Everybody’s speaking about Ozempic. However nearly nobody is speaking about this: You may have already got your personal model of it—and it is perhaps breaking down due to one thing so simple as your mouthwash.
On this publication, we’re unpacking how your mouth—not your abdomen, not your weight, not your willpower—might be sabotaging the hormone that controls starvation, vitality, and metabolism.
Within the age of injectables, GLP-1 has turn out to be shorthand for thinness, urge for food management, and metabolic rebirth. Initially studied for its position in diabetes, this intestine hormone is now the molecular star behind medication like Ozempic and Wegovy. It makes you’re feeling full. It slows digestion. It even tweaks the reward facilities of the mind.
However right here’s what most individuals don’t notice: your physique already makes GLP-1 by itself. And it does it with assist from micro organism. No shock there, the “good guys” of your microbiomes are all the time accountable for the great things!
The breakthrough got here in 2012, when researchers on the College of Cambridge revealed a research within the journal Diabetes. Their discovering: short-chain fatty acids—byproducts of fiber fermentation by intestine micro organism—can immediately set off GLP-1 secretion by a receptor known as FFAR2 (Tolhurst et al., 2012). In different phrases: Your microbes assist management your starvation.
There’s large cash in mimicking GLP-1. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have constructed multi-billion-dollar pipelines round it.
However what if we might coax the physique to supply extra of it naturally? That query is now driving new analysis in vitamin and microbiome medication.
A number of human research have already proven this: when individuals eat extra fermentable fiber—like inulin, present in leeks and Jerusalem artichokes—their intestine micro organism produce extra short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These are chemical messengers that assist regulate urge for food and metabolism.
The SCFAs then sign your physique to make extra GLP-1 (the identical hormone that Ozempic mimics) and one other one known as PYY, which additionally helps you’re feeling full.
There’s a catch, although.
It doesn’t all the time work, particularly in case you use antibacterial mouthwash (sure, together with your “pure” mouthwash with important oils).
We’ve all the time blamed the intestine. However what if the issue begins greater up? That’s the place the mouth is available in…
We’ve lengthy handled the mouth as a separate system. However it’s the start of the gastrointestinal tract—and the microbes in your mouth don’t keep put.
A disrupted oral microbiome—which means the steadiness of micro organism in your mouth is off—can throw the entire system out of sync. This sort of imbalance (known as dysbiosis) can occur from each day use of antiseptic mouthwash, untreated gum irritation, or a scarcity of microbial variety.
When that steadiness is off, you find yourself seeding your intestine with the incorrect micro organism. That shift can decrease SCFA manufacturing and block GLP-1 launch.
You’ve heard me say this again and again—oral well being isn’t nearly enamel. It’s about irritation, blood sugar, hormones, every little thing. And the analysis is lastly catching up. Not simply cavities or gum illness—however how your mouth units the stage for microbial steadiness all through your complete intestine.
We’re nonetheless in early days. Nobody’s suggesting you may reverse kind 2 diabetes with floss and a salad (though there may be some foundation for that! We will talk about in a future publication…)
However take into account this: In a single human research, researchers skipped the fiber and delivered SCFAs—the compounds your intestine micro organism usually make once they ferment prebiotic fiber—straight into the colon. Even with out fiber, this elevated GLP-1, improved insulin sensitivity, and lowered how a lot individuals ate (Chambers et al., 2015).
In one other research, individuals ate a fiber-enriched bar. However it solely labored for contributors whose microbiomes might really flip that fiber into SCFAs. If their micro organism weren’t able to fermentation, they noticed no profit (Sanchez-Tapia et al., 2020).
That’s the important thing: your physique can solely make GLP-1 from fiber if the suitable microbes are current.
And people microbes? Within the digestive tract, they’re first present in your mouth.
When your oral microbiome is wholesome, it helps populate your intestine with the sorts of micro organism that may ferment fiber into SCFAs. These microbes don’t simply move by; they take up residence and affect the microbial make-up of your intestine (Segata et al., 2012).
