Medical Weight Loss in Atlanta, GA
What is Medical Weight Loss?
At Wellspring MD, we offer medical weight loss care that integrates primary care, functional medicine, and nutritional therapy. We deliver a range of solutions, from GLP-1s to science-based lifestyle modifications, such as individualized diet and exercise recommendations. We take into account biochemical individuality: the concept that each person’s unique health profile and lifestyle affect how their body burns energy, stores fat, and reacts to changes in their health and environment. Rather than simply helping you lower a number on a scale, we want to optimize your health by improving your overall body composition: helping you build muscle, lose fat, maintain healthy glucose and insulin levels, and reduce your overall risk of chronic disease.
Many clinics offer weight loss solutions, but we believe that our model offers something unique. If you’ve ever been told to “just eat less,” “just cut carbs,” “cut out sugar,” or “exercise more,” you know that traditional medicine does not always provide individualized, sustainable solutions. We treat weight management as a medical issue, but we don’t just send you away with a generalized prescription. We apply the principles of traditional medicine, functional medicine, longevity medicine, and nutritional therapy to our comprehensive weight loss care.
Dr. Jason Bailey has nearly 30 years as a hospitalist and primary care practitioner and has specialized training in personalized, functional medicine. This, combined with his personal interest in longevity medicine, has led him to develop Wellspring MD’s unique healthcare model. Dr. Ranya Bailey, a nutritional therapy practitioner, offers patients nutritional therapy. She focuses on providing data-informed, customized strategies that make weight management and being proactive about your health accessible, understandable, and enjoyable. As a concierge clinic, we have the time to investigate your overall health. This allows us to assess your biochemical individuality and tailor our solutions to your lifestyle, health profile, and preferences.
We consider weight management a significant part of holistic, personalized healthcare. The biochemical processes that happen in the body when you gain weight significantly raise your risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, some cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases. By helping patients lose fat and build muscle, we help them improve their daily and long-term health. As a primary care clinic that integrates functional medicine and longevity medicine, we help our patients manage their weight to improve both their day-to-day energy and strength and their long-term health outlook. Our solutions include continuous glucose monitoring, nutritional therapy, and personalized lifestyle recommendations, as well as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, GLP-1s, and supplements, which we prescribe based on your lab results.
Medical Factors That Make Weight Loss Difficult
Many people try to lose weight by adopting a strict diet or counting calories. While this may be effective for some, weight management is much more complex than calories consumed and calories burned, and this is actually good news! If you’re struggling to lose weight, it may be because other factors, such as insulin resistance or hormonal imbalances, are preventing your body from burning fat and building muscle. These factors may include:
- Chronic inflammation
- Chronic stress
- Chronic yeast infections
- Depression
- Exposure to toxins
- Food allergies or sensitivities
- Hormone imbalances, including low estrogen, low testosterone, or high cortisol
- Hypothyroidism
- Insufficient water intake
- Insulin resistance
- Lack of fiber
- Nutritional deficiencies
- PCOS
- Perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause
- PMS
- Poor sleep quality and/or duration
Who is Medical Weight Loss For?
Some people are hesitant to talk to their doctor about weight loss, but we want to help care for every aspect of your health. Rather than wait until you begin to have chronic symptoms, get in touch with us about how we can help you improve your body composition and overall health. Medical weight loss might be for you if you relate to any of the following statements:
- You used to be able to build muscle and lose weight, but you are struggling to maintain your fitness and weight.
- You have tried cutting calories, dieting, or exercising more, and you aren’t seeing any changes.
- You have a family history of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, and want to reduce your risk by assessing and managing your body composition.
- You are experiencing PMS, PCOS, perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause and want to know if one of these conditions is causing you to gain weight.
- You are experiencing symptoms of chronic inflammation, including weight gain, persistent fatigue, joint pain, headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, depression, anxiety, or brain fog.
- You have a medical history of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or diabetes, and want to reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes or reverse Type 2 diabetes.
- You are experiencing symptoms of imbalanced hormones, including chronic fatigue, increased body fat around the abdomen, changes to sleep patterns, mood swings, or changes in your hair and skin.
