GLP-1 Supplement Drinks: Where They Fit Around Kettlebell Training

Prescription GLP-1 medications have changed the conversation around appetite and weight loss, and a whole category of drinks and supplements has grown up alongside them, often marketed as a natural way to support GLP-1 without a prescription. If you train with kettlebells and are wondering whether one belongs in your routine, the useful questions are what these products actually contain, what evidence exists for the ingredients, and how much of the research on prescription drugs can reasonably be applied to a drink.

What GLP-1 Does

Glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, is a hormone released by cells in the gut after food arrives. It helps increase insulin secretion when blood glucose is elevated, suppresses glucagon, slows gastric emptying, and contributes to feelings of fullness.¹

Natural GLP-1 does not stay active for very long. It is rapidly broken down by an enzyme called DPP-4, with a half-life in the bloodstream of roughly one to two minutes, and much of it is degraded before it even leaves the gut.¹ In normal physiology, it is a short-lived signal linked to eating rather than something that remains elevated for hours or days.

Why Prescription GLP-1 Results Don’t Carry Over

Prescription GLP-1 medications were developed specifically to get around that rapid breakdown. They resist degradation and are dosed so that their effects last far longer than the body’s own GLP-1 response.

Supplement drinks work differently. Rather than supplying a drug that stays active, they usually contain ingredients intended to encourage the gut to release more of its own GLP-1 or to influence appetite through other mechanisms, particularly fibre.

Ozzi, for example, explains on its website that prescription GLP-1 medications maintain the signal for days, while its drink is intended to support the body’s own short-lived GLP-1 response.⁷ That is an important distinction because a large amount of the research people associate with GLP-1 – appetite reduction, food reward, blood glucose control and weight loss – comes from trials of prescription medications.

Those findings cannot simply be transferred to a supplement drink that works through a different mechanism and produces a much shorter-lived effect.

What Is Actually in These Drinks

Formulas vary, but many products use some combination of low-calorie sweeteners, soluble fibre and ingredients aimed at gut signalling. Ozzi provides a useful example because the quantities are listed: one stick contains 8 g of allulose, 500 mg of konjac glucomannan, 500 mg of L-lysine butyrate and 500 mg of chicory inulin, along with African mango extract and chromium.⁷

The interesting question is not whether these ingredients have any biological effect. Some clearly do. The more useful question is whether the amount in a serving matches the amount that has actually been studied.

Allulose

Allulose is a rare sugar that tastes sweet while providing very few calories. In one randomised crossover trial, 25 g of allulose delivered directly into the stomach increased GLP-1 and other gastrointestinal hormones in healthy adults.²

That dose was more than three times the 8 g found in one Ozzi serving, and the study used direct gastric administration rather than an ordinary drink. A later research group reviewing the field noted that this remained the only human trial directly examining allulose and GLP-1, and that the increase in gut hormones did not produce a significant change in satiety or food intake.³

Allulose does have more consistent evidence in another area. A meta-analysis of small randomised trials found that it reduced post-meal blood glucose in healthy participants.⁴ So there is some interesting evidence here, but it is much narrower than the impression created by the phrase “GLP-1 drink.”

Konjac glucomannan

Glucomannan is a soluble fibre that absorbs water and expands. It is also one of the few ingredients in this category with an authorised health claim in the European Union for weight loss, although the conditions behind that claim are specific.

The claim is based on a total intake of 3 g per day, taken as three doses of at least 1 g each with one to two glasses of water before meals, in overweight adults following an energy-restricted diet.⁵ A 500 mg serving is one sixth of that daily amount.

That does not mean a smaller amount has no effect, but it is important context when comparing the dose in a product with the dose behind the authorised claim.

Butyrate

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid produced naturally in the gut and used as an energy source by cells lining the colon. It has a broader role in gut health, and there is biologically plausible research linking butyrate with GLP-1 and related gut hormones.

Much of that evidence, however, comes from laboratory and animal research rather than direct human trials showing a meaningful effect on appetite. Ozzi itself acknowledges that distinction on its product information.⁷

Taken together, these ingredients have plausible mechanisms for affecting gut signalling, blood glucose or fullness. What the evidence does not show is anything remotely comparable to the effect of prescription GLP-1 medication, and whether a single serving noticeably changes someone’s appetite is still a separate question.

What About Taking One Around Training?

There is no good evidence showing that a GLP-1 supplement drink improves kettlebell performance, and there is also no direct evidence showing that one necessarily harms a workout. The practical issue is more straightforward: how the product makes you feel.

GLP-1 itself slows gastric emptying,¹ while glucomannan absorbs water and expands, which is why the EU conditions for its authorised claim specify taking it with plenty of fluid.⁵ For some people, that may mean feeling fuller or more bloated than usual.

