Join Dr. Martin in today's episode of The Doctor Is In Podcast.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning everyone and how are you? Once again, welcome to another live here as you get your notifications this morning and want to say hello to us? Okay, let's just get to our studies. We got lots of them here. I get asked this all the time, okay? And I know this won't be the last time we'll talk about it. Ozempic, Wegovy, Wagovy. Whichever way you guys want to pronounce it or they want to pronounce it. Okay. What are they? They are GLP-1 medication and they're hot, hot, hot, hot. Okay. Like Ozempic and Wegovy really are diabetic drugs. How do they work? Well, first of all, they mimic peptides. So what do I mean by that? Gastric peptides. Peptides are little protein molecules, amino acids. They send signals. One of them slows and that's how Wegovy, Ozempic work. They slow digestion. They slow it down.
And the reason I'm talking about it this morning because just a new article, I read it yesterday. Ozempic now has 3,636 active lawsuits as of this month. Most of them are for the same thing, stomach paralysis. And guys, this is really important. I'm going to do a little bit of a teaching here, maybe not for you, but for someone you know, because I want to break this down a little bit. These kind of medications are not going to go away because what's happened is you have first generation, which is Wegovy, Ozempic. They're first generation meds and they're going through the roof in terms of sales because people are using them for weight loss. They were designed for diabetics and diabetics were put on. They inject these things into their body. But the big thing they're used for now is weight loss. And they slow the digestive process down to a crawl. That's how they work.
Now, the reason for the lawsuits is stomach paralysis. Here's a fact. 50% of people that get on Ozempic and whatever, they stop within a year. You know why? Side effects. The two biggest side effects are stomach paralysis and pancreatitis. Massive digestive issues. So they stop taking it. And lawsuits come to Ozempic. Now they're making enough money. I think these lawsuits wouldn't even put a dent. I think they planned for lawsuits and they just sort of budget, probably put away 10% of their revenue to settle lawsuits. I hate to be negative, but I've seen that happen in the pharmaceutical industry before. So one of the things I just want to talk about this generally is because it delays gastric emptying, it can really, really mess up the gut. But here's one of the things that is very important. Before someone goes on that medication, you got to fix your gut because this is what's happening. You got to take care of that gut.
So I know people go on them, they're diabetic, but I say, you better fix because if anybody asks me ahead of time, I tell them this, look, I know how that medication works. If you have problems with leaky gut to start off with, you're going to have major problems and side effects with this medication. Look, I don't bury my head in the sand, guys. I understand that people, they get on medications and they don't ask me first because if they did, I might caution them first. But anyway, that's not the point. The point is if you know people around you, because probably you do, people around you, family, friends, whatever they're getting on Ozempic or they're going to get on Wegovy or whatever. If they listen to you, give them some advice. You better start before, if you can, start with probiotics first. Digestive enzymes first. Fix the gut because this is going to hammer your gut.
The problem with your gut, the gut has its own brain. And we teach you that through the vagus nerve. It's a connection between your brain and your gut. What connects that? Yes, your microbiome, but through what connection? The vagus nerve, your 10th cranial nerve. This affects that. This medication affects that big time. It's one of the reasons it suppresses your hunger and things like that. But like I always tell people, look, you're going against nature here. So you better put all your ducks in a row. And now one of the ducks is to make sure your stomach and your brain connection, its microbiome, fix that even before. And tell your friends, Dr. Martin said it, you better be fixing your gut while you are on this medication. I mean, millions of people are. That's why I'm not burying my head in the sand because most people ... And by the way, 50% stop after one year. They can't take the drug anymore. It bothers their stomach too much.
I bet you there ain't a doctor in the universe that tells them to take probiotics while they're on Wegaby or Wegovy or whatever you want to call it or Ozempic. And there's other generations now, Tirzeptide and Reda. It's coming. It's in its final stage of approval with the FDA. So I'm not, like I said, I'm just trying to be preventative for a lot of people. People ask me about this. I get asked every day, I'm not kidding you. What do you think about this doc? I was out for supper with family the other day and they're asking me, "Doc, what do you think?" "Well, let me give you the facts and only the facts, man." Okay. Dragnet. So 40 to 70% of the people on these medications have digestive issues while taking the medication from acid reflux. Yeah, because it's delayed gastric emptying acid reflux, diarrhea, chronic diarrhea, constipation, and all of the above. Just facts. Ninefold increase of pancreatitis. That's severe guys. Pancreatitis is life threatening. Okay? Gastroparesis, delayed, empty. Food don't move. What does that do? Well, this food sits in your stomach and doesn't move. That's how they work. The meds work that way.
