Mounjaro Update: Week 41

Allulose, Overtraining, and Another Week on Mounjaro 7.5mg

Hello, fellow Type 2 diabetics and anyone else interested in Mounjaro, GLP-1 receptor agonists and welcome to aging fitness freaks of all shapes and sizes. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This weekly column chronicles my progress on Type 2 diabetes control with the prescription drug Mounjaro,. During the past forty weeks of Mounjaro therapy, I got off Metformin, reduced my blood pressure medicine to half its original dose, and lost around sixty pounds (27.3 kg). Concomitantly, my HbA1c dropped from 7.6% (60 mmol/mol) to 5.4% (36 mmol/mol). Yea, verily, at the ripe old age of seventy-eight, Mounjaro and my associated lifestyle improvements have done me well!

Apart from my personal progress, I like to intersperse subjects related to Mounjaro therapy and Type 2 diabetes here. For example, last week I discussed getting off Mounjaro at some point. As I discover current information I think will be of value to others, I write about it here, sometimes offering opinions on pet subjects like the pharmaceutical industry and their social media cheerleaders. Also, having transformed myself into a gym rat, I often touch on exercise philosophies and equipment with senior citizens like me in mind. Nutrition is an important consideration, too, when managing diabetes, so I often add information in that area, which brings us to this week’s topic: allulose.

Not a Medical Advice Column

But first, I must spout the usual disclaimers. Pictured at left on the way to the nineteenth hole at sunset, I am a 78-year-old pretend amateur metabolic scientist and geriatric gym rat, not a licensed physician, so I can’t legally dispense medical advice. Like, would you even buy a used car from this Turkey, let alone trust him with your health? Oh, hell no! I might tell you what to do because that’s the way I am, but you have only yourself to blame for listening to me. In other words, don’t sue me because something you read here doesn’t pan out for you. Instead, visit your local flesh and blood doctor, or even someone of indeterminate national origin in a white coat on a tele-health screen at a profiteering weight loss salon or compounding pharmacy. They will have the necessary malpractice insurance to protect them when they screw up.

Allulose: A Sugar That Sweetens but Does Not Fatten?

This week, I take a closer look at allulose, especially as it relates to managing Type 2 diabetes and weight loss. If you must sweeten foods, allulose might be a way to do so with minimal impact on your metabolic health. My wife Jenny, a microbiologist and an inveterate ketophile, some of whose distant ancestors were an inbred Irish tribe of Neolithic Era potato farmers and who sometimes identifies herself here as “Artificially Sweetened”, has joined me in sweetening things with allulose. We’ll see where all this leads us.

Allulose, classified as a rare sugar, naturally occurs in small amounts in foods like figs, raisins, and maple syrup. Unlike regular table sugar, it provides just about 0.2-0.4 calories per gram and minimally impacts blood glucose levels. This minimal glycemic response makes allulose particularly attractive for those managing diabetes or pursuing weight loss. Additionally, some studies suggest that allulose may improve insulin sensitivity and promote body fat reduction, both valuable benefits in diabetes management and weight control.

Is It Safe? Is It Better?

Like any sugar substitute, allulose isn’t free of controversies or potential drawbacks. Although generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA, some individuals experience gastrointestinal issues, like bloating, gas, or discomfort, when consuming large amounts. As allulose is relatively new to widespread use, there’s also limited long-term data available about its continuous safety and effectiveness.

Compared to other popular sugar alternatives, like monk fruit extract and erythritol, allulose is often praised for a more natural taste and superior baking performance. Monk fruit extract is calorie-free and has no glycemic impact, but can impart a noticeable aftertaste. Erythritol similarly provides minimal calories and glycemic response but often produces a cooling sensation that some find unpleasant. Each sweetener thus has distinct pros and cons, influencing their suitability based on individual preferences and health goals.

One potential drawback of allulose is its cost. For example, a three-pound (1.36 kg) bag of Truvia-branded allulose costs $25 at Amazon.com. But the good news is that it is SNAP EBT eligible. For those you outside the U.S. welfare state, this means that low-income families on government assistance can have their allulose, too, courtesy of the taxpayers who currently fund their Coca-Cola and Froot Loops!

Banned in Europe?

Notably, allulose remains banned in the European Union due to concerns raised by a study suggesting possible carcinogenicity at very high dosages. These findings, nevertheless, are controversial and have not been replicated in human studies. Consequently, while the U.S. FDA maintains that allulose is safe, European regulators continue to await more definitive research.

So, Why Do We Crave Sweets, Already?

Exploring the rise of sugar alternatives naturally leads to questions about our inherent craving for sweetness. Historically, humans evolved a strong preference for sweet foods, a survival adaptation that helped find calorie-rich sources during periods of scarcity. In modern societies of dietary abundance, this evolutionary trait contributes significantly to overconsumption, obesity, and metabolic diseases like Type 2 diabetes.

