Official answer. There are no specific foods you must avoid while taking Saxenda (liraglutide), but you should follow a reduced calorie diet and increase your physical activity, as directed by your healthcare provider, when you start taking this medicine. Stay on this program while you are taking Saxenda.
Following a Saxenda diet
Add a protein source to each meal. Eat a variety of proteins like lean cuts of red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, beans, and lentils. Eat whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, whole grain bread, and whole grain pasta.
Get regular exercise: Saxenda works best when you increase yourr physical activity. Make it a goal to get 30 minutes of moderate-intensity or vigorous exercise five days a week. Before starting any exercise, be sure to talk with your medical provider about what exercises are safe for you to do.
If you are experiencing acid reflux as a side effect from taking Saxenda, you may want to avoid or reduce your intake of common food triggers such as caffeine, alcohol, peppermint, spicy foods and acidic foods.
To get the best results out of Saxenda®, you'll need to be eating a reduced calorie diet and increase the amount of exercise you're getting. This will give you the best chance of losing weight and keeping weight off.
Excessive amounts of alcohol. Any food high in saturated fats. Fizzy type drinks that are high in sugar. Avoid energy drinks or sweetened caffeinated drinks.
Several factors could be at play if you're taking Saxenda and not losing weight, including: Diet—Saxenda is approved in conjunction with a low-calorie diet, so if you haven't adjusted your diet accordingly, that could work against the weight loss you might otherwise be achieving.
Exercise. Another reason you may be gaining weight on Saxenda is you need more physical activity. Using medication alone is not enough, and getting enough exercise is essential to achieve weight loss results. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
Not enough physical activity
If you do not do enough physical activity each day, you may not lose as much weight as you would like to on Saxenda. Increasing the amount of exercise you do can help you to lose weight.
Fast food. Though a general term, fast food usually includes foods that are ultra-processed and high in salt, sugar, and fat. In most cases, fast food should be limited as part of a nutritious and balanced diet. Avoiding fast food may also help to reduce the likelihood of gastrointestinal side effects of Saxenda.
Foods to avoid while on Saxenda® to reduce side effects
Take these tips from the Calibrate medical team for a spin: Avoid fried, greasy, or fatty foods and foods high in sugar: These tend to be the toughest for your body to digest and the most likely to cause nausea while taking a GLP-1 medication.
It takes time to lose weight with Saxenda. In adults, it may take about 8 weeks before you start to see a significant weight loss (at least 5%) with Saxenda. In the first 2 to 4 weeks you may lose about 2% to 4% of your weight.
Loss of fluid and dehydration When starting treatment with Saxenda®, you may lose body fluid or become dehydrated. This may be due to feeling sick (nausea), being sick (vomiting) and diarrhoea. It is important to avoid dehydration by drinking plenty of fluids.
How long does Saxenda take to work? Saxenda starts working straight away and can help to reduce your appetite within a few days. You should start to see weight loss results within the first few months of treatment.
If you miss your daily dose of Saxenda®, use Saxenda® as soon as you remember. Then, take your next daily dose as usual on the following day. Do not take an extra dose of Saxenda® or increase your dose on the following day to make up for your missed dose.
It's similar to GLP-1, which is a hormone that your body makes to control appetite. Saxenda (liraglutide) works by acting like GLP-1 in your body. It helps with weight loss by slowing down your gut, thus causing you to feel less hungry.
In general, men need a calorie intake of around 2,500 kcal a day. Women need slightly less, around 2,000 kcal a day.
The most common side effects of Saxenda® in adults include nausea, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, injection site reaction, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), headache, tiredness (fatigue), dizziness, stomach pain, and change in enzyme (lipase) levels in your blood.
Obesity is NOT a 90 day disease
Obesity is now recognized as a chronic health problem much like diabetes. To date, 3 good studies on anti-obesity medications (Belviq, Saxenda and Wegovy) have demonstrated rapid regain once the medication has stopped.
Wegovy® is a more effective drug than Saxenda®. As demonstrated above, semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy®) leads to more clinically significant weight loss and blood sugar reductions than liraglutide (the active ingredient in Saxenda®).
The researchers found that people who lost the most weight while taking semaglutide tended to then regain the most after stopping it, although they still retained a larger reduction from baseline than participants who had lost less weight during the treatment period.
What time of the day should I use my Saxenda medication? Saxenda can be taken at any time of the day at a time that is convenient for you. For the best results stick to the same time each day.
You can expect to lose a minimum of 5% of your initial body weight after completing 12 weeks of treatment at 3.0mg liraglutide daily. If you have not lost 5% of your initial body weight after 12 weeks at 3.0mg, then treatment should be discontinued at this stage.
Does Saxenda (liraglutide) burn fat? While the process of losing weight involves decreasing the size of fat cells, Saxenda® is not considered a “fat burner.” Saxenda is an FDA-approved weight loss medication that is categorized as a GLP1 receptor agonist.