- You have symptoms of food allergies or sensitivities, including gastrointestinal discomfort, skin complaints, or unexplained weight gain.
- You are experiencing symptoms of hypothyroidism, including fatigue, weight gain, cold sensitivities, and constipation.
- You are ready to improve your nutritional health, strength, energy, sleep, and body composition, but you are not sure where to start.
Now Accepting Patients in Atlanta
We are now accepting a limited number of patients. Reserve your spot today!
Functional Medicine Testing for Weight Loss
We offer in-depth testing to determine why you may be struggling with your weight. Weight loss is a multi-faceted endeavour, and before we recommend supplements, medications, or lifestyle changes, we want to make sure that we fully understand your health profile, so we test the following areas of your health:
- Hormone: We test your adrenal, sex, and thyroid hormones to identify whether hormonal imbalances, such as low estrogen, high cortisol, or low testosterone, are contributing to weight gain.
- Nutrition: We test for nutritional or micronutrient deficiencies to determine whether your diet is a factor in your weight management.
- Gut health: Gut health is often affected by food sensitivities, IBD, IBS, or chronic inflammation. Assessing and restoring your gut health ensures that your body is processing nutrients properly and reduces the gateway to inflammation.
- Allergens: Allergies and food sensitivities may contribute to cravings and weight gain; by testing to determine your body’s unique sensitivities, we make weight management simpler.
- Toxins: Exposure to toxins can be a factor in prolonged inflammation and weight gain; we test for past and ongoing exposures to get to the root cause of your symptoms.
Our Functional Medicine Weight Loss Solutions
Some people are hesitant to talk to their doctor about weight loss, but we want to help care for every aspect of your health. Rather than wait until you begin to have chronic symptoms, get in touch with us about how we can help you improve your body composition and overall health. Medical weight loss might be for you if you relate to any of the following statements:
- Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy
- Body composition testing to determine bone density, fat percentage, and muscle percentage
- Continuous glucose monitoring
- Improving resting metabolic rate and VO2 max through personalized exercise testing and programming
- Prescribing GLP-1s in multiple forms with personalized dosing
- Prescribing pharmaceutical-grade supplements to address nutritional deficiencies
- Reducing inflammation through a nutrient-dense diet, nutritional therapy, sleep hygiene, optimizing your GI health, and BHRT
- Removing environmental toxins
- Restoring gut health to increase GLP1 levels in your body naturally
- Stress management strategies
- Treating chronic infections
Many people feel that physical fitness is out of reach, but this does not have to be the case. With the right testing and strategies, weight gain can be reversed, and your body composition can be improved. Weight loss can also significantly reduce your risk of chronic diseases. By reducing inflammation and insulin resistance, you can prevent your body from developing the conditions that lead to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and cardiovascular disease.
GLP-1s for Weight Loss
GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists; these drugs were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes. They mimic GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone created in the gut. This hormone is a part of the process by which the body metabolizes glucose. It also slows the emptying of your stomach and creates the feeling of being full. Taking GLP-1s lowers A1c, improves glycemic control, reduces the risk of insulin resistance and high blood sugar, reduces cravings, improves blood pressure, promotes weight loss, and potentially reduces inflammation. It also helps prevent dementia and fatty liver disease.
The GLP1 brands we can prescribe include the following:
- Ozempic
- Monjaro
- Trulicity
- Wegovy
- Zepbound
If you do not have insurance or do not qualify for insurance coverage for these medications, we also work with an accredited compounding pharmacy that can provide these medications at a significantly reduced cost. This is also a good option for anyone looking to microdose, take GLP-1s in a form other than injections, or receive a personally tailored dosage.
