Ozempic, Mounjaro, Weight Loss, and the Bigger Picture: A Naturopathic Perspective on the GLP-1 Era
Ozempic, Mounjaro, and the GLP-1 weight loss trend are making headlines—but at what cost?
As a clinical naturopath working closely with women navigating perimenopause, metabolic dysfunction, and stubborn weight gain, I believe it’s time we took a closer look at ozempic and the other weight loss injections out there. This article explores the risks of GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic, the link between gut health and natural GLP-1 production, and why medications aren’t always the answer to long-term weight loss or hormonal balance.
Lets be real. Just like me, I am sure you have noticed a growing trend around medications like Ozempic and Wegovy? These GLP-1 receptor agonists were originally developed to help manage type 2 diabetes, but they’re now being widely used by everyday women purely for weight loss. What was once a bit of a Hollywood secret is now out in the open—and it’s hard not to notice. In what felt like overnight, I started seeing women I follow on social media shedding weight rapidly, almost overnight.
And it’s not just anecdotal. Recent reports show prescriptions for GLP-1 agonists have increased more than 300% in the last two years, with a growing portion of these being written for people without type 2 diabetes. And I’ve had first hand experience with this via a friend of mine who messaged me recently. He’d gained weight around his midsection after starting antidepressants. He’d also stopped exercising and was drinking alcohol almost daily—factors clearly contributing to the weight gain. Instead of discussing lifestyle or nutrition, his GP handed him a script for a weight loss injection. He asked if it would carry any side effects, and the doctor casually replied, “Nah, not really.” I was stunned. Is this really what it’s come to? Just another bandaid to cover up a problem that needs deeper attention. Bandaid over the bandaid over the bandaid.
Now before we go on, I want to be really clear: this isn’t about judgment. I completely understand the pull toward something that promises quick results—especially if you’ve been struggling with weight for years and nothing else seems to work. My intention with this article isn’t to criticise, but to explore what might be missing from the conversation. Because while these medications may change the number on the scale, they don’t always address the deeper reasons why our bodies are holding onto weight in the first place.
While these drugs are clinically effective in reducing appetite and supporting weight reduction, the way they’re being used—often without a true metabolic or medical indication—raises serious concerns. Quick-fix solutions rarely create sustainable health, and when we bypass the body’s innate wisdom in favour of suppressive strategies, we risk doing more harm than good.
As a naturopath who works with women navigating fatigue, weight gain, gut health issues, hormonal chaos, and metabolic dysfunction, I want to offer a broader, more holistic lens on this conversation. Yes, medications have their place—but they’re not a substitute for understanding and addressing the root causes of what’s truly going on in the body.
And as someone who has supported hundreds of women through Metabolic Balance®, I’ve seen firsthand that sustainable transformation comes from restoring metabolic health at the cellular level—not from overriding it with medication. In fact, the majority of my clients who complete the 12-week Metabolic Balance® program report not only weight loss, but improvements in mood, energy, digestion, and hormonal symptoms—outcomes that are rarely achieved through medication alone.
How Ozempic Works—and Why It’s So Popular
Ozempic works by mimicking GLP-1, a hormone naturally produced in the gut that enhances insulin secretion, delays stomach emptying, and promotes feelings of fullness. For many people, this leads to significant weight loss, often with very little effort. I get why it’s so appealing. But as with any medication that overrides a biological signal, there’s more beneath the surface.
The GLP-1 pathway is part of a finely tuned communication system between the gut, pancreas, brain, and liver. When this pathway is manipulated pharmacologically—especially in someone whose body isn’t truly deficient—we can see side effects: nausea, fatigue, constipation, gallbladder issues, and even serious risks like pancreatitis or thyroid tumors. And once the medication is stopped? In many cases, the weight comes back—often accompanied by worsened metabolic health due to muscle loss or deeper hormonal disruption.
What tends to be missed in this conversation is that GLP-1 activity is not just about hunger—it also interacts with dopamine signalling, mood regulation, and even neuroplasticity. When you suppress appetite through a pharmaceutical lens, you're not just quieting hunger; you're dampening a cascade of neural feedback loops that contribute to motivation, satisfaction, and reward.
This opens up an entirely different layer of the conversation—one that moves beyond appetite and weight, and into the realm of emotional resilience, mental health, and motivation. GLP-1 is part of a wider neuroendocrine dialogue that helps us feel balanced, focused, and emotionally regulated. When we manipulate that pathway without addressing why it's dysregulated in the first place, we may see unintended shifts not only in our metabolism, but also in our mood, energy, and ability to feel pleasure or drive.
