This Sweet Trick Might Do What Ozempic Does—Without the Needle

What the $1300 shot and a $13 bag of sweetener have in common—and how to decide what’s right for you.

You’re doing everything right.

You eat clean (mostly). You lift weights (relatively regularly). You sleep (as much as possible). You’ve even made peace with your squishy parts. But lately, something’s… off. The scale is rude. Your jeans feel spiteful. And someone stole the metabolism you used to count on.

Welcome to midlife, where you can eat like Gandhi and still gain three pounds because the moon’s in retrograde and you smell bread baking.

So, naturally, you’ve noticed: Everyone’s on a shot.

I was at a gathering recently and many of the women my age looked like they’d lost weight. Like, a lot of weight. As I nibbled a rugelach, I considered how they’d all dropped weight faster than Adele.

Ozempic. Wegovy. Mounjaro. Zepbound. They’re the new juice cleanse. The new CrossFit. The new thing your group chat is either whispering about or defending with clinical-level enthusiasm. And you? You’re just trying to figure out if you’re actually broken-broken, or if this is just what midlife looks like on you.

The Age of the Injectable

Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 receptor agonists (like Ozempic and Wegovy) are now the buzziest off-label silver bullets to midlife weight gain. They mimic the GLP-1 hormone your gut naturally produces when you eat. This hormone tells your brain you’re full, slows stomach emptying, and helps regulate insulin.

Basically, you feel less hungry, stay full longer, and your blood sugar behaves.

Sounds like a dream, right?

It is—if you can afford it, tolerate it, and have a doctor who’s fast and loose with the scripts. But there’s no (calorie)free lunch…these drugs come with nausea, bloating, constipation, $1200 monthly price tags, and that delightful existential whisper: “Am I cheating if I use this?”

(That last part is usually gotten over pretty easily.)

But…but… there’s something else worth talking about—and it’s not a needle. It’s a sweetener.

Allulose: The Low-Key Gut Hacker

Allulose is what happens when sugar decides to get a Madison Avenue rebrand. It looks like sugar. Tastes like sugar. Bakes like sugar. But its PR team is working hard to differentiate it from the white poison that’s killing us all slowly.

Allulose is not metabolized like sugar, and it may actually help your body produce more GLP-1 naturally.

Wait, what?

Yes. Allulose is a “rare sugar” found in small amounts in figs, raisins, and jackfruit. It stimulates L-cells in your gut, which in turn produce GLP-1. Think of it as a gentle nudge to your system instead of a synthetic takeover via syringe stab.

Unlike artificial sweeteners you may want to tolerate but hate, (I’m looking at you, Stevia!), allulose doesn’t have some weird heebie-jeebie aftertaste.

Allulose vs. Ozempic: A Midlife Showdown

Let’s compare, shall we?

Both allulose and Ozempic increase GLP-1, but the how and the intensity are different.

🟢 Allulose encourages your gut to make more of it, naturally and gradually.

🟣 Ozempic and its cousins override the system with a turbocharged pharmaceutical version.

🟣 One is prescription-only and wildly effective, but expensive and often accompanied by gnarly side effects.

🟢 The other is available over the counter, generally well-tolerated, and comes with the bonus perk of sweetening your coffee. It’s not as potent, and you’re not likely to drop 20 pounds in a month unless you also sell your soul and tie yourself to your Peloton.

If you're dealing with insulin resistance or obesity, the meds might make sense. They’re valid and sometimes even life-changing. But if you’re simply a woman in her 40s or 50s whose body has entered a new hormonal chapter, and you're trying to find low-lift, sustainable ways to support it, then allulose is worth a look.

Okay, But Can You Bake With It?

Oh, yes you can.

Allulose behaves beautifully in the kitchen. You can use it one-to-one for sugar in most recipes. It browns a little faster—so if you’re baking cookies, reduce your oven temp by 25 degrees to avoid over-crisping. It works in muffins, pancakes, banana bread, sauces, and even that late-night tea when your sweet tooth is getting a little pushy.

Personally, I use it to replace 50% of the sugar in my sweet treat recipes (like the no-bake Greek yogurt/cottage cheese cheesecake recipe

Abbey Wade

shared with me).

One heads-up: go slow at first. Too much allulose too fast can lead to some mild digestive drama. Start with a teaspoon here and there, and work your way up. Your gut doesn’t need any shocks to its daily operations.

You’re Not Crazy or Lazy

We are so hard on ourselves, aren’t we. But, now, more than ever, it’s not us, it’s them. And the “them” are our hormones.

Our bodies are doing what bodies do at our age… it’s not betrayal so much as it’s recalibration. But since the rules have changed, so must our habits. We need to employ more compassion for ourselves and mute all the 20-something influencers who just don’t get it…yet. (Their day will come.)

GLP-1 isn’t a fad—it’s a real hormone with real implications for hunger, metabolism, and weight regulation. How you approach it—medically, nutritionally, or somewhere in between—is entirely up to you. (I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist, and I always recommend doing your own research.)

If you want to try Ozempic, that’s your call. If you want to swap your sweetener and support your gut’s GLP-1 production naturally, go for it. If you want to skip the science and just enjoy a damn cookie, no one will slap your hand. But, life is about options and choices and I thought you might like to know about this one.

xoxo

P.S.

In case you’re wondering, this is the allulose I’ve been using. I drop a teaspoon in my coffee along with some fiber and creatine. Starbucks should pay attention.