All things Ozempic!
Firstly I'll caveat this with these being my own opinions on the matter. You may know people who use it or have vested interest in its sale or usage for all I know. S+C is my jam and where all my qualifications lie but I also have great interest in nutrition. GLP-1 injections and pills are all the talk right now - and it's not slowing down anytime soon. First Ozempic, and soon Retatrutide will enter the conversation. To be clear, I'm not anti-weight loss medication. There is real value for those who truly need it, and when combined with genuine lifestyle and dietary changes, it can be effective.
But we can also create GLP-1 without supplementation - thanks to nature's Ozempic, fibre.
If you're in a caloric deficit, food noise is going to exist. There's nothing wrong with you. You're just hungry, and your brain is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
But we can take the edge off. We can reduce hunger, stabilise energy, and mimic a lot of what weight loss drugs do simply by dialing in our fibre intake. Let's get into it.
What is Fibre, Actually?
Fibre is a carbohydrate, but not the kind your body breaks down for fuel. Unlike other carbs, it passes through your digestive system slowly, and some types aren't digested at all. Think of it less as energy and more as regulation - the behind-the-scenes operator keeping your digestion, blood sugar, hunger, and gut bacteria in check.
But unless you're paying close attention, there's a good chance you're not getting enough of it. A decade of protein-first messaging has inadvertently created a fibre gap, and if you've ever spent time eating low-carb, you were cutting out the primary source of fibre.
Protein deserves all the attention it gets, but fibre is what makes everything you're already doing work better.
The Three Types You Need To Know About
Not all fibre is created equal, and understanding the difference matters if you actually want to use this stuff strategically. Soluble fibre dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance in your gut. This slows digestion, stabilises blood sugar, and promotes fullness. Found in oats, beans, lentils, chia seeds, and fruit - this is your heavy hitter. Insoluble fibre doesn't dissolve. Instead, it adds bulk and keeps things moving through your digestive tract. Think vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. It supports gut structure and digestion speed - less glamorous, but essential. Prebiotic fibre is the one that feeds your gut bacteria. When your gut bacteria ferment this type of fibre, they produce something called butyrate - a short-chain fatty acid that fuels the cells lining your colon, reduces inflammation, and supports immune function. Found in beans, oats, green bananas, and cooled potatoes (s/o to meal prep), prebiotic fibre is the reason your gut health influences everything from your skin and hormones to your energy and recovery.
But How Much Fibre?? The average person gets somewhere between 10–15g of fibre per day... no wonder so many people are so quick to take weight-loss drugs. The target I'd suggest for most people is 30–40g, and that's not a ceiling. If you're consistently getting above 40g from whole food sources, great. Just don't go from 12g to 35g overnight. Your gut microbiome needs time to adapt, so introduce higher-fibre foods slowly and rotate through different vegetables and legumes to see what your body tolerates. And don't let a little gas scare you off - that's your gut bacteria doing their job. The discomfort fades with time. Quitting fibre because of initial bloating is like quitting a training program because you're sore after week one. One more thing - drink your water. Fibre without adequate hydration can cause constipation, which is the opposite of what we're going for. The cost of staying low-fibre is real: more hunger, more cravings, and less control later in the day. It's one of the highest-leverage changes you can make.
How To Structure Your Meals This doesn't need to be complicated. The goal is roughly 10g of fibre per meal, spread evenly across the day - not front-loaded into one meal or dependent on a single high-fibre product. Here's a simple system that stacks fibre without overthinking it:
Anchor with legumes or whole grains. Beans, lentils, oats, quinoa - these are your highest-fibre foundations. Build your meals around them whenever possible.
Stack at least two vegetables per meal. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, artichoke, peas - rotate for variety and to expose your gut to a wider range of fibre types.
Boost with seeds. A tablespoon of chia or ground flax added to your shakes, yogurt, or oatmeal is an effortless way to stack soluble fibre without changing much.
Finish with whole fruit... not juice. Juicing strips the fibre out entirely, which is exactly what we don't want.
Two practical frameworks worth trying:
The 6-Cup Rule - aim for 2 cups of produce per meal across 3 meals. That's 6 cups a day. Simple, measurable, and it works.
The 800g Challenge - eat 800 grams of combined fruits and vegetables per day. No elimination rules, no restrictions on which ones, just hit the quantity.
People who do this consistently tend to eat better across the board without trying to eat perfectly, because when produce goes up, everything else gets easier. Structure beats willpower every time.
Nature's Ozempic vs. Weight Loss Drugs GLP-1 medications are expensive, require ongoing use to maintain results, and come with a side effect profile that should give any performance-minded person pause - nausea, fatigue, and significant muscle loss. Resistance exercise can help prevent this last one - but it takes dedicated effort to preserve muscle through training and adequate protein intake. Fibre costs you nothing by comparison. It protects your muscle, improves your gut health, reduces your long-term risk of colon cancer, and makes your nutrition plan easier to stick to because you're actually full. GLP-1s have their place - I said that at the top and I mean it. But for most people reading this, the answer isn't a weekly injection. It's beans, broccoli, oats, and a little patience while your gut catches up. I'll follow up with some favoured high-fibre recipes to help you hit the target. If there's anything to take from all of this, it's to incorporate fibre into your daily intake and reap the rewards. I have been sitting on this topic for a while and the intention is that is may be of some benefit.