However when your oral microbiome is disrupted—by each day antiseptic mouthwash, continual irritation, or poor oral hygiene and low pH (mouth respiration)—you ship the incorrect microbial alerts downstream. That may cut back your intestine’s capability to supply SCFAs, irrespective of how a lot fiber you eat.
This isn’t simply “eat extra fiber, really feel full.” It’s a microbial chain response. And it begins in your mouth.
So sure, fiber issues. However the true takeaway is that this: your mouth units the tone in your metabolism.
What am I imagined to do, then, Dr. B?
Past fiber, sure compounds assist assist a more healthy oral microbiome:
- Polyphenols (like these in inexperienced tea, berries, and olive oil) assist inhibit pathogenic micro organism whereas supporting helpful strains. I drink inexperienced tea each morning!
- Nitrate-rich greens—like beets, spinach, and arugula—gas nitric oxide manufacturing, which helps regulate microbial steadiness.
- Vitamin D helps immune operate and oral tissue integrity, serving to preserve a steady microbial surroundings.
- Magnesium works alongside vitamin D within the physique—it helps activate vitamin D and helps balanced immune and inflammatory responses. That form of systemic assist is essential for sustaining a resilient oral surroundings the place helpful microbes can thrive. (There are many types of magnesium on the market, which is why I take a mix of seven varieties + cofactors to make sure correct absorption—hyperlink to the one I swear by)
I consider these as reinforcements: they don’t substitute fiber, however they assist the suitable micro organism thrive.
By now, you’re most likely questioning: what do I really eat to assist this?
Right here’s what I eat: leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, uncooked garlic. These are wealthy in prebiotic fibers like inulin and resistant starch—and so they feed the suitable microbes within the mouth and intestine.
I even constructed a breakfast round this concept. I name it Dr. B’s Microbiome Omelet—it’s scrumptious and feeds my oral microbiome.
Once you mix these meals with an oral care routine designed to protect microbial variety—like utilizing Fygg toothpaste (code ATD15), skipping antiseptic mouthwash, and gently tongue scraping and mouth taping for many who want, and I’m a type of individuals—you create the suitable surroundings for these microbes to do their job.
You’re not simply supporting digestion. You’re laying the inspiration for urge for food regulation, hormone steadiness, and higher vitality.
If you wish to assist your physique’s personal GLP-1 manufacturing…
- Cease killing 99.9% of your oral micro organism.
- Begin feeding those that matter—with prebiotic meals, not mouthwash.
- Rebuild your intestine’s capability to ferment fiber.
- Take into consideration the entire axis: mouth → intestine → mind → urge for food.
Yet one more instance of how the bugs within the mouth are at play in so many alternative methods!
That is one thing practical dentists concern themselves with—sadly there are only a few of them, however I purpose to alter that with my new on-line CE course, Foundations of Practical Dentistry—in case you’re a dentist or hygienist who’s , hit reply and my workforce will get you on the listing.
If you happen to’ve learn this far, thanks. I do know your inbox is full, and I admire your curiosity and care about oral well being.
I’d love to listen to what you considered this text—and what you’d like me to discover subsequent. Simply hit reply.
If you would like extra:
References
Chambers, E. S., et al. (2015). Results of focused supply of propionate to the human colon on urge for food regulation, physique weight upkeep and adiposity in chubby adults. Intestine, 64(11), 1744–1754. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2014-307913
Sanchez-Tapia, M., et al. (2020). The food regimen–intestine microbiota–mind axis and its affect on metabolic and neurodegenerative ailments. Frontiers in Diet, 7, 112. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2020.00112
Segata, N., et al. (2012). Composition of the grownup digestive tract bacterial microbiome primarily based on seven mouth surfaces, tonsils, throat and stool samples. Genome Biology, 13(6), R42. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2012-13-6-r42
Tolhurst, G., et al. (2012). Brief-chain fatty acids stimulate glucagon-like peptide-1 secretion by way of the G-protein–coupled receptor FFAR2. Diabetes, 61(2), 364–371. https://doi.org/10.2337/db11-1019