Foods that Work Like the Weight-Loss Drug Wegovy

Let’s talk food and the weight-loss “wonder-drug” Wegovy. What is Wegovy? How does it work? Can foods trigger similar effects? Let’s tackle all of this–and why people might want to consider lentils over injectables for weight loss.

What is Wegovy?

Wegovy, also known by its generic name, semaglutide, is a trendy (and pricey) weight loss drug approved by the FDA in 2021.¹ Elon Musk uses it, so that says something. To take it, you have to inject the drug into fat under the skin once per week. Ouch.

The list price for one package (which appears to last 4 weeks), according to the manufacturer, is $1,349. Doing the math, the cost per year, without insurance, works out to $17,537. Double ouch.

Interestingly, Wegovy isn’t new. The exact same drug, semaglutide, was originally sold under the name of Ozempic and has been used to treat type 2 diabetes since 2017.

How does Wegovy work?

Buckle up, it’s about to get science-y! But it’s cool science, so stick with me.

Wegovy exploits one of your body’s “stop-eating” systems. When you eat, special cells in your intestines release a substance called glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1. Your gut, pancreas, and brain respond to GLP-1.

In the gut, GLP-1 slows the movement of food through your stomach and intestines. This helps you digest and makes you feel full. It’s a stop-eating signal. As food makes its way through the intestines, it continues to trigger the release of GLP-1. That helps curb appetite for hours.
In the pancreas, an organ nestled alongside the stomach, GLP-1 triggers the release of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that lowers blood sugar. So, GLP-1 indirectly lowers blood sugar.
In the brain (which can also make its own GLP-1), GLP-1 triggers feelings of fullness and suppresses appetite.

Think of GLP-1 as a celebrity, like Brad Pitt. When he shows up and people recognize his pretty face, good things happen. People might even forget to eat.

Note: GLP-1 has a friend called peptide-tyrosine-tyrosine, or PYY. PYY is released from the same special cells as GLP-1 during eating. Like GLP-1, PYY also suppresses hunger. If GLP-1 is Brad Pitt, PYY is George Clooney. They act together. But we’ll come back to PYY later.

Wegovy acts like GLP-1

Enter Wegovy. Wegovy mimics just GLP-1. If GLP-1 is Brad Pitt, Wegovy is the impersonator so good that no one can tell the difference. Just like the real GLP-1, Wegovy curbs hunger. Except with Wegovy, you don’t have to eat to feel less hungry. Thanks to the drug’s effect on the pancreas, blood sugar levels also decrease. That’s why Wegovy (semaglutide) was originally used for diabetes.

Wegovy and weight loss

In fairness, Wegovy is effective for weight loss, as long as you take it for, well, forever. (It’s a good day to be a drug company!)

Wegovy was tested in four “gold standard” clinical trials with a total of 4,281 people.² Each trial was 68 weeks long. In each trial, every participant was instructed to reduce their calories by 500+ per day and to increase exercise to 150 minutes per week. (Individual study protocols varied a bit.) Let me repeat: Wegovy has only been tested with diet and exercise advice. Those getting the placebo (sham) injections got the same diet and exercise advice.

Now, for the results.

In three of the trials, Wegovy went head-to-head against placebo for the entire 68 weeks. In the placebo group getting “sham” injections, people lost about 5% of their initial body weight (about 12 pounds given a typical starting weight of 230 pounds). In the Wegovy group, people lost about 15% of their initial weight (about 35 pounds). So Wegovy users lost an additional ~23 pounds over those who didn’t use it.² (Note I’m using rough numbers here; see reference 2 for exact figures.)

However, a little over a year after starting Wegovy (around week 60), weight loss flatlined. From weeks 60-68, there was no additional weight loss. In fact, people’s weights appeared to tick back up, although not significantly.

In the fourth trial, one group of people injected Wegovy for the entire 68 weeks. They were compared to people who injected Wegovy for 20 weeks and then were switched, without knowing it, to the placebo injection. By the end of the trial, those who used Wegovy for the full 68 weeks had lost 17% of their initial body weight (~40 pounds), while Wegovy users who switched to placebo lost 5.0% (~12 pounds), about the same as those who’d never used Wegovy. Take-home point: Wegovy works, but only while you’re using it.

To summarize: Wegovy helps people lose more weight than they would otherwise. But it’s a temporary fix. Stop taking it, and you’ll likely regain the weight. And as always, with drugs come side effects.

Side effects

Wegovy has more than a few side effects, none of which sound fun. For the sake of space, I only listed the ones affecting 10% or more of Wegovy users. (You can see the full list on the Wegovy prescribing info page.)

