Is Allulose the New GLP-1 Alternative to Weight Loss Drugs? | Ep 281

Today we're uncovering the science behind allulose , a rare sugar that's getting attention for potentially offering some of the metabolic benefits of the modern weight loss drugs without the side effects or the cost .

You'll discover how this molecule works , what the research shows about its effects on GLP-1 and metabolism , and whether it could be a useful tool in your fat loss toolbox . Welcome to Wits and Weights , the show that helps you build a strong , healthy physique using evidence , engineering and efficiency .

I'm your host , philip Pape , and today we're going to look at allulose . It is a unique sweetener that is generating some news , some buzz , for potentially offering some similar metabolic benefits as modern weight loss medications , but through natural pathways .

And the timing couldn't be more relevant , because the GLP-1 drugs like Ozembic and Monjaro have exploded on the scene .

They're being talked about all the time , as am I , and they're changing how we think about weight management , fat loss , lifestyle combined with these drugs , understanding alternatives , and it's really cool to have something that might work through similar pathways . That's more of a natural approach , not as a replacement for medication . Again , that is outside my scope .

You work with your medical professional . If you have a prescribed need for med , so be it . We're not going to talk about that today , but what makes this topic fascinating is how a natural sugar might actually help control blood sugar and appetite rather than spike it , although , again , we're not going to fear monger over spikes in blood sugar .

It's totally natural when you eat any form of carbohydrates that have glucose . It's more of using this for specific mechanisms that are similar to the GLP-1 agonist , and the science behind this shows some insights into our metabolism that go beyond just finding another sugar substitute .

So I definitely want you to stick around to hear the more in-depth findings when we get into them . I want to give a special shout out to Michael Kay , one of our longtime listeners . He's a fellow coach . He and I talk all the time over uh , over DMS , and he brought this research to my attention , so I definitely want to give you a shout out , michael .

Uh , you have definitely a commitment to evidence-based nutrition . I know you are always reviewing the studies . You have Google alerts and stuff set up and you shared this with me , so now I can share it with the audience and help make this show what it is , but also help people learn and apply this to their lives .

All right , before we get into the science of allulose , I have a quick favor to ask If you've been enjoying these evidence-based deep dives , these Monday deep dives into nutrition , physique optimization , all of it . Take a moment and submit a question so that I can answer it and turn it into a podcast episode .

I'm going to give you a specific reply anyway , a personal reply , and then I very likely will turn it into an episode and give you a shout out . Go to witsandweightscom slash question or click the link in the show notes witsandweightscom slash question . And that will continue to shape the topics that we cover and ensure we cover what matters to you most .

Now let's build our mental muscle by getting into today's topic . Let's start by understanding exactly what allulose is , and I'll never forget when I first learned about this compound , because I saw it as an ingredient on , I think , some sort of Quest bar . I'll say a sweeter version of the Quest bar . Oh man , what was it called ?

You guys probably even know what it is . I should have looked that up . And you know I was skeptical because I didn't know what it was , and we've all heard claims about miracle sweeteners and all these brand new artificial sweeteners . But allulose is fundamentally different .

When I started to look into it , it is what we call a rare sugar , because it does exist naturally in foods like figs and maple syrup , but it's in tiny amounts . And while it's structurally almost identical to fructose , which is just regular sugar from fruit , our bodies handle it differently . Our bodies handle it differently .

Instead of being converted to energy , like regular sugar , around 90% of allulose gets eliminated in your urine , so you only absorb 10% of it , meaning 10% of the calories , and during its journey through our system it triggers some metabolic effects and this is what I want to cover today that I wasn't aware of .

The most intriguing of those is the ability to stimulate GLP-1 , which is the same hormone targeted by the weight loss medications like Gozembek and Manjaro . Now I want to be crystal clear here . I'm not suggesting allulose is equivalent to these medications . The GLP-1 response from allulose is equivalent to these medications .

