Can food control appetite?

Certain foods and dietary patterns can help to create a similar effect in the body to that of popular weight-loss drugs. Health writer Karen Fittall looks into how it works and what to put on your plate to get the best results.

The Ozempic effect

Weight loss drugs have been around for nearly a century, but thanks to the hype around some highly effective ones released more recently, they may seem like a much newer invention. And compared with previous generations of weight-loss medications, they’ve arguably never been more in demand – so much so that shortages of diabetes drug Ozempic started to occur all over the world in early 2022 and supply has remained patchy ever since.

But what if some simple yet strategic dietary tweaks could not only trigger a similar metabolic reaction in the body as drugs like Ozempic, but are also research-approved when it comes to helping with weight loss?

How do weight-loss drugs work?

Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic, which is actually only approved for the management of diabetes in Australia and NZ, contain an active ingredient called semaglutide that mimics one of the body’s own hormones, called glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 for short.

Whenever you eat, your gastrointestinal tract releases GLP-1 to help your brain recognise that you’re full. Semaglutide enhances this effect, so that people using it feel full, even when it’s been a long time since they ate something.

And when it comes to weight loss, it works. A 2024 study which tracked more than 17,000 people taking semaglutide showed they lost around 10 per cent of their body weight and nearly 8cm from their waist circumference, on average.

Recent research suggests that as well as helping to control appetite and hunger signals, semaglutide changes what people feel like eating when they are hungry, too, so that foods high in fat, salt and sugar suddenly seem less appealing to tastebuds.

Can food produce a similar effect?

What you put on your plate can also influence how well your body’s natural GLP-1 hormone is capable of doing its job, so much so that research has even suggested how a strategically planned diet could support weight loss via this exact route.

For example, because the body’s secretion of GLP-1 is influenced by specific nutrient-sensing receptors, evidence suggests that eating foods rich in the corresponding nutrients, which include amino acids as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids – may boost the production of GLP-1. Higher-protein diets have also been shown to increase GLP-1 levels, as well as controlling hunger and enhancing muscle metabolism to support weight loss.

Research also shows that eating foods rich in fermentable dietary fibre, which reaches the gut undigested and serves as a food source for the beneficial bacteria that live there, increases the amount of GLP-1 that your body releases. One explanation for this is that when gut bacteria ferment fibre, GLP-1-promoting short-chain fatty acids are produced as a by-product. Plus, most fermentable fibres are what’s called soluble fibre, which slows down the rate of digestion so that you’ll physically feel fuller for longer after a meal. It may be one reason why eating a fibre-rich diet is associated with weight loss, according to the results of a 2023 study.

And, much like weight-loss drugs seem to be capable of reshaping food preferences, consuming more of a specific type of fermentable fibre called inulin has also been shown to impact how the brain responds when it sees high-calorie foods, so that it becomes easier to make a healthier choice instead.

How to squeeze more fibre into your diet

Whether it’s the fermentable variety or not, the fact is, most people in Australia and New Zealand aren’t eating enough fibre. That’s not ideal considering that, as well as being linked to better weight control, a high-fibre diet is also protective against heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer, including bowel cancer.
Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to increase your daily fibre intake if you need to.

● Make a conscious effort to add an extra vegetable to your dinner plate each night
● Switch to wholemeal or multigrain bread, brown rice and wholemeal flour
● Choose breakfast cereals that contain barley, oats or wheat
● Quit peeling vegetables like carrots and potatoes so you can eat the skins
● Add legumes – including chickpeas – to soups, casseroles and stews.

A natural approach

Supporting GLP-1 hormone production through diet leaves more medication available for those who really need it.

Medicines like Ozempic are an important tool for those who really need them for managing serious conditions like diabetes. But for those of us carrying a little more weight than is ideal and who would like to get within a healthier range, trying diet-based adjustments may be the sensible first approach.