And research in 2026, I read this, this is recent, that if you, and I never saw it anywhere else. I just saw it in one study. Let me read it to you. Research published in 2026 showed that the state of your gut microbiome before you start determines how well the drug works. Guys, this is really, really, really important. The state of your gut before you start the medication published it recently showed that the state of your gut microbiome, you've heard that here a million times. Before you start determine how well the drug works. The research says this. People with gut dysbiosis, you know what that is? That's leaky gut. Gut dysbiosis. You have an overgrowth of yeast, candida, fungus in the gut, IBS, bloating, irregular bowel movements. Lose less weight and see poor blood sugar results according to this recently published study. I've been telling you for years about the microbiome. You might be tired of hearing about it. The bacteria in your gut. It's so, so, so important, guys.
So if you know anyone that's considering starting these medications and they're probably doing it to lose weight, okay, try and talk to them. Okay. Your microbiome predicts how this medication will work. I thought I'd talked to you about it because it's really, really important. I mean, these medications guys are not going away. There's too much money involved. Okay? So it's best I try and get out in front with people that will listen and say, look, take care of your gut. Before, during, and after the medication, take care of your gut and the microbiome, the connection between your gut and your brain, the 10th cranial nerve, it all has to do with the communication of the microbiome with each other. Okay. Get on the probiotic. Big time.
Okay. Let me see. Lots of studies that I wanted to comment on. Okay? Oh, listen to this one. Study out. Okay, this is a meta-analysis study. A meta-analysis study, meaning to look at 148 studies involving over 300,000 people. Here's the headline. Social isolation increases all cause mortality by 29% comparable to obesity and physical inactivity. So we all know what obesity does. Bad. Okay. This is a headline that I brought to you on a podcast a long time ago, but I said this, three things worse than smoking. Is there anything worse than smoking? Yeah, three things. Okay. I brought this to you on a podcast. I should get the number out so you can go and listen to it again. Okay? According to meta-analysis studies, looking at all the studies, you know what they said? Three things. They said inactivity worse than smoking. Low levels of vitamin D. Oh, surprise, surprise. And a little bit surprising to a lot of people, not to me, low levels of omega-3. Okay. You know what I think of omega-3? It's so important for the body.
So a meta-analysis study showed, okay, inactivity, low levels of vitamin D and low levels of omega-3 were worse for you than smoking. Shocking. It's amazing. 70, 80% of the population walk around, they have no idea what their vitamin D levels are, have no idea because their doctor has no idea and their doctor don't care. Vitamin D is for bones. And as far as they are concerned, it's toxic and they scared the life out of us about the sun. How stupid was that? The world went stupid and people, it says three things worse than smoking if you have low levels of vitamin D and you're inactive and you got low levels of omega-3. Now this one, okay it says loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I remember my dad in practice imagine that. He must have been sitting there smoking with his patients all day long because he used to go through four packs of filterless Buckingham cigarettes a day until 1962 when I was 10 years old and he went cold turkey.
Oh, my dad was my hero. I didn't understand it at the time. He came home and he had a ceremony, official ceremony in the house. I was 10 years old. We gathered around the waste paper basket and he flipped it open and he said, "I quit smoking." My older brothers were thinking, "Okay, whose cigarettes am I going to steal now? Dad quit smoking." He read a study that said smoking was bad for him. He thought it was good for him. I think my dad used to share his cigarettes with his patients. "Here, you got a cough. This will get rid of it. Cough it out." Guys, if you think things don't change in medicine, well, they change. There ain't a doctor in the universe that thinks smoking is good for you anymore, right? We know that.
Anyway, listen to this. Loneliness is worse than smoking 15 cigarettes a day according to a meta-analysis study of 148 studies with over 300,000 people. Social isolation increases all cause mortality by 29% comparable to obesity and physical inactivity. We already talked about inactivity, being lonely. Amazing the connection, guys? This is one of the reasons, by the way, guys. We wrote the book, Rebuild Your Temple. The connection between your body and your soul. You got a soul, not on your shoes. S-O-L-E. You got an S-O-U-L and it's really important. Guys, this is a little bit aside, but I got to tell you. I got a PhD not only in nutrition, but I have another one in obituarology. I'm fascinated by obituaries. My wife gave me the degree. Why are you always looking at those things? Well, first of all, to make sure I'm not in there and second of all, I'm fascinated by them. You learn a lot by looking at the obituaries.