Side effect	Placebo	Wegovy
Nausea	16%	44%
Diarrhea	16%	30%
Vomiting	6%	24%
Constipation	11%	24%
Abdominal Pain	10%	20%
Headache	10%	14%
Fatigue	5%	11%

A couple of things to notice. First, even placebos “cause” side effects. That’s one more reason you have to compare a drug against a placebo in clinical testing.

But more importantly, nearly half of Wegovy users experienced nausea. About a third got diarrhea. A quarter had vomiting (!) and/or constipation. Even subtracting those who got the same effects from a placebo, the numbers are substantial. The fact that most of these side effects are digestive isn’t surprising, given that GLP-1 is naturally released when eating. Give a GLP-1 “impersonator” without food, and the digestive tract gets a signal that eating has occurred–but with no food. Sounds like a recipe for stomach upset.

Oh, and the Wegovy patient information comes with an unsettling warning about the possibility of thyroid tumors and cancer. So there’s that.

Of course, obesity often has side effects, too. So, the benefits of Wegovy may indeed outweigh the risks for some, and I have zero judgement for those who choose to use it. I know how hard weight loss can be and how deeply people want to lose weight! But might there be a better way to trigger the body’s “stop-eating” systems and promote weight loss…without meds?

Foods that work like Wegovy

While basically any food causes some GLP-1 to be released, certain foods are standouts for their ability to increase hunger-crushing hormones.

Whole grains

Whole grains are good at increasing GLP-1. One study found that eating cereal high in wheat fiber over the course of a year increased GLP-1 levels. Another found that a barley-based bread increased fasting GLP-1 levels in just 3 days relative to white bread. While the effect of oats on GLP-1 specifically wasn’t tested, oats were found to curb hunger not only the day they were consumed, but the next day as well.³

Perhaps unsurprisingly, people who eat whole grains tend to have a lower body weight. While clinical trial results of whole grains are mixed, they typically show neutral or beneficial effects on body weight.^4,5 That is, can’t hurt, might help.

How might whole grains help? They’re rich in “prebiotic” fiber–the kind that feeds healthy gut flora. Those helpful gut microbes digest fiber into short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs, that trigger the body to release GLP-1 naturally. Note that some other foods, like pistachios and olive oil, have also been shown to increase GLP-1 levels relative to control foods, but they’re so high-calorie they can be tricky for weight loss.³

Beans, split peas, and lentils

Fiber-rich beans, split peas, and lentils are weight loss rock stars, too. While two small studies surprisingly show little effect of beans on GLP-1 in humans, beans do increase the hunger-crushing hormone PYY (the George Clooney of hunger hormones) and decrease hunger–the day after you eat them! Beans also lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite.⁶

Indeed, beans (including lentils and split peas) are strongly linked to weight loss. An analysis of the results of four clinical trials in which people were put on weight-loss diets either with or without beans, those who ate beans lost an extra four pounds, on average. (Trials ranged ran from 8-48 weeks.)⁷ In a 2022 paper I co-authored, beans were the food group most strongly associated with weight loss in a 16-week clinical trial of a low-fat vegan diet.⁸

Food versus pharmacy

Obviously, beans don’t have the same dramatic results as Wegovy. But losing four “freebie” pounds? Not bad! Besides, you can buy a whole lot of beans for $17,537. Specifically, it works out to 10,315 pounds of beans.⁹ (That’s 16 bathtubs of beans!) Since beans are one of the cheapest foods you can buy, you’ll save money on groceries while you lose weight.

Now tack on the synergistic effects of replacing burgers and junk food with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. These delicious foods can increase GLP-1, sure. But they also help fight hunger and promote weight loss in other ways. Fiber triggers stretch receptors in the stomach, making us feel full. Beans increase levels of hunger-suppressing PYY. The extra time it takes to chew these foods helps our brains catch up with our stomachs, so we can better sense when we’ve had enough.

I mean, why watch a movie with just Brad Pitt when you can see one that costars George Clooney, too?

As a bonus, the “side effects” of whole plant foods are positive: better heart health, lower cancer risk, better sexual and reproductive health, and more energy, to name a few. Why not experiment with swapping in beans and whole grains first? If it isn’t enough, eating these hunger-fighting foods can only enhance the effects of weight-loss medication, if that’s the route someone decides to take.

How to start

Eat at least one-half cup of beans, split peas, or lentils daily. (More is better–but increase gradually!)
Nix white flour and replace it with at least one-half cup of whole cooked grains daily. (Think oatmeal, quinoa, corn, millet, buckwheat; if you tolerate gluten, also try farro, spelt, or wheat berries.) Try to choose grains that still look like grains, as opposed to flour products. When choosing flour products like burger buns, get 100% whole grain.

Ready to boost GLP-1 and lose weight without shots? Check out some of these recipes and posts:

5-Minute Guide to Plant-Based Weight Loss