Gut Health: The Missing Link in the GLP-1 Conversation
What’s rarely talked about is why someone may have low GLP-1 in the first place. New research has identified that certain bacterial overgrowths in the gut—especially Desulfovibrio—can produce hydrogen sulfide, which damages the mitochondria of the cells responsible for producing GLP-1. This disrupts the body’s natural ability to regulate insulin, manage blood sugar, and feel full.
In other words, GLP-1 deficiency might be a symptom of microbial imbalance and mitochondrial dysfunction—both of which are highly modifiable through targeted gut support, herbal medicine, and nutrition. Suppressing appetite with medication doesn’t solve this. It just masks it.
This microbial damage can also impair short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production—particularly butyrate—which further reduces GLP-1 signalling. Butyrate is one of the most important compounds made in the gut, and it plays a powerful role in reducing inflammation, supporting your metabolism, and keeping the lines of communication open between your gut, brain, and hormones.
When butyrate levels drop—which often happens after gut disruption, antibiotic use, or a low-fibre diet—it affects much more than digestion. Low butyrate can contribute to weight gain, fatigue, blood sugar imbalances, and hormone disruption. It can even reduce your body’s ability to produce GLP-1 naturally—making you more reliant on medications like Ozempic just to keep things under control.
This is why a healthy gut matters so much for long-term success. No drug can replace what a well-functioning microbiome does naturally. By using the right foods, gentle fibres, and personalised gut support, we can help restore your own metabolic rhythm and build sustainable results that don’t depend on weekly injections.
This study underscores the importance of using comprehensive testing (like Complete Microbiome Mapping or SIBO breath tests) to understand what’s really driving metabolic dysfunction. Gut health is not just about digestion—it’s deeply intertwined with everything — it’s not just weight loss. It underpins your metabolism, nervous system, hormones, immunity, mood, and energy. If you don’t prioritise your gut, you can take all the medications in the world, but you won’t be a healthy person. You’ll be stuck managing symptoms rather than addressing the root cause — constantly needing a bandaid, instead of real, lasting healing.
The Nervous System, Satiety, and Appetite Suppression
What most people don’t realise is that satiety doesn’t just come from hormones—it also relies on nervous system regulation. The vagus nerve helps communicate safety to the digestive tract. When we eat in a calm state, chew properly, and feel safe, we produce enough stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and GLP-1. But when we’re stuck in “fight or flight,” these signals get blunted. That’s when cravings, emotional eating, and digestive issues can start to spiral.
Suppressing hunger with a drug like Ozempic doesn’t fix that. It might override appetite temporarily—but it doesn’t restore balance. Instead, I work with tools like breathwork, EFT, restorative yoga, and herbs and supplements to bring the body back to a parasympathetic state where healing can actually happen.
Perimenopause and Metabolic Decline
There is an intricate connection between metabolism and women's health during perimenopause. Shifting hormones during this phase can impact metabolic flexibility (read this article to understand more about what I mean by this) —your body’s ability to switch between burning carbohydrates and fats for fuel. In a healthy state, the body can adapt to different energy demands. But when insulin resistance is present (which is increasingly common), this flexibility breaks down. The result? Fatigue, stubborn weight gain, and inflammation.
So many women experience a metabolic “slowing” during perimenopause—often due to declining oestrogen and progesterone, a shift in fat storage patterns (especially around the abdomen), and increased risk of insulin resistance. These aren’t just “normal parts of ageing”—they’re signs of a body in need of deeper support. At the same time, changes in gut health often begin to emerge—sometimes subtly, sometimes more dramatically. Bloating, irregular bowel habits, increased food sensitivities, or digestive discomfort can all signal that the microbiome is under strain. And because the gut plays such a central role in hormone metabolism, inflammation control, and even blood sugar balance, these symptoms are not separate from what's happening hormonally—they're deeply connected.
We also need to consider what’s happening at the cellular level. Mitochondria—your body’s energy factories—are highly sensitive to hormonal shifts, stress, and inflammation. As oestrogen declines, mitochondrial efficiency often drops, meaning your cells produce less energy from the food you eat. This can show up as fatigue, brain fog, reduced exercise tolerance, and slower recovery. Supporting mitochondrial health becomes key in restoring vitality and metabolic resilience.
And then there’s cortisol—the body’s primary stress hormone. During perimenopause, many women become more cortisol-sensitive, meaning they feel the effects of stress more intensely. Elevated or erratic cortisol can drive insulin resistance, disrupt sleep, increase abdominal fat storage, and impair hormone detoxification. It also competes with your sex hormones for resources, making symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, and weight gain even more pronounced.
