Semaglutide Diet Plan: What to Eat While Taking this Weight Loss Medication — Emerson Medical (2024)

Semaglutide Diet Plan: What to Eat While Taking this Weight Loss Medication

Semaglutide is the newest and most popular long-term weight loss medication available today. While the medication alone does incredible wonders for your health, it is important to consume healthy foods and drinks to support the effectiveness of this fantastic drug.

In addition, if you are taking Semaglutide, certain foods can cause adverse side effects you may want to avoid. Some foods can also make controlling your blood sugar levels harder and work against your weight loss efforts.

If you’re taking Semaglutide but are struggling with your diet. In that case, we have put together a comprehensive Semaglutide diet plan to help educate you on what to eat, what not to eat, and how to make the most of your incredible weight loss journey using GLP-1s.

What to Eat While on Semaglutide

When taking Semaglutide, changing your diet and lifestyle habits is important to ensure you’re getting the most out of this journey. Several people report side effects of bloating, stomach pain, and nausea while they are taking Semaglutide. However, if you are mindful of what you eat and drink, you can mitigate and avoid these effects. Choosing nutrient-rich foods is key to preventing side effects of Semaglutide.

Additionally, it is important to be mindful of your appetite and refrain from overeating when you feel full. Following a balanced, whole-food diet and incorporating the foods below will maximize your results with Semaglutide.

Lean Protein is Vital to Your Diet While Taking Semaglutide

We all know how important it is to consume protein, but it is even more valuable for someone taking Semaglutide to eat lean protein for every meal. Adding protein to your diet helps reduce blood sugar spikes post-meal, enhancing your feeling full to avoid overeating.

A good guideline is to fill ¼ of your plate with protein. Incorporating lean proteins such as skinless chicken breast, white fish, lean meat, or plant proteins is a good way to get your protein in and feel fuller. These types of foods are low in saturated fat and calories, which can help you lose weight.

Try Adding Complex Carbohydrates into Your Semaglutide Diet

Complex carbs like quinoa, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice are extremely fiber-rich. They are also easy to digest and absorb slowly into the bloodstream, unlike their counterpart, refined carbs. As a result, complex carbs help cause a slower, lower rise in blood sugar levels and help you feel full longer throughout the day. When loading up your plate for a meal, try to fill it with ¼ complex carbs.

Try Snacking on Seeds, Nuts, Fruits, and Veggies

If you’re taking Semaglutide, you won’t feel hungry enough to eat larger meals. Rather, you may find yourself snacking on smaller things. Try to make it a point to snack on things that are high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats. Foods like seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables are the perfect snack for taking Semaglutide. Not only will they help properly fuel your body, giving you energy and helping you avoid overeating or eating bad foods, but they are also incredibly good for you.

Nuts and seeds are also high in essential minerals like zinc and magnesium, which boost energy and support a strong immune system.

Drink Lots of Water

Drinking lots of water and staying hydrated is important while taking a GLP-1 like Semaglutide. Your small and large intestines absorb water from your food. The longer gastric emptying takes, the drier your solid waste will be. Dry, hard stools are uncomfortable and difficult to pass. However, drinking plenty of water is a great way to prevent this. As a rule of thumb, you should consume 30 mL of fluids per kilogram of body weight, or about 0.5 oz/lbs of your body weight.

What to Avoid Eating While Taking Semaglutide

Some foods may can increase Semaglutide side effects of bloating, abdominal pain, or cramping. Avoiding these foods will help you feel better, improve your experience with Semaglutide, and help make your weight loss journey much more enjoyable.

Avoid Sugary Foods

Whether you’re taking Semaglutide or not, restricting processed foods is necessary for every diet. Highly processed foods like cereals, pasta, pre-packaged foods, and white bread are packed full of unhealthy saturated fats and excessive amounts of sugar and cause large spikes in blood sugar.

In addition, these foods are usually very high in calories, highly inflammatory, and should be avoided while following a healthy Semaglutide diet.

Stay Away from Fried Foods