The GLP-1 response from allulose is more modest . It's shorter acting , but that's what makes it interesting . It works within our body's natural systems rather than overriding them , and so , combined with lifestyle which we should always have lifestyle in there it could be a great natural alternative to at least start with , if you are considering those drugs .

And that brings me to what the science actually shows . There is a 2018 study in Nature Communications this is the study that Michael sent me that when subjects consumed allulose with a meal , their post-meal blood sugar rise was reduced by up to 50% Kind of like the effects you would have on having a more balanced meal or having fiber in there .

Even more interesting , it wasn't from blocking sugar absorption . The allulose was actively helping the body's process carbohydrates more efficiently . So that's pretty cool . But what about fat loss ?

Animal studies have shown that adding allulose to a high fat , high-sugar diet significantly reduced weight gain compared to control groups , and the mechanism appears to be three different things going on . Number one is reduced appetite , and that's from the GLP-1 stimulation . The second is improved insulin sensitivity and the third is enhanced fat oxidation .

Now , we never want to compare animal studies to humans . We know there's a vast majority of them that do not translate and the human evidence is still emerging but it is promising . Dr Charles Cavo .

He's a physician who specializes in metabolic health , and he's reported success using allulose to help patients transition off GLP-1 medications while maintaining their results , which is really crucial , because the weight regain after stopping these medications is currently a major concern . My caveat here is I've worked with clients to help them come off of these drugs .

We never had to use allulose and you can still do it , as long as you are eating nutritious foods , you're lifting weights , you're not cutting calories dramatically , and I'll tell you just as a side tangent one effective way to do this if you are on these drugs right now , like terzapatide or something like that , is when you get to a reasonable level of body

mass that you're going for with the drugs . You can titrate down the drugs in conjunction with your medical professional and come out of the calorie deficit . So it helps , of course , to be tracking , to understand your calories and macros , to be eating sufficient protein and fiber and to be lifting weights and being active .

Those are the lifestyle changes you have to put in place in parallel .

You just have to put those in place so that you're at least going in a reasonable deficit , you don't lose muscle mass , you maintain all of these things and you set yourself up so that it actually is not that big a deal in terms of the food noise and the satiety when you come off the drug .

And then , when you do that , don't do it while in a dieting phase , you know , come out of it at maintenance or even into a muscle building phase . That's a whole separate topic . Um , so I just wanted to have that caveat because , yes , I could see that if you lose , use allulose , it's almost like a stepping stone and that is actually pretty cool .

I do think that is pretty cool as we start to see allulose in more and more food products , or it's something that you can buy off the shelf and incorporate and , like I said , it's already in like a certain line of the quest protein bars and it's probably in lots of others . At this point , in fact , I think it might be in that magic spoon cereal .

Take a look at your ingredient labels , folks , and see where you find it . Anyway , back to the topic how can we use this information ? First and foremost , always , always , always . Dosing matters , the dosage . When we talk about efficacy and we talk about toxicity and you hear about fear mongering about different things , dosing always matters . Dosing in context .

Research suggests starting with 5 to 10 grams per serving , working up to 15 to 20 grams if well tolerated and the timing appears optimal , with meals Kind of makes sense .

If you're talking about blood sugar and fullness signals and all that , it makes sense that you're doing it with meals , although I could see why people might think doing it between meals could have its own positive effect of potentially reducing your hunger signals , for example .

And then they said especially carbohydrate-containing meals where you want to minimize blood sugar spikes . I have to go on a little side diatribe here . Blood sugar spikes are not to be feared . I had somebody come to me saying I'd stopped eating potatoes because I wore a glucose monitor and my blood sugar spiked .

I said oh , how far we've come in this industry where you think just a blood sugar spike itself is somehow a problem . It is not . It is not unless you already have your pre-diabetic , your diabetic insulin , as a concern For a healthy individual who's active . It's not Now . It could cause fluctuations in your energy levels .

