Drugs like Ozempic have allowed many people to lose weight they were unable to shift before. Could a diet have the same effect without the need for a prescription?

The emergence of weight-loss drugs (agonists) including Ozempic and Wegovy has turned the medical world upside down in recent years.

Glucogen-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists have proved effective in helping obese people lose weight by reducing the users' appetite, so they eat less. But alongside the hype, there have also been claims that we can easily mimic the drugs' effects with the foods we eat.

One social media trend, for example, suggests that drinking a concoction of oats blended with water and lime juice – nicknamed 'oatzempic' – acts as an appetite suppressant and helps people lose weight in the same way.

But can any diet or individual food or drink really come close to the effects of Ozempic? Can an "oatzempic" diet really work?

The new generation of weight-loss drugs mimic a process that naturally occurs in our bodies every day. When we eat, our guts produce the hormone GLP-1, which increases insulin levels in our blood, reduces the liver's sugar production, slows digestion and reduces appetite.

GLP-1 hormones are "master regulators" of our body's whole metabolic process, says Chris Damman, gastroenterologist and clinical associate professor at the University of Washington.

"These pathways are highly nuanced, involving many different hormones," he says.

The two main elements of our diet that are associated with GLP-1 are fibre and polyphenols.

"Fibre is the preferred food for the trillions of bacteria living in our gut," says Mary Sco, a resident physician and nutrition writer in Virginia in the US.

When we eat foods rich in fibre and polyphenol, these components are converted by our gut microbiome into short-chain fatty acids, which stimulate the production of GLP-1. Foods high in fibre include nuts, legumes, fruit and vegetables, while polyphenols can also be found in fruit, vegetables and nuts.

Another important nutrient for metabolism is monounsaturated fat, which has also been associated with raised GLP-1. This can be found in olive oil, avocado and nuts.

This process also starts before food reaches our gut. Research shows that the bitter taste of polyphenol-rich foods triggers our taste receptors to send signals to the gut to produce digestive hormones including GLP-1.

Naturally raising GLP-1 levels in the body isn't just about what we're eating – but also how we eat, says Sco.

"There's emerging research showing that the order in which we eat also matters," she says.

Researchers write in a 2020 review that there is

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