That is not an ideal feeling before swings, cleans, snatches or other kettlebell exercises involving repeated hinging and hard trunk bracing. If a drink noticeably increases fullness, it makes more sense to take it away from training rather than immediately before a session.

What you eat before training is likely to matter much more than one supplement drink. The guide to fuelling before a workout covers timing and food choices in more detail.

Food Already Stimulates GLP-1

The gut releases GLP-1 in response to food, including protein, fat and carbohydrate.¹ For someone who trains regularly, a meal containing enough protein has an additional advantage: it also supplies amino acids needed for recovery and adaptation.

That does not mean a protein-rich meal and a supplement drink produce the same hormonal response. It simply means that normal food already stimulates the system these products are trying to influence, while also supplying energy and nutrients that matter for training.

For most people who train, that is the sensible place to start. A drink may still be useful if somebody finds it helps with cravings or snacking, but it should not be treated as a substitute for eating properly around training.

Appetite Suppression Is Not Always Helpful

Appetite control is usually marketed as a benefit, which makes sense for someone who consistently eats more than intended. It becomes less helpful when somebody is already eating too little.

This is more relevant for people who are dieting aggressively, losing weight quickly, training hard, or already struggling with fatigue and recovery than it is for someone simply doing a few moderate kettlebell sessions each week.

The International Olympic Committee’s consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport describes a range of health and performance problems associated with low energy availability, meaning that energy intake is too low relative to the demands of training.⁶

That does not mean everyone who trains several times a week is at risk of RED-S. The point is that if someone is already under-fuelling, suppressing appetite further may push in the wrong direction.

Declining performance, persistent fatigue and poor recovery are worth paying attention to before adding another product designed to make eating less appealing. The article on kettlebells and overtraining covers some of the warning signs.

It also helps to keep calorie expenditure in perspective. Published estimates for calories burned during kettlebell swings vary widely, so treating the highest figures as though they apply to everyone can lead to poor decisions about food intake.

Where These Drinks May Fit

These products make the most sense when the problem is appetite or snacking rather than training performance. Someone who has eaten adequately during the day but tends to snack heavily in the evening may find that a low-calorie drink containing some fibre takes the edge off.

That is also the situation products such as Ozzi appear to be designed around.⁷ Whether the effect is strong enough to matter will vary from person to person, and there is no good reason to expect the appetite suppression or weight-loss effects seen with prescription GLP-1 drugs.

A drink will not change body composition on its own. If it helps at all, the useful effect is more likely to come from changing eating behaviour over time.

Anyone taking a prescription GLP-1 medication, or who has recently stopped one, should speak with their doctor before adding another product intended to affect appetite or blood glucose.

What to Look for on the Label

The first thing worth checking is whether the label gives the actual amount of each active ingredient. Proprietary blends make it impossible to compare a product with the doses used in research, which matters particularly for fibre and other ingredients where the amount in a serving may be far below the dose used in a study or authorised health claim.

It is also worth checking whether an evening product contains stimulants. Caffeine may interfere with sleep, and sleep is a much bigger part of recovery than anything a GLP-1 supplement drink is likely to add.

For athletes competing in drug-tested sport, independent third-party testing is worth looking for as well. Beyond that, the claims themselves are revealing. A product that says it may support normal gut signalling is making a very different claim from one suggesting that a drink produces the same effect as a prescription GLP-1 medication.

That difference is worth paying attention to.

References

1. Holst JJ. The physiology of glucagon-like peptide 1. Physiol Rev. 2007;87:1409-1439. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00034.2006
2. Teysseire F, Bordier V, Budzinska A, Weltens N, Rehfeld JF, Holst JJ, et al. The role of D-allulose and erythritol on the activity of the gut sweet taste receptor and gastrointestinal satiation hormone release in humans: a randomized, controlled trial. J Nutr. 2022;152:1228-1238. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35135006/
3. Effects of allulose vs aspartame consumption on postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1 profiles and metabolic health: protocol for a randomized, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2026. https://doi.org/10.2196/81857
4. Allulose for the attenuation of postprandial blood glucose levels in healthy humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281150
5. EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food. Re-evaluation of konjac gum (E 425 i) and konjac glucomannan (E 425 ii) as food additives. EFSA Journal. 2017. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4864
6. Mountjoy M, Ackerman KE, Bailey DM, Burke LM, Constantini N, Hackney AC, et al. 2023 International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). Br J Sports Med. 2023;57(17):1073-1097. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106994
7. Ozzi. Official website and product information. https://heyozzi.com/