Together, these interconnected systems—gut, hormones, mitochondria, and stress response—create your metabolic picture. When one area is under strain, the others quickly follow. This is why a holistic, personalised approach becomes so important in this phase of life.
This is also why so many women find that medications like Ozempic only take them so far. These drugs may suppress appetite and support short-term weight loss—but they don’t rebuild mitochondrial function, regulate cortisol, heal the gut, or address the underlying hormonal shifts driving fatigue and metabolic resistance. If anything, suppressing appetite without supporting these deeper layers can worsen nutrient depletion, stress hormone imbalances, and gut dysfunction over time. True, lasting change requires more than a weekly injection—it requires working with your body’s physiology, not against it.
What else do you need to know……
While the appeal of weight loss injections is understandable, the longer-term effects often go overlooked in mainstream conversations. Beyond appetite and blood sugar, GLP-1 medications can influence multiple physiological systems—from your bones and muscles to your thyroid, gut microbiome, and even your relationship with food. These are not just side effects—they’re critical aspects of your health that deserve a deeper look. Let’s break them down.
1 - Bone Density and Structural Health
One of the lesser-known but deeply concerning risks associated with medications like Ozempic and Wegovy is their potential impact on bone density—especially in women who are already at higher risk of osteopenia or osteoporosis due to hormonal changes in perimenopause and menopause.
While the primary mechanism of GLP-1 receptor agonists is appetite suppression and improved glycaemic control, emerging evidence suggests that rapid weight loss—especially when muscle mass is lost alongside fat—can have a direct impact on bone metabolism. Weight-bearing fat and muscle tissue help to maintain skeletal strength. When weight is lost quickly and without a focus on resistance training or adequate protein intake, bone resorption can outpace bone formation, leading to reduced bone mineral density.
Several animal and human studies have raised red flags in this area. In one clinical trial, patients taking semaglutide experienced a measurable decline in bone mineral density over time, particularly in the lumbar spine and femoral neck—two key areas associated with fracture risk. The exact mechanisms are still being investigated, but the likely contributors include:
Reduced mechanical loading on bones due to loss of lean body mass and body weight
Nutritional deficits, particularly in calcium, vitamin D, protein, and magnesium
Hormonal shifts, such as reduced estrogen or progesterone, especially in perimenopausal women
Increased inflammation and oxidative stress, which can accelerate bone turnover
This is particularly concerning for women in their 40s and 50s, who may already be experiencing the beginnings of estrogen decline, which is a major driver of bone loss. Add to that a calorie-restricted, low-protein diet (often unintentionally caused by Ozempic's appetite suppression), and you have the perfect storm for accelerated skeletal ageing.
From a naturopathic perspective, I place a strong emphasis on preserving and building bone strength—not just for fracture prevention, but because our bones are also metabolically active tissue, involved in mineral regulation, immune function, and hormonal balance. Long-term health isn’t just about weight—it’s about structural integrity, resilience, and strength from the inside out.
If bone loss is a concern, we need to be looking at a whole-body strategy that includes resistance training, protein-rich meals, specific nutrients like vitamin D, K, magnesium, boron, silica, and collagen, and—most importantly—a lifestyle that supports hormonal balance, not overrides it.
2. Muscle Loss and Metabolic Slowdown
What happens: GLP-1 medications significantly reduce appetite, often leading to inadequate protein and calorie intake. Without intentional strength training or protein preservation strategies, weight loss on Ozempic often includes a substantial percentage of lean muscle mass—not just fat.
Why it matters: Muscle is metabolically active tissue—it helps regulate blood sugar, supports hormone function, and protects against sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). Loss of muscle slows resting metabolic rate, making long-term weight maintenance harder and potentially priming the body for rebound weight gain once the medication is stopped.
Muscle isn’t just about strength—it’s a reservoir for glucose, a key player in insulin sensitivity, and one of the most critical tissues for healthy mitochondrial function. When we lose muscle, we lose a layer of metabolic resilience. This can lead to increased fatigue, decreased stability and mobility, and a greater risk of injury or frailty as we age.
From a naturopathic perspective, preserving and rebuilding muscle is essential for long-term metabolic health. This means prioritising high-quality protein at every meal (especially at breakfast), integrating strength-based movement 2–3 times a week, and supporting recovery with nutrients like magnesium, creatine, and BCAAs when needed. For women in perimenopause and beyond, this is especially important—both to support body composition and to buffer against the metabolic slowdown that can accompany hormonal changes.
