diet is not about restriction. And
Speaker:this is about synergy.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: You know, the real problem is stigma.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It's not fat. Obesity is
Speaker:not a character flaw.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It is a chronic disease.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: The American Medical association declared it a chronic
Speaker:disease in 2013. And the science has
Speaker:been clear about this for years.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It involves genetics, hormones, gut
Speaker:microbiota, brain.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Signaling, and the environment.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: It's not just about your fork and your discipline.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Yet we still get insurance denials.
Speaker:Predominantly we get insurance denials because
Speaker:the medicines are too expensive. In the United States,
Speaker:we have doctors who shame patients instead of
Speaker:treating patients. We have celebrities who
Speaker:lie about their use. And, uh, we have
Speaker:biohacking bros who have no medical license peddling
Speaker:shortcuts that don't work. Obesity
Speaker:treatment needs medicine or surgery. Not
Speaker:moralizing, not magnesium and not
Speaker:misinformation. GLP1s aren't
Speaker:a miracle, but they are the start of a metabolic revolution.
Speaker:They work by quieting the noise in your brain, not
Speaker:just your belly. And when paired with a Mediterranean
Speaker:diet, real medical supervision and a little science.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Backed support, you've got something powerful.
Speaker:Please check the blog associated with this
Speaker:episode@yourdoctorsorders.com and4q.com
Speaker:this episode was researched and.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Written by me, Dr. Terri Simpson. And while I am a board certified.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Physician, I am not your physician. If you're on a
Speaker:GLP1 journey, check.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Often with your doctor before making any changes. And with the
Speaker:registered dietitian associated with your program.
Speaker:Please don't check with a chiropractor, Eastern.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Trained shaman who can't even prescribe these medications.
Speaker:Check in often with your physician, get monitored,
Speaker:stay engaged. Support groups
Speaker:help people lose weight and keep on
Speaker:track.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: All things distribution and audio were handled by my friends at
Speaker:Simpler Media.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: And the pod got himself my good buddy, Mr.
Speaker:Evotera. Have a good week everybody.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Hey Evo, I think these drugs are.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Going to be the source of the next Nobel Prize.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: They are absolutely amazing and revolutionary in what they can do
Speaker:for people. Amazing.
Speaker:>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Have a good week, buddy.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Wait, I thought the next peace prize was going to the felon
Speaker:in chief anyhow. Uh, you my friend,
Speaker:should win a comedy award for that line if your
Speaker:diet is air. And regret
Speaker:I lulled.
