Key Takeaways

• GLP-1 RAs are a group of medications that can be used to treat diabetes and obesity.

• Whatever the indication for the medication, it will tend to cause weight loss in most people.

• Any time a person loses weight, they will lose both fat tissue and muscle tissue.

• Lifestyle changes can help to prevent or reduce the loss of muscle tissue while on a GLP-1 RA. These include eating a high-protein diet and doing resistance training.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 RAs, are a group of medications that can be used to treat diabetes or to promote weight loss in people who are significantly overweight. These medications mimic a natural hormone in the body known as GLP-1. This helps to keep people feeling full for longer after eating, stimulates the pancreas to secrete more insulin (the most important blood sugar-reducing hormone), and acts in the brain to reduce appetite and cravings. 

Whether a person is taking GLP-1 RAs for diabetes or for obesity, these medications commonly cause weight loss. Although losing excess fat tissue can have a hugely beneficial impact on a person’s health, muscle mass can also be lost while on a GLP-1 RA. It’s important to be aware of the potential for this to happen, and to know what steps to take to help maintain your muscle tissue.

Impact of taking GLP-1RAs on muscle mass

Your body needs protein every day, because it’s required for maintaining your cells and tissues. If you aren’t eating enough protein, then your body will break down proteins in your muscles in order to get what it needs. The body can use the amino acids from these muscle proteins to build other proteins that it needs to keep your organs functioning well. 

In addition, muscle proteins can also be broken down for energy. When you’re not eating enough calories to meet your body’s energy needs, it will begin to use its energy stores. Fat tissue is certainly a major energy store, but the proteins from muscle tissue can also be used for energy. Whenever a person loses weight, the body will generally break down both of these types of tissue for energy. 

Studies have indicated that people may experience a loss of muscle tissue while on GLP-1 RAs. Between 20 and 50% of the weight that people lose while on a GLP-1 RA is muscle mass, while the rest is made up of fat tissue. 

In fact, this effect isn’t unique to GLP-1 RAs. Weight loss in general has been found to lead to decreases in muscle mass. The amount of muscle mass that people lose on a GLP-1 RA is comparable to the amount lost when people lose weight by other means. 

In other words, these medications don’t specifically cause muscle mass loss. Instead, all weight loss causes the loss of muscle tissue. 

Even if you’re taking a GLP-1 RA primarily to treat diabetes rather than specifically for weight loss, you’re very likely to lose weight while you’re taking the medication. Whenever a person loses weight, a loss of muscle mass is very likely to occur.

Losing muscle mass can make your weight loss journey harder

Muscle tissue burns a lot of calories, even at rest. This is because the muscle cells must maintain a huge number of proteins in good working order, which takes energy. When you lose muscle mass, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) declines. Your BMR is the amount of energy that your body uses each day simply to maintain itself. With less muscle tissue, you burn less calories, which in turn makes it harder to lose weight.

A loss of muscle mass can also have a negative effect on blood sugar control

Muscles are one of the most energy-demanding tissues in the body, and because of this, they take up a lot of glucose from the blood. With less muscle tissue, blood glucose levels may rise. In fact, many studies have shown that having more muscle mass is associated with better blood sugar control.

How to maintain muscle mass while on GLP-1RAs

Although weight loss usually causes the loss of muscle mass, there are things you can do to minimize this effect. By making shifts in your lifestyle, you can help to minimize or even prevent loss of muscle mass while taking a GLP-1 RA.

Diet

Making sure that you’re getting plenty of protein in your diet can help to prevent the loss of muscle mass while taking a GLP-1 RA. In fact, studies have shown that a higher-protein diet significantly decreases the amount of muscle tissue lost during a weight loss program, and also increases the amount of fat tissue lost.

High protein diets have also been found to be beneficial for weight loss. This is because protein helps to keep you feeling full for longer, which can help you to eat fewer calories overall. In addition, it actually takes more energy for your body to break down proteins than other sources of energy (carbohydrates and fats).

The recommendation for those who are currently losing weight is to eat at least 1 g of protein each day per kg of body weight. That means that a person who weighs 100 kg should eat at least 100 g of protein per day while losing weight. This is a good target to aim for while taking a GLP-1 RA.

Most people are able to get plenty of protein simply by focusing on eating high-protein foods, such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy, tofu, lentils, beans, nuts, and seeds. However, some people find it easier to get enough protein with protein drinks or protein bars. Although these aren’t necessary for everyone, they can be helpful for some people. You can either buy pre-made protein drinks, or make your own from protein powder and other ingredients. 

It’s important to pay close attention to the label of your protein drink or powder, because some of these drinks have a lot of added sugar. This will work against you in your weight loss journey, and is unhealthy in general. It’s best to choose a product with no added sugar. If you’re making your own protein drinks, don’t add any extra sugar, even natural sugars like honey.

Exercise

Another powerful way to combat the loss of muscle tissue as you lose weight is to do resistance training, also known as strength training. This can involve lifting weights, using resistance bands, or doing bodyweight exercises that require strength (like pushups). Resistance training helps to build up muscle tissue, and has been found to be an effective way to reduce or prevent the loss of muscle tissue during weight loss.

It’s important to ensure that you don’t overdo it. While resistance training is effective at preventing muscle loss, too much can cause injuries to your joints and connective tissues (such as tendons and ligaments). By doing too much resistance training, you could also put yourself at risk for repetitive stress injuries, which occur when a part of your body is subjected to the same type of force too many times without a break for repair. 

Although resistance training is particularly beneficial for maintaining muscle, aerobic exercise has also been found to help maintain or even build muscle tissue. It also has benefits for many other aspects of health, including heart and lung health. Aerobic exercise can involve brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, or even dancing.

Any exercise is better than none, and will help to maintain muscle tissue as well as promoting weight loss.

Importance of a holistic approach to diabetes and weight management

Maintaining muscle mass is one important factor of a successful weight loss journey, and is also helpful for improving blood sugar control. While GLP-1 RAs are effective for treating diabetes as well as obesity, they shouldn’t be considered a substitute for a healthy lifestyle. Instead, these medications can be thought of as an adjunct to lifestyle changes like diet and exercise.

A holistic approach, which considers every facet of a person’s life, is the best way to manage diabetes as well as to achieve a healthy body weight. While medical monitoring by a physician is important, it’s also beneficial to have the advice and support of a health coach, who can help you to develop – and stick to – a healthy lifestyle plan. This is why all of our NOVI Health clients receive support from both physicians and health coaches, to help them maintain the best possible health.

Regular physical activity should be a routine goal for patients with diabetes or those who are trying to lose weight safely, for a variety of health and fitness reasons. 

However, it is good to note that specific recommendations and precautions may apply, and will vary by age, activity done, and your current health state. Specific exercise recommendations should be tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual. Ideally, the approach should be holistic – in addition to fitness coaching, a personalized nutritional program should be in place. 

If you have already signed up for our holistic NOVI Optimum or NOVI Optimum Plus weight loss programs and would like to maintain weight your weight through a health coach-guided exercise and diet plan, NOVI PT Plus is for you. 

NOVI PT Plus helps through:

• Creating and guiding you through personalized exercise routines and dietary plans that prioritize your safety and well-being, while helping you achieve your goals.

• Holistic guidance and genuine care, using the NOVI Method. With our ongoing remote support, you will be motivated throughout the program.

• Data-based program adjustments to help you achieve your goals in a quicker time.