Has our societal sweet tooth intensified in recent decades? The evidence suggests yes. Over the past 50 years, global sugar consumption has skyrocketed, driven by the relentless marketing and ubiquity of ultra-processed foods, sugary beverages, and convenience foods engineered by a profit-hungry food industry. The relentless addition of sugar to everyday products—from breads and sauces to seemingly “healthy” snacks—creates an environment where sugar is virtually unavoidable. This calculated saturation of sugar by the food industry hijacks our brains’ reward centers, reinforcing cravings, perpetuating cycles of craving and dependence, and fueling epidemics of obesity and chronic metabolic diseases.

Our heightened demand for sweetness highlights the importance of finding suitable sugar substitutes like allulose. Understanding the biology behind sweet cravings underscores the value—and necessity—of alternatives that help mitigate adverse health outcomes while satisfying our innate preference for sweetness.

Kinda Like Methadone

But in my mind, a better approach is to wind down those primordial sugar cravings. Our ancient ancestors surely did not breakfast on Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms. The modern food industry, with its overwhelming abundance of hyper-palatable, chemically enhanced foods, is the true villain behind the sugar addiction epidemic—a genuine addiction deliberately fostered for corporate profit. Quitting cold Turkey (pun intended) may not be realistic, but each of us can take deliberate steps to reduce reliance on sugar and its substitutes, slowly reconditioning our palates towards healthier, less artificially sweetened foods.

I’ll continue monitoring the latest research and sharing personal insights into my experiences with these sweeteners, aiming to maintain a balanced view of their benefits and potential risks. And, of course, I will continue to openly disparage the food industry, which spends even more money on lobbyists than the defense industry, for the harm it continues to inflict upon public health.

My Week on Mounjaro

As usual, I’ll close out this week’s column by recapping the highlights, lowlights, and numbers of metabolic significance, because what would life be without quantification?

Overtraining? (Or Maybe Just Over-Weeding)

I dialed back my workout routine this past week, but not for any admirable athletic reason—my back decided to protest vigorously after an ambitious weed-pulling session. Who knew gardening was an extreme sport? Despite this grievous horticultural injury, I managed five workouts, though admittedly on the gentler side.

The internal debate was familiar: pamper the injury and languish on the couch, or soldier on and pretend everything’s fine. Choosing the wiser path of “lightly soldiering on,” I cautiously maintained both cardio and resistance exercises, albeit at lower intensity. By Sunday, feeling reasonably recovered, I performed a full, hour-and-a-half routine of stretching and resistance training, prudently easing off on lower-back exercises. Upper-body exercises saw a modest weight increase—because, clearly, moderation is overrated. Today, it’s back to the gym in my lucky green t-shirt to work legs. What could go wrong?

Weight Loss Considerations (The Brief Version)

My primary motivation for starting Mounjaro was glucose control, but let’s be honest—shedding pounds was a welcome side-effect. To satisfy curiosity (and my ego), here’s the quick-and-dirty summary:

Last June, I tipped the scale at roughly 245-250 pounds (111.4-113.6 kg), sporting an impressive BMI of about 36.3 and visceral fat (the really nasty stuff) of 18 unidentified units reported by my cheap Chinese smart scale. This morning, I clock in at a svelte 183.8 lbs (83.5 kg), with my BMI down to 27.9 and visceral fat reduced to 11 pork units—still not marathon material, but decidedly less crappy fat around the internal organs. Alas, I still have a residual, deflated spare tire around the middle, which would likely require surgery to fix.

I’ve gone from squeezing into 2XL shirts and 42″ waist pants to comfortably sporting larges and the occasional optimistic medium, with pants sizes ranging from 34″-38″ depending on the generosity of the manufacturer’s vanity sizing and “cheater” fabrics.

Mounjaro kick-started this weight-loss escapade, but at this point, lifestyle changes are carrying the baton. With another 25 pounds (11.4 kg) still stubbornly hanging around, my primary focus is preserving muscle mass (not easy on fewer calories) and maintaining glucose control. I’ll take weight loss as it comes, if it comes.

Da Mounjaro Numbers, Already!

This week’s metabolic scoreboard remains stable. My fasting glucose averaged a consistent 94 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L), identical to last week’s performance. Dexcom’s trusty Stelo biosensor reports an overall weekly average glucose of 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L), so no wild excitement there.

Wrapping It Up

Thanks for tuning into another thrilling episode of my Mounjaro chronicles. Hopefully, you’ve learned something useful—or at least entertained yourself briefly. If you hadn’t heard of allulose before now, consider yourself enlightened. Until next week, stay healthy (and watch out for aggressive weeds).

For an annotated catalog of all my Mounjaro updates, please visit my Mounjaro Update Catalog page.