GLP-1, or Glucagon-like Peptide-1, is a hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar levels. It is produced in the intestines and is released in response to food intake and has several important functions including the following:

1. Stimulating insulin secretion: GLP-1 enhances the secretion of insulin from the pancreas when blood sugar levels are high. Insulin is the hormone responsible for lowering blood glucose by facilitating its uptake into cells.

2. Inhibiting glucagon release: Glucagon is a hormone that increases blood sugar levels by stimulating the liver to release glucose. GLP-1 suppresses glucagon secretion, thereby helping to prevent excessive glucose production.

3. Slowing gastric emptying: GLP-1 slows the rate at which food leaves the stomach, which helps control the rise in blood sugar levels after eating a meal.

4. Promoting satiety: GLP-1 signals to the brain that the body is full, which can help reduce food intake and support weight management.

Read that sentence above one more time. GLP-1 is a hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar levels. If you have been following my work for the past 18 years, you are probably thinking about the Metabolic Efficiency Training concept right now since the entire concept promotes pairing the right types of food together to, yes, you guessed it, control blood sugar!

As I am sure you are aware, there are medications now that mimic the action of GLP-1, knowing as GLP-1 agonists. These are used to improve blood sugar control to help those with type 2 diabetes or obesity by enhancing the natural effects of GLP-1 in the body.

But doesn’t this make you scratch your head and wonder if simply adopting a daily nutrition plan that focuses on improving metabolic efficiency would have the same effect. I know I do but I also understand that these medications may be helpful in certain cases.

However, at the end of the day, we all have the choice of using food as our medicine or relying on actual medicine. With that, I will let you think about this a bit more. There is certainly not a “right” or a “wrong”, just what is important to us and what we are willing to do (or not do).

Read more about the Metabolic Efficiency Training concept HERE or reach out to the AWESOME team of Sport Dietitians at eNRG Performance.

Oh, and don’t forget to submit any sports nutrition related question to our “Ask eNRG” HERE and one of our Sport Dietitians will answer it via video and post it on our YouTube channel every Monday.