“How can I support my body’s ability to make more GLP-1?” is a question we hear often in our clinic. 

With the surge of use of GLP-1 medications in recent years, patients have become very familiar with the power of this peptide to facilitate weight loss. Glucagon-like-peptide-1 is made in our bodies primarily by specialized enteroendocrine L-cells located in the lining of our gut.

Research has exploded on the many effects of GLP-1 on our bodies and how this peptide facilitates weight loss. Below we will explain of how GLP-1 is produced in the intestines and how you can support healthy levels naturally.

Here are the six areas of endogenous GLP-1 production in your digestive tract and tips how to increase levels:

1. Intestinal epithelial cells can sense the concentration of glucose in the gut lumen and initiate the secretion of GLP-1 when the concentration reaches a certain level.

How you can help this

Ensure that your “gut lining” is healthy so your epithelial cells can respond appropriately. There are lots of considerations in having a healthy gut lining including eating a generally low inflammatory diet and avoiding food sensitivities unique to you. Ensure a diet rich in a gut healing amino acid called L-glutamine is also important.

2. Dietary fibres are fermented to SCFAs (*short chain fatty acids) by gut microbiota, which bind to GPR43 receptors, then promote the production of GLP-1.

You can...

Support microbial diversity with prebiotics such as polyphenols in colourful fruits and vegetables, arabinogalactan, prebiotics in our diet like soluble fibres and fermented foods

Common therapeutic supplementation to support the health of the epithelial cells lining our gut include L-glutamine, prebiotics such as arabinogalactan, prebiotics in our diet like soluble fibres and fermented foods. See the image below of foods to rotate to promote a diversified microbiome through diet.

Create an image included list of foods under the following categories with the title stating: Eat 30+ different plants/week to increase microbial diversity and overall gut...

3. Secondary bile acids bind to TGR5 and promote the production of GLP-1.

Primary Bile acids are transported from the liver to the intestinal lumen, metabolized by gut microbiota, and finally are transformed into secondary bile acids.

You can...

Support a diversified microbiome with a diversity of soluble fibre foods as suggested above. (SCFAs feed the healthy microbes) (Note that if you don’t have a gallbladder, you might benefit from some supplementation of ox bile.)

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4. 2-OG (glycerol) bind to GLPR119 receptor of L cells(specialized enteroendocrine cells in the gut epithelium( to promote the production of GLP-1. Dietary fats are digested into 2-OG (2-oleoyl glycerol) and fatty acids under the action of the intestinal bacteria.

Tip

Eat healthy fats and include coconut oil as great source of glycerol.

5. LPS (lipopolysaccharide) on the surface of Gram-negative bacteria can bind to TLR4 receptor of L cells and then promote the production of GLP-1 production.

Note

While we don’t want to drive LPS production too much and create inflammation, supporting it with a gram negative bacteria like akkermansia can be helpful.

6. Tryptophan is a digestive biproduct/amino acid of dietary protein and is then further broken down in to indole. Indole promotes the production of GLP-1.

Help by..

Including clean protein sources into each meal. Lean poultry, meat, nuts and seeds.

At Saskatoon Naturopathic Medicine, our six naturopathic doctors are always focused on individualized treatment plans through a comprehensive consultation. Sometimes we utilize functional testing like a USBiotek GI Advanced stool test to assess all the areas of Gastrointestinal and Metabolic health sited above. We may also recommend supplements to support the increased production of GLP-1.

If you are ready to make some changes to support your GLP-1 production naturally, utilizing the above recommendation above is a great start!