I’m a 26-year-old man who works in the fashion industry. A bit of subtext to this sentence: In the age of GLP-1 injections we live in, almost everyone I interact with is a) the fat jab itself; Munjaro, Wegoby, Ozempic — anything goes, b) for some reason you recently stopped attacking yourself and now you’re regaining the weight you lost or you’re afraid of gaining it back, or c) you’re up at night wondering if you should really give up and start attacking yourself and kick the extra weight. third space Membership cannot just be pushed. By September 2023, front row dress sizes in Paris will have been cut in half, so these conversations are pretty boring now.

But that was until this month, when a spectacular discovery turned the monotonous chatter on its head. That’s when I, someone who is naturally slim enough to refuse the jab but don’t mind the weird extra bulge on my body, took the plunge and started taking 8 Elcera ‘Natural Ozempic’ tablets a day. I was really shocked by this result.

But before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s discuss some science. Elcella was founded in 2024 by researchers Dr. Madusha Peiris and Dr. Rubina Akhtar from Queen Mary, University of London. They have developed a specially formulated capsule that, unlike other supplements, reaches the colon instead of being broken down in the stomach. The colon contains enteroendocrine cells known as L cells, which produce appetite-regulating hormones such as GLP-1 and PYY.

Because of Western diets, “our L cells are really sleepy, so we need to wake up our systems,” says Akhtar. Each Elcella pill is designed to do just that. Contains a mixture of flaxseed oil, coconut oil, and MCT oil to reboot L cells.

“What we’ve been doing in the lab, and we’ve spent over 10 years on this, is trying to find the right combination to activate these cells in a powerful way so that the maximum amount of hormones are released and they can tell the brain that they’re full,” she says. Admittedly, I thought, maybe this isn’t going to work.

Marathon, not a sprint

After Christmas, I unscrewed the first of the three tubs that make up Elcera’s Stage 1 “Awakening” process, which lasts 12 weeks. An in-house study of 51 people who took the program found a 94 percent improvement in appetite control, an average weight loss of 6 kilograms, and an average reduction in waist circumference of 7 centimeters.

I was instructed to swallow four tablets three to four hours before lunch and before dinner. It is clear and plastic-like, about the width of a biro and slightly longer than a thumb, and filled with yellow oil. The goal is to get your L cells working to naturally suppress your appetite before meals. The second phase, “maintenance,” then halves the dose for another 12 weeks, and the third phase, “maintenance,” halves the dose again, making it “life-long.”

After a week, that was over 120 pills and I was ready to flush the rest down the toilet. I didn’t notice any difference. Akhtar’s words were the only thing that kept me going: “Remember, this is not a sledgehammer approach and it’s not a magic pill. You won’t lose this much weight overnight.”

During the artificial dosage, GLP-1 jab increases over time and leaves cliffhanger issues when you miss it, Elcella builds. To use the team’s slightly unpleasant expression, it’s a “journey.”

I’m now 4 weeks into it and the results, which I started seeing after only 2 and a half weeks, have been amazing. I feel like I should actually be so hungry that my stomach is rumbling, but my head and stomach feel more disconnected than ever.

Of course I still eat it, but I used to eat pasta and curry and systematically scrape off the sides, but now I can only eat half of it. I still have enough hunger to eat in the evening – and enjoy doing so – but choose smaller portions than before. I’ve noticed an overall slimming effect, but I’m sure this is made worse by focusing on exercise and nutritious eating. Add to next list. The pants were so tight when I bought them two years ago, and last year I gave up on not being able to wear them at all, but now they fit perfectly.

I don’t like the waist, I don’t want it

“The most important thing is that[in our consumer trials]people lost several inches on their waistlines,” Akhter said. “This is really important to us because the fat that’s stored around the belly is scientifically called visceral fat. It’s a type of active fat that has negative effects on metabolic health. And men fared better than women, probably because of the nature of how we store and lose weight.”

Although they are waiting for further clinical trials to confirm the study’s findings, Akhtar anecdotally says that the first users of Elcera reported improved sleep quality, controlled energy levels, improved skin, hair and nails, and improved gut health. “We hope to have that data available by summer,” she says.

In conversations with friends, there is a lot of excitement about Elcera’s potential to be a good natural “GLP-1 exit strategy,” as Dr. Akhtar puts it. This is the route for those who are ready to put away their pens, but are worried about undoing their work.

In terms of pricing, the first 12 week program costs £535, and phase two costs half that. So, no, it’s not a steal — but compared to Maunjaro, which typically costs between £150 and £350 for a four-week supply in the UK, it’s not far off and promises to be more sustainable. “We use the same hormones as the injectables, but we allow your body to produce them naturally to optimize your own physiology,” says Akhter. Now color me biohacker.