Semaglutide, an injectable drug used in diabetes and obesity management, is a powerful appetite suppressant. It’s designed to mimic the natural glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone your body produces in response to food intake. As such, it signals that you’re full and helps you control your insulin production.
While semaglutide can work wonderfully for decreasing your overall caloric intake since it makes you feel fuller with lower food quantity, it does need to be followed by a proper diet and exercise for best results. Otherwise, you might experience side effects such as bloating, nausea, diarrhea, etc.
The question is – what exactly should your semaglutide diet look like? What specific foods should you eat? Let’s take a closer look.
1. Drink Plenty of Water Throughout the Day
Although not technically food, hydration is the key to any healthy diet. Drinking plenty of water in itself can be highly beneficial for both weight loss and insulin production management. Water can help you burn fat more easily, remove waste and toxins, boost your metabolism, and more. Not to mention that it can make you feel fuller for a while as it quickly fills up your stomach.
Therefore, any proper semaglutide diet plan should always include drinking a lot of water.
Precisely how much is enough will vary wildly from one person to the next. A rough estimate is that you need to drink about 8 glasses per day. However, that depends entirely on your overall activity levels, age, health, and season.
A healthy, active adult during hot summers may need well over 8 glasses. An elder taking medications that cause water retention may need significantly less.
2. Protein Is a Must
Of all the different types of food, protein is the most filling, helping you satiate your hunger with smaller meals. It helps you increase muscle mass, reduce appetite, improve glycemic regulation, and boost bone health.
Therefore, if you want your semaglutide diet to be effective, you’ll want to primarily focus on increasing your protein intake.
Fortunately, it’s not all too difficult to add more protein to your diet. It’s found in various animal-based and vegan foods – meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, dairy, lentils, and more. Make sure to have some protein with every meal if you want your diet to quickly show visible results.
3. Foods High in Fiber Are Essential
Foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates can greatly benefit healthy weight loss. Like proteins, they can help you feel fuller and keep that sensation longer. They also slow down digestion, helping you extract more macro and micronutrients from your food and slow down the rise in blood sugar levels post-meal.
Eaten with every meal, fibrous carbohydrates can increase the effectiveness of your semaglutide diet.
Some of the foods that are rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates include oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, chickpeas, whole-wheat foods, and the like.
Ideally, you’ll want at least half of your meal to contain protein and complex carbohydrates rich in fiber.
4. Go for Low Glycemic Fruits and Veggies
At first glance, all fruits and vegetables might seem healthy and nutritious. In many cases, that’s the truth. However, if you’re struggling with weight loss and/or managing your blood sugar levels, some fruits and vegetables will be better for you than others.
In particular, you’ll want to increase your intake of low-glycemic food. Foods with a lower glycemic index (GI) value release glucose more slowly, thus minimizing your post-meal spike in blood sugar levels. They also help you control your appetite, minimizing the chances of overeating.
Some of the best low-glycemic foods include lettuce, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, apples, strawberries, grapefruit, etc. Ideally, you’ll want to include these fruits and vegetables with every meal. Alternatively, you could instead use them as snacks.
5. Nuts and Seeds Can Be Highly Beneficial
Seeds and nuts are high-caloric foods that satiate your hunger quickly and provide you with plenty of fiber, minerals, and healthy fats. They contain many omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, potassium, vitamins, and more. They’re rich in antioxidants and helpful in boosting your overall metabolism as well as promoting weight loss.
However, they must be taken in small amounts. A handful of nuts and seeds as a daily snack can help you on your weight loss journey and provide excellent nutrition. That said, most are high in calories, as mentioned. So, you’ll want to be careful with them to avoid overstepping your daily caloric intake.
Nuts and seeds that can be excellent for your semaglutide diet include walnuts, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and the like.
Conclusion
Semaglutide can work wonders for helping you lose excess weight and manage your blood glucose levels. However, it needs to be used in tandem with proper diet and exercise for the best, long-lasting results.
A diet rich in proteins, fibers and complex carbohydrates, low-glycemic fruits and veggies, and healthy nuts and seeds can help you get the most out of semaglutide and achieve noticeable results the quickest.