3. Gallbladder Issues and Digestive Stagnation
GLP-1 drugs delay gastric emptying—a key part of how they reduce appetite. But this slowing of digestive motility can lead to bile stasis, increasing the risk of gallstones and gallbladder dysfunction, especially in those losing weight rapidly.
Why it matters: The gallbladder is crucial for fat digestion, hormone detoxification, and microbial balance in the small intestine. Without healthy bile flow, women may experience bloating, nausea, fat malabsorption, and downstream impacts on estrogen clearance and SIBO risk.
Poor bile flow not only impairs digestion but also contributes to hormonal congestion—particularly estrogen dominance, which is already a concern for many women in perimenopause. Rapid weight loss from GLP-1 meds can accelerate this issue, leading to symptoms like mood swings, heavy periods, and tender breasts. Many women report gallbladder attacks or even gallbladder removal after significant weight loss—often without realising the connection.
Naturopathically, we support bile flow using digestive bitters, taurine, dandelion, and gentle detox strategies. In some cases, ox bile or lecithin may be indicated, particularly for those without a gallbladder.
4. Emotional Disconnection and Disordered Eating
Suppressing appetite pharmacologically can lead to a sense of emotional disconnection from hunger, food, and body cues. For many women, this bypasses the healing needed around body image, self-worth, and emotional eating patterns.
Why it matters: Weight loss without addressing underlying behaviours can mask unresolved trauma, perfectionism, or control issues. Over time, this can create fragile progress and increase the risk of disordered eating, body dysmorphia, or binge-restrict cycles once the drug is stopped.
Clinically, I often see women come off these medications with a broken sense of trust in their bodies. They feel “out of control” with food, or fearful of regaining weight. The path back requires emotional reconnection—rediscovering hunger and fullness cues, and healing the nervous system with practices like breathwork, EFT tapping, and intuitive movement. This kind of work is subtle but transformational.
5. Thyroid Suppression and Hormonal Imbalances
Low caloric intake and rapid weight loss can suppress thyroid function—especially in women with existing HPA axis dysfunction or subclinical hypothyroidism. There are also potential links between GLP-1 receptor activation and C-cell hyperplasia, particularly in those with thyroid vulnerability.
Why it matters: Thyroid hormones are central to metabolic rate, mood, menstrual cycles, and cognitive function. Suppressed thyroid function can increase fatigue, reduce resilience, and contribute to long-term metabolic slowdown.
I encourage functional thyroid testing—including reverse T3, free T3, free T4, and thyroid antibodies—for women considering or using GLP-1 meds. When the thyroid is under-functioning, we must address not just nutrients like selenium, iodine, and zinc, but also blood sugar stability, inflammation, and emotional stress. A sluggish thyroid is often the body’s protective response to chronic depletion.
6. Microbiome Shifts and Long-Term Gut Health
What happens: GLP-1 meds alter gut motility and microbial composition—slower transit times can lead to dysbiosis, constipation, and increased methane-producing bacteria (linked to SIBO). Additionally, decreased food intake often means less dietary fibre, resistant starch, and prebiotic diversity.
Why it matters: Gut bacteria are involved in hormone metabolism, immune modulation, GLP-1 production, and even neurotransmitter synthesis. Disruption of this ecosystem can lead to inflammation, poor estrogen clearance, and mental health symptoms.
Microbial diversity is foundational for metabolic flexibility. When restrictive eating or chronic stress takes hold, that diversity shrinks. Through microbiome mapping and stool testing, we can assess this and rebuild with fermented foods, polyphenol-rich plants, targeted prebiotics, and herbal antimicrobials. Gut healing is slow medicine, but it creates lasting resilience.
7. Loss of Intuitive Eating and Rebound Weight Regain
What happens: GLP-1s train the body to rely on medication for appetite control. When the drug is discontinued, most people experience a rapid return of appetite, and without metabolic resilience, this often leads to rebound weight gain—sometimes beyond the original starting weight.
Why it matters: This cycle can leave women feeling like failures, deepen shame, and cause long-term dysregulation of body signals. It undermines the development of sustainable eating patterns rooted in self-awareness and nourishment.
Sustainable eating patterns are based on presence, not perfection. Teaching women how to feel safe in their bodies, how to respond to true hunger, and how to find pleasure in nourishment is part of the long-term work. This is where Metabolic Balance® shines—not by suppressing hunger, but by restoring metabolic rhythm through real food, regular meals, and nervous system repair.