GLP-1s are an effective way to manage diabetes or elevated BMIs. However, they do have some potential risks, including pancreatitis, gallbladder issues, thyroid tumors, and the physical changes that come with losing weight rapidly. They often cause people to lose muscle, which can negatively affect their metabolism. GLP1s are designed to be taken for long periods of time. If you stop taking a GLP-1, the positive changes you’ve experienced may be reversed. At Wellspring MD, we are happy to prescribe GLP-1s to diabetic patients or to patients who feel it is the most effective way to manage their weight. However, we also recommend BHRT, functional lab testing, continuous glucose monitoring, body composition testing, VO2 max testing, and nutritional therapy. For many people, these strategies improve their overall health, providing many of the same effects as GLP-1s. When the systems in your body are balanced, your body naturally produces GLP-1, helping manage glycemic control, giving you the feeling of being full after you eat, and reducing cravings for carbs, salt, and sugar. We provide you with all the options you need to manage your weight and body composition, and we will support you by implementing whatever strategies are most effective for your body.
Join Wellspring MD for Medical Weight Loss, Functional Medicine, and Primary Care in Atlanta, GA
When you become a member of Wellspring MD, you receive care for all the health conditions and medical risks you are experiencing, including weight management. Our unique model allows patients to work on their health with their primary care provider and nutritionist, all in one clinic. As your primary care provider, we are invested in not only changes to numbers on a scale, but your overall, long-term health. Weight management is not purely a cosmetic issue: weight gain can have serious health consequences, particularly as we age. By providing in-depth functional testing, medical weight loss, and nutritional therapy, we help you take control of your health in safe, sustainable ways.
FAQs
How do I qualify for GLP-1s?
You may be able to qualify for certain GLP-1s (Ozempic, Monjaro) if you have Type 2 diabetes. You may qualify for other GLP-1s (Wegovy, Zepbound) if you have a BMI greater than or equal to 30, or a BMI greater than or equal to 27, and one weight-related condition, such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, insulin resistance, or prediabetes. You can still use these medications if you do not meet one of these conditions, but you may have to pay out of pocket. We partner with an accredited compounding pharmacy that offers GLP-1s at a lower cost than commercial pharmacies.
How long does it take for GLP-1s to work?
GLP-1s generally help improve glycemic control within a few days or a few weeks. Patients often notice appetite suppression or mild weight loss within 2-4 weeks. If you are taking a GLP-1 for weight loss, it may take 3-6 months for you to experience the maximum effect.
Are GLP-1s safe?
GLP-1s are generally safe when they are prescribed by a healthcare professional. Side effects often include gastrointestinal symptoms that vary from person to person. GLP-1s may increase the risk of pancreatitis and gallbladder conditions as well as thyroid tumors, and they should be avoided by people with certain preexisting conditions.
How do I boost GLP-1 naturally?
You can boost your body’s natural production of GLP-1 by improving your exercise routine and sleep quality, lowering stress, improving gut health, and eating a diet rich in fibre, healthy fats, and protein. We offer detailed gut health testing and nutritional therapy to help patients improve their overall health, including gut health and GLP-1 production.
How do GLP-1s work?
GLP-1s work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone your body naturally produces. This triggers your body to produce more insulin when your blood sugar is high, and slows gastric emptying, reducing your appetite, and helping regulate your blood sugar. While they were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, they are also effective for promoting weight loss.
How much do GLP-1s cost?
The cost of GLP-1s depends on the brand and dose of medication you require and whether it is covered by your insurance. If your prescription is not covered by insurance, we work with an accredited compounding pharmacy that provides GLP-1s at a cheaper cost than commercial pharmacies.
Can a functional medicine doctor help me lose weight?
Yes, as a primary care physician and functional medicine doctor, Dr. Jason Bailey can help you lose weight by prescribing GLP-1s, ordering lab tests to identify the factors that may be making weight management difficult, prescribing bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to address hormone imbalances, continuous glucose monitoring, body composition testing, and personalized lifestyle modifications.
How much does medical weight loss cost?
The cost of medical weight loss varies widely depending on your clinic or healthcare provider. We charge our members an annual fee that includes primary care, functional medicine, longevity medicine, nutritional therapy, and weight management. You may need to pay out of pocket for additional lab testing or medications if you do not have insurance, or your insurance does not cover them. Book a discovery call today to learn more about the concierge services we offer our members.