It can cause different usage of nutrients where maybe it's suboptimal in certain cases if you're just eating lots of carbs at individual meals , and that is why I definitely recommend balanced meals that always have some protein and fiber , and that usually mitigates the concern . And then walking after meals is the other thing .

So again , just my little side diatribes here that I think are important in context of all of this . So back to allulose . I think the beauty of allulose is it's a pretty versatile sweetener , right ? Unlike a lot of alternative sweeteners which can have an aftertaste or bitterness or like doesn't behave the same way when you cook with it .

Allulose behaves almost identically to sugar when you cook or when you bake . It even caramelizes . And again , intuitively , that makes sense because it's derived naturally from basically a fruit sugar type situation . So it makes sense that it would act naturally . But you never know , right . So for real world use it's pretty practical . But the caveat always caveats .

Some people might experience digestive discomfort if they consume too much too quickly . But that's like anything Same thing with sugar , alcohols . Some people tolerate them just fine . Some people have gas , bloating , lots of things that are not great . So always start slowly , look at the dosage , increase gradually .

If you are an athlete or a lifter which should be most of you listening if you lift weights , you are an athlete . If you listen to this podcast and do it the way we talk about it . You are an athlete , I don't care your age , your gender , your previous lifestyle .

So for us , some evidence suggests that allulose might help preserve muscle glycogen and that can potentially benefit performance and recovery . So that piques my interest . Okay , now , I haven't done it myself , using it as a pre-workout , but maybe you're going to see this in more pre-workouts , I don't know . We'll , we'll see how it goes .

Um , all of this evidence is preliminary , so it always takes a while , like years , for this stuff , stuff , get it to get in there . Uh , but the mechanism makes sense because of its effect on glucose disposal , that it would help preserve muscle glycogen .

Um , so something fascinating that I think is going to tie all this together , because this episode isn't going to be too long . Allulose isn't just affecting our metabolism through GLP-1 . The latest research suggests it might help reprogram how our bodies handle carbohydrates entirely . Okay , so think about that .

This is a sugar that teaches your body to process other sugars more efficiently , and kind of working with our metabolism in a way , and who knows what that's gonna result in . I'm always skeptical of these kinds of things because at the end of the day , I think we can overthink it and again having balance , having the right level of macros .

Having nutritious foods , having sufficient fiber and protein , are plenty to focus on for most people and will do the job . But if you're looking for little optimalities or ways to sweeten things up that are not sugar or not an artificial sweetener , this could be a really cool little corner case .

So just to recap first , allulose is a natural sugar that stimulates GLP-1 , similar to , but a lot more modestly than , modern weight loss meds . Second , research shows promising effects on blood sugar control , appetite and , potentially , fat loss .

And third , its practical use is important in terms of its ability to use for cooking and baking , but always start gradually and dose up so you can see how you tolerate it . All right , whether you're looking to optimize metabolism , manage blood sugar , support fat loss , iolos is a very interesting tool out there in our nutrition toolbox .

It's not a miracle Like none of these things are miracle , or superfoods or anything like that but it seems to be a scientifically supported option that works with our body's natural processes and I wouldn't fear it , just like I wouldn't fear pretty much any food at this point , and we're already seeing it in approved products . So there is that . All right .

If today's episode sparked any questions about this or any other aspects of nutrition and body composition . I do wanna hear from you with our new Ask a Question form . Go to whitsonweightscom slash question or click the link in the show notes Again . Whitsonweightscom slash question Sub question . Or click the link in the show notes Again . Witsandweightscom slash question .

Submit a question to me and you will get a personal answer by email and then I will turn it into an episode and feature you on the podcast , if you want . That helps shape the podcast and give you what you want .

All right , until next time , keep using your wits lifting those weights and remember sometimes the most powerful solutions are the ones that work with our biology and not against them . This is Philip Pape , and you've been listening to the Wits and Weights podcast . I'll talk to you next time .