With the price of weight-loss injection Mounjaro rising by 170 per cent next month – the highest dose going from £120 to £330 – many who have been relying on the jabs to shift excess pounds may have to look elsewhere.
Following the drug’s boom, many supplement companies have been slapping ‘GLP-1’ labels on their herbal powders, capsules and patches in an attempt to cash in on customers who are unable or unwilling to take the jabs.
GLP-1 is the natural hormone released after eating that helps regulate appetite, and weight-loss jabs such as Mounjaro and Ozempic work by mimicking this hormone at far higher levels than the body could usually produce.
But can you experience anything like the same effect from a supplement? We asked pharmacist and medical nutritionist Aidan Goggins, the co-creator of non-weight-loss supplements Kyros Nutrition, to give us his expert opinion…
Following the boom in drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, many supplement companies have been slapping ‘GLP-1’ labels on their herbal powders, capsules and patches
ColonBroom GLP-1 Booster
£70.99 for 30 servings (colonbroom.com)
Claim: ‘From cravings to control with GLP-1 power’, which can ‘reduce hunger, shed stubborn weight, boost metabolism, burn visceral fat’.
Key ingredient: Berberine, 5-HTP, saffron extract, chromium picolinate, bupleurum root extract.
Expert opinion: Berberine has been shown to support metabolic health but this formula provides just 140mg per serving, nowhere near the 500mg per serving or 1g per day typically used in studies into its metabolic effects.
Chromium picolinate may help maintain normal blood sugar if you are deficient, but it does not cause weight loss. Saffron extract has been shown in some trials to reduce snacking, but the effect is small. 5-HTP has limited evidence for appetite control and often works – when it does – by making people feel queasy.
Bupleurum has some data suggesting it can trigger GLP-1 release (though there has been no human testing into this), but its real-world use is for liver health, with no clinical proof for weight loss.
Score: 1/5
This supplement is claimed to reduce hunger, shed stubborn weight, boost metabolism and burn visceral fat
Lemme GLP-1 Daily
£109.95 for one month’s supply (glamglobal.co.uk)
Claim: Lemme is a vitamin and supplement line founded by Kourtney Kardashian. This supplement claims it contains ‘clinically studied ingredients that support your body’s GLP-1 production, reduce hunger and support healthy weight management, along with healthy diet and exercise.’
Key ingredient: Eriomin lemon bioflavanoid complex.
Expert opinion: Eriomin does have clinical evidence to show it raises GLP-1 blood levels by 22 per cent over 12 weeks in people with high blood-sugar levels, but it produced no reduction in body weight. To me this product is a perfect example of how boosting natural GLP-1 is almost meaningless for weight loss.
Score: 1.5/5
Steiger Pro GLP-1 Plus
£49 for one month’s supply (uk.steiger-naturals.com)
Claim: ‘A dietary supplement designed to support your metabolism and help control weight.’
Key ingredients: Reducin (mulberry leaf extract), akkermansia (probiotic), grains of paradise, black ginger extract.
Expert opinion: Mulberry leaf can blunt carbohydrate absorption and flatten glucose spikes but the important ingredient is akkermansia. This is a next-generation probiotic that has shown promise in strengthening the gut barrier, alleviating insulin resistance and improving cholesterol in human trials. But it does not work through GLP-1 pathways and its impact on weight has been small.
Grains of paradise and black ginger also have some early human evidence of reducing visceral fat or preventing its gain, though effects are modest. This is an ambitious kitchen-sink approach to metabolic health, designed more to help you get the most out of diet and exercise than to trigger weight loss on its own.
Score: 2/5
Pharmacist and medical nutritionist Aidan Goggins, the co-creator of non-weight-loss supplements Kyros Nutrition (kyrosnutrition.com)
Myota Metabolic Booster
£112.50 quarterly subscription (myotahealth.com)
Claim: That the short-chain fatty acids produced by eating fibre ‘help boost GLP-1 levels, and are a natural solution to help regulate appetite and keep you feeling full for longer’.