I got to tell you something. Just in my home city here in Sudbury, on average, one a day, 30 days. I know that for a fact, by the way, because of the stats. I got a couple of my kids working in the government. In Sudbury, my hometown, one a day on average, commits suicide or overdose, mental health. See the connection, guys? Like that's in young people. What a tragedy that is, the amount of mental health issues there are. But there's a physical component to it, guys, because what we've done in mental health is we've isolated mental health away from the physical part of it inactivity, loneliness. It affects people physically. You've got a body but you also have a soul. It's really important to understand the connection between the two. And we tried to make that connection in the book big time. Big time. Anyway, you read a study like this, it doesn't shock me, although it should shock me to the core. Loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Guys, I'll bring you back to COVID. Okay? Now we have the, what do you call that? The new virus that's coming around now. I can't even remember the name of it. I don't know what it's called. Okay. I got to look it up again. I get a migraine guys because if you leave it to public health, they're like a horse with blinders on because public health, they're trained, we got a virus coming. Okay. On a cruise ship, people got the virus. If you leave it to public health, what would they do? Close the world down again. I guarantee they're working on a vaccine. I guarantee it. And they put the fear of God in you. We better close it down. Now, hopefully people aren't listening to that stuff. And one of the biggest side effects of closing the world down, look, we can do a study. It's unreal. And I warned against this. Young people. Old people. All people. You know what we need guys? We need each other. We're social beings. You're not meant to be alone. You're not meant to be isolated.
And the public health, when they close the schools down and all that kind of stuff, it was the worst thing you could do for young people. I was screaming John the Baptist like. Don't do it. Get people outside. Get people in the sun. The best vaccine you can take is called vitderma and getting together. Okay? That's a vaccine. Not isolation, guys. It's the worst thing we can do because you have a connection between the body and the soul. You're meant to socialize, especially with your family, right? Anyway, loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Holy smokes. Who knew? And they isolated those poor seniors. You know how many people that died alone? I've warned my family with this. Don't you ever put your daddy in isolation. I won't put up with it.
Anyway, okay guys. I got so many more studies I haven't even got to. Holy moly. Let me see. Yeah. Let me finish with this one because I'm just going to... Because someone said this yesterday on our private Facebook group, they bring it up and it's coffee. It gives you back pain. Like guys, can I tell you something? There's never been anything studied more than coffee. Okay. Now look, everybody's different. Put your thumb up. Okay. Put your thumb up. We're all different. Okay? We're all different. You got a different fingerprint than I got. Eight billion people on the planet and then some. And we all different. You're unique. Well, because of cortisol in the morning ... Guys, I hate to tell you this. I don't think there's anybody that's studied cortisol more than I did. And then some guru, because they don't like coffee, put up, well, you got to wait before you have your coffee because it'll give you back pain because you're increasing your cortisol. I get a migraine.
Well, maybe for you. Okay? But for 99.9% of all the other people, coffee is good for you. I don't wait in the morning. Oh, I shouldn't say that. I have my water. All I'm thinking of is coffee, but I won't allow it. It's a habit. Been doing it for, I don't know how many years. I will not allow myself to have a coffee, not till my cortisol's gone. Until I drink a half liter or 16 ounces of water. That's me. Okay? And I know it works. And I had tens of thousands of patients do exactly the same. I said, "Don't drink your coffee until you have water." But this cortisol thing, look, if coffee bothers you in the morning, I feel sorry for you. That's all right. You're unique, but it's not for the rest of us. Okay. Like some guru comes out with that and they want to make it part of the Bible. Well, there's a dude just can't have coffee in the morning. Well, hello. I don't agree with that. Not even for one second.
Does coffee bother you? Well, then don't have it. I feel sorry for you. There's not anything that's been studied and I mean it like coffee. It's funny because I read another study the other day in coffee and cancer. It's in my thing to talk about. It's so good. What do I call it? God's gift, the real vitamin C. You think I'm joking? I'm not joking. Don't feel guilty. If coffee gives you back pain in the morning, you're the one in a gazillion and that's okay. You got to deal with that. But nah. Okay. Nah. Anyway, I have to bring it up because somebody brought it up yesterday and I love that. I was going to get on and comment, but I had a migraine and I couldn't comment.
Okay. I laugh when you guys say, Dr. Martin, he's going to have a migraine. How do you know that? But you're absolutely right. Okay, guys. So tomorrow we continue with study. Friday is Q&A, so send your questions in. I think it was Danny Lay from Ironbridge that said Dr. Martin didn't answer my question. Well, Danny, I'm sorry because I missed it. I'm a senior. Okay. I love that card. Oh, it saves my bacon how many times a day. Hey, I'm a senior. I forgot. Or I didn't see it. I don't remember. See, I forgot. Okay. Love you. Talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!