8. Energetics, Appetite, and the Wisdom of the Body
There’s also a deeper, more subtle layer to all of this—one that many clinicians don’t address. Appetite is not just a physical cue; it’s tied to desire, intuition, pleasure, and life force. From an energetic perspective, chronic suppression of appetite may begin to mute not just hunger, but also our ability to feel joy, creativity, and connection to the body.
This matters—especially for women in perimenopause who are already experiencing changes in libido, energy, and self-identity. In yoga therapy, we understand that appetite lives in the same energetic centre (the sacral chakra) as sexuality, creativity, and emotional expression. When we suppress hunger long-term, we risk disconnecting from our own inner compass.
What’s Driving Metabolic Dysfunction?
The root causes of poor metabolic health are often ignored. We now know that insulin resistance is a growing epidemic, driven by:
Highly processed diets
Sedentary lifestyles
Environmental toxins
Poor sleep and chronic stress
Hormonal imbalances
And, of course, gut dysbiosis
While medications like Ozempic lower blood sugar and suppress appetite in the short term, they don’t address any of these drivers. This is why I advocate for testing that looks deeper: fasting insulin, HbA1c, liver function, triglycerides, cholesterol profiles, and inflammatory markers—as well as functional testing to explore nutrient status, hormone balance, and gut health.
What Your Metabolism Really Needs (Hint: It’s Not Just Less Food)
So how can you support your metabolic health through perimenopause in a way that truly works with your body so you don’t need to turn to weight loss drugs? A naturopathic approach focuses on restoring balance rather than forcing results. Below are some of the key nutrients and strategies I regularly recommend—and often incorporate into personalised treatment plans.
Protein-rich breakfasts to stabilise blood sugar from the start of the day
Choline, magnesium, and inositol to support insulin sensitivity and liver detoxification
Taurine and glycine to nourish mitochondria and calm the nervous system
Whole foods, fibre, and bitter vegetables to support digestion and detox pathways
Movement that balances strength training with nervous system regulation
And perhaps most importantly: rest, rhythm, and reconnection with the body. Something I say to my clients all the time—and something I really want you to let sink in—is this: you can’t heal a body you hate. Everything we do needs to come from a place of love, gentleness, and kindness. That’s where true healing begins.
A Deeper Hunger: What Are We Really Trying to Control?
There’s a bigger question here that often gets lost: What are we actually hungry for? For many women, the urge to lose weight is about more than health—it’s about control, safety, and identity. In my clinical experience, weight gain is rarely just about food. It’s about depleted reserves, unmet needs, and a body asking to slow down and be heard.
Appetite, in this context, is sacred. It’s how we experience desire, pleasure, and vitality. Chronic suppression—whether through dieting, over-exercising, or medication—disconnects us from this. Healing is not about getting smaller. It’s about getting stronger, clearer, and more in tune with what your body truly needs. Who cares what the scale says? Honestly, it means so little. Your weight can fluctuate by 3kg overnight without anything significant changing in your body. It’s not a true measure of health, progress, or worth. So we aim for energy, for good gut health, for a calm nervous system, for happy hormones and for feeling like we are healthy and back in our body……..not some random ideal we have decided is a perfect body.
What Real Healing Looks Like
Ozempic might help you lose weight but if you’re not addressing gut health, hormonal shifts, insulin resistance, nervous system dysregulation, and emotional well-being—you’re missing the real work. True metabolic healing is about restoration, not restriction.
So before reaching for the quick fix, I invite you to get curious. What if your body isn’t broken? What if it’s just overwhelmed, inflamed, and asking for a different kind of support? There is another way—one rooted in nourishment, rhythm, and deep respect for your unique physiology.
This is the lens I work through when supporting women with Metabolic Balance®. It’s a program grounded in clinical data and built entirely around your own biochemistry—designed to support blood sugar stability, inflammation, hormone balance, and energy levels, using real food.
It’s not about quick fixes or extremes. It’s about creating the conditions where your body can recalibrate and thrive—gently and sustainably. For many women, that includes feeling more connected to their appetite, their mood, and their health than they have in years.
You deserve more than temporary results. You deserve real, lasting health. And I’m here to support you in finding it.
If you would like to have a chat to about seeing a naturopath, metabolic balance, yoga, reiki or EFT you are very welcome to book in a free discovery call with me. I know it can feel very confusing working out what the right thing to do is and I am here to support you. You can book a free call HERE or if you know its right for you, book an Initial Naturopathic Consultation and we can jump right into getting your health on track and have you feeling amazing in no time.