Key ingredients: 9.8g dietary fibre from a variety of sources.
Expert opinion: A convenient way to get a clinically meaningful dose of fibre in one hit. This mix of fermentable, prebiotic fibres is designed to be broken down by gut bacteria into short-chain fatty acids, which can stimulate natural GLP-1 release. This gives the product real merit for gut health and wider metabolic benefits.
The effect is subtle and natural, more like adding in an extra few servings of vegetables to your diet than taking a drug. It will be good for the microbiome and long-term health, but don’t expect it to melt off pounds.
Score: 3/5
Aura GLP-1 Patches
£24.99 for one month’s supply (aura-esthetic.com)
Claim: ‘Skip the pills and painful injections. The Aura GLP-1 patch delivers real results… uses advanced TransDerema technology to deliver powerful plant-based ingredients directly through the skin… and activate your body’s natural fat-burning process.’
Key ingredients: Berberine, pomegranate, cinnamon, L-glutamine.
Expert opinion: Even if this patch did contain miracle ingredients, which it doesn’t, they would have to be very small and fat-soluble to slip through the skin barrier. The plant extracts used here are far too large to be absorbed this way.
There’s no evidence these patches get the ingredients where they need to be, so there’s no reason to expect an effect.
Score: 0/5
Even if this patch did contain miracle ingredients, which it doesn’t, they would have to be very small and fat-soluble to slip through the skin barrier
Sensilab GLP-1 Active
£29.99 for 60 capsules (sensilab.com)
Claim: ‘Boosts satiety hormone GLP-1 by 65 per cent’ and a ‘natural alternative to weight-loss injections’.
Key ingredients: Berberine, white mulberry extract (Reducose).
Expert opinion: This contains 500mg of berberine, which is the standard dose used in research into its effects on metabolism, though in studies 500mg would usually be taken twice daily.
Mulberry leaf contains DNJ, which is a natural compound that blocks carbohydrate-digesting enzymes. In practice this means sugars are broken down more slowly so food stays in the gut longer and post-meal blood glucose rises less sharply. Clinical studies show Reducose at this dose can cut peak blood sugar spikes by around 30 per cent.
So in combination with berberine it may have merit for metabolic health, but the mechanism is not through GLP-1 pathways.
Score: 2/5
Expert Aidan Goggins says Moringa and NA+ have zero impact on weight loss
PEAKA GLP-1 Ultra-Concentrated Liquid Pearls
£6.99 for 30 capsules (amazon.co.uk)
Claim: ‘No diet or exercise required… suppress appetite… burns visceral fat. Lose weight from the inside out.’
Key ingredients: Apple cider vinegar, moringa, NA+ (a sodium ion).
Expert opinion: A study published in the British Medical Journal last year showed 10-15ml of apple cider vinegar (ACV) daily could cause around 7kg weight loss in 12 weeks. It is thought the acetic acid in ACV may influence our metabolism like a ‘lite’ version of GLP-1 drugs, but the capsules don’t contain anywhere near the amount used in the study. Moringa and NA+ have zero impact on weight loss.
Score: 1/5
Feel Pro Metabolic
£64.94 for one month’s supply (wearefeel.com)
Claim: ‘A next-generation formula designed to stimulate your body’s own GLP-1 secretion – helping you manage appetite, curb cravings, and support metabolic health… re-calibrating your body gradually to a less hungry, less snacking you in 90 days.’
Ingredients: Kombucha black tea leaf powder, soy peptide, Bifidobacterium Breve
Expert opinion: Separately the fibre and plant polyphenols, plus a probiotic and soy protein peptides, all have some evidence for influencing gut hormones and appetite regulation. They have been selected to encourage natural GLP-1 release in the gut and support satiety at meals. You may see some health benefit but don’t expect any drug-like weight loss outcome.
Score: 2/5
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