More often than not, foods outlined above make it harder for semaglutide medications to control insulin release, making it well worth your time to limit your exposure to added sugar, fatty, greasy meals, refined carbohydrates, alcohol and excessive sodium.
There are no specific foods you must avoid when taking Ozempic (generic name: semaglutide). You should avoid regular consumption of foods high in fat, sugar and calories.
If you're taking Ozempic, try to limit or avoid these foods. Some foods to avoid include greasy and fatty foods, foods that are high in sugar, ultra-processed carbohydrates, and alcohol.
A special diet for semaglutide doesn't exist. Instead, the same healthy eating guidelines apply, like prioritizing complex carbohydrates and lean proteins.
Diet Tips When On Semaglutide Medications for Weight Loss
Some dietary tips to remember when taking semaglutide for weight loss are the following: Incorporate more complex carbohydrates than refined ones in your diet. Choose lean meat for your protein. Opt for plant protein.
Semaglutide lowers body weight by reducing appetite and hunger, increasing satiety, reducing food cravings, altering food preferences and reducing energy intake.
When taking Semaglutide to lose weight, it's generally recommended that you plan to eat between 1200-1500 calories a day. If you currently eat more than this, we'd recommend gradually reducing your calorie intake rather than cutting to 1200kcal straight away.
High fat foods or sugary foods
Ozempic can cause nausea and vomiting if taken after eating foods high in fat or sugar.
Yes, some foods can make the side effects of Ozempic worse. These include high-fat foods, sugary foods, and alcoholic beverages. Eating these types of foods can also raise your blood sugar levels. The most common side effects reported by people who take Ozempic are nausea and mild stomach pain.
Still, Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications will be most effective for weight loss and blood sugar control when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Generally, eating healthy foods and avoiding foods high in sugar, calories, and unhealthy fats while taking Ozempic helps.
It typically takes about two weeks for semaglutide to start working in the body. While taking semaglutide, some people begin to see results within the first eight weeks, but most begin to see results within 12 weeks.
Other medicines—Do not take other medicines during the time you are using semaglutide unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This especially includes nonprescription medicines such as aspirin, and medicines for appetite control, asthma, colds, cough, hay fever, or sinus problems.
Wegovy (semaglutide) will reduce your appetite; that's how it leads to weight loss. However, severe loss of appetite has only been reported in around 5% of participants in trials investigating the impact of the medication on weight loss.
Current prescribing information instructs taking oral semaglutide on an empty stomach (known as the fasting state), with 120 mL/4 oz of water, then waiting for at least 30 min before consuming any food, water, or taking other oral medications.
Your blood glucose (sugar) levels should start to fully decline within the first week after you start using Ozempic (semaglutide) at your regular maintenance dose. However, the full effect can take 8 weeks or longer, as this is a long-acting medication that is injected only once per week.
Semaglutide improves body composition by helping patients lose weight and reduce excess fat, including stubborn belly fat. It also increases the proportion of lean body mass. In general, the more weight you lose with semaglutide, the greater the improvements you'll see in your overall body composition across all areas.
In general – and aside from cost issues -- there are two main reasons semaglutide doesn't work as a weight-loss agent: patients just don't respond to it, or they get side effects so severe they have to stop.
Drug interactions with semaglutide, when you take it with other medications, can cause hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. And this can cause drowsiness, restless sleep, shakiness, and feeling weak and tired.
You may see some weight loss in the 4 weeks of semaglutide treatment, but the full effect can take several months. After 68 weeks, adults lost about 35 lbs (15.9 kg) in studies, on average. Your doctor will slowly increase your dose when you start treatment to help lessen stomach side effects like nausea and diarrhea.
As mentioned, the most common side effects include feeling tired, itchy skin, and diarrhea. However, these should stop after a few weeks of continuously taking the medications. If you have these symptoms and they don't go away after six months, talk to your doctor about stopping the treatment.
Lean protein sources from eggs, low-fat cheese, Greek yogurt, chicken, turkey, fish, nuts, tofu, and beans are all excellent ways to bulk up on protein while eating healthy if you take Ozempic. Lean proteins usually require little to no insulin (if you're on insulin), and are a great building block of a healthy meal.
It is important you discuss your alcohol use with your doctor while taking Wegovy; your provider may recommend avoiding alcohol completely. While not well studied in humans, animal models of alcohol addiction have shown that the active compound in Wegovy (semaglutide) reduced alcohol intake.
Ozempic and its sister medication, Wegovy — approved for weight loss for people who are obese or overweight with weight-related medical conditions — are considered long-term or lifelong treatments.