Why Midlife Weight Gain and Cravings Happen

Kasper: my angle to metabolic health is that it's not the individual's fault. It's not a lack of willpower, it's not a lack of knowledge. the system that's the problem. But it also means it's very difficult for the individual to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Natalie Tysdal (00:17)

Hi everyone, I'm Natalie Tysdal I'm really glad you're here for the podcast today. I've spent almost three decades, actually, yep, three full decades, as a journalist asking questions about health, science, and what it means to age well. I make this show.

For women who want the facts, not the quick fix promises, and who trust their own common sense. My guest today spent years working inside of the biggest food companies in the world. He has seen how our modern meals are made and how food is stripped of fiber, pumped full of quick energy, and designed to be nearly irresistible. He says this is exactly why even women who eat normally in midlife.

Can find themselves gaining weight and feeling more tired and wondering what changed? What am I doing wrong? Today we're taking a close look at why our bodies start to resist healthy habits in midlife and what really drives cravings, hunger, and that stubborn weight we are trying to get rid of. If you have ever felt like you just don't have the bandwidth to overhaul your life, and I'm one of those.

You're not alone. We're gonna talk about practical, realistic steps that fit into real life, not a fantasy of homegrown meals and hours at the gym that we all wish that we had. My guest is Casper Wixen. After 15 years at food giants like Kraft and Heinz, he saw the disconnect between food designed to sell and food really designed for our health. He leads a Swedish company now focused on metabolic health.

Developing small tools intended to help slow down those blood sugar spikes and bring meals closer to what our bodies are built for without drastic change. If today's conversation is helpful, I would love for you to subscribe, to rate the show. That gives more people the opportunity to see it in the crazy algorithm out there. New episodes are going appear in your phone or wherever you listen to podcasts each week when you subscribe.

And you can find more resources and join my newsletter at Natalie Tysdal. That's Natalie T Y S D A L dot com. And I am always sharing updates as much as I can anyway on social media. I'm most active on Instagram and you'll find me at NTisdole. I'm so glad you're here today. Let's get started with the conversation.

Natalie Tysdal (02:46)

Casper, it's so nice to have you on the podcast, even though our time zones are very different.

Kasper Wickzén (02:52)

Thank you for having me and a pleasure to be here.

Natalie Tysdal (02:55)

I know you're in Stockholm. Give me a little bit of your background and how you ended up doing what you're doing today.

Kasper Wickzén (03:02)

So I actually didn't decide on ending on what I did. I spent 15 years within the food industry. So I've been with big companies like Kraft Heinz, Danone. So a lot of the big players in food. I spent 15 years really getting how the food industry works, what modern meals are and what really makes the human brain tick in terms of taste and food and what we like. But then I realized that

Food is not really designed for health and it's not really designed to make us healthier. It's designed to taste good and be very convenient and be always available. And then I found this little Swedish company, which is not so small anymore, called SIGRID, which is striving to improve people's metabolic health and to give them unique tools that they can actually do that without having to make drastic lifestyle changes.

What I am is a 40 year old Danish guy living in Sweden, driving this company. And we are in the US and we have the US as our primary markets. And so we've been selling since three years back in the US.

Natalie Tysdal (04:14)

Okay, so I wanna dig in to your past a little bit more and then I wanna hear more about what you're doing and how you're helping. But working for a food company, Kraft Heinz, some of these, were you health conscious then? Or was it all about just the corporate lifestyle and making things taste good and selling food?

Kasper Wickzén (04:33)

honest I'm very competitive so when you're in that environment it's of course about how do you sell the most, how do you optimize the product to be as compelling as possible, to be as tasty as possible, to be as convenient as possible. So no I wasn't really thinking about the implications and I think it's maybe also too much to demand that the food companies are thinking because they are driven by selling products right.

But it's just if everybody's thinking like that, you end up with a food environment which is not healthy. But I started to reflect on it when my dad became sick with diabetes. Because I didn't see him living very unhealthy. At least he was living like anybody else. He was eating the same kind of food, but he got sick with diabetes. So that made me reflect and also understand.

that what we eat and maybe also what we think is healthy is maybe not so healthy at all. And the system is not really set up to make us healthy. It's very difficult to eat healthy food in the food environment that we are in today.

Natalie Tysdal (05:43)

In in America, and I imagine it's a little bit different in Sweden, you'll to tell me if it is. But at least in America, we feel like, well, everyone else is doing it, so I should eat like everyone else. I should go to the grocery store, like it's part of our everyday life. But from the inside of the big food companies, what are some of those things that are so unhealthy? The colorings, the additives, the preservatives, that give me an idea of of what it means to sell more and make it more appealing.

Kasper Wickzén (06:13)

So I think most people know what you said is unhealthy, but I think people don't realize that one of the big reasons why we get metabolic illnesses is because we eat food that are very rich in energy, an energy that is quickly available for the system. So when people talk about, for instance, sugars and so on, they think white sugar.

But the fact is that most foods we eat are very low in fiber. So when you take carbohydrates, for instance, in bread, in pasta, in pizza, in potatoes even, they are very available. So you have taken the fibers out of food and then makes it very sweet and very tasty. But it also means that energy is very available. And when you get very quick energy over a long period of time, that stresses your system, that creates high spikes in blood sugar.

increases inflammation, essentially that energy is stored as fat because that's how we store energy in the body. So I think people, don't realize that when they have a sandwich, for instance, that that is very quick energy and that is not really designed for how our bodies process energy and that is making us sick. That is just an example, but it's, I think it's what people see as ordinary food.

that is actually very low in fiber, very rich in energy. Yes, exactly.

Natalie Tysdal (07:36)

It's common food. But is it the sandwich?

You use that as an example, or is it the way the bread is made?

Kasper Wickzén (07:44)

It's the way the flour is made, right? So today, if we take bread as an example, most bread is based on white flour. So it's very processed. If you have the grain, that contains a lot of fiber. But what we do is that we strip away all of the fibers in that grain. So you only have the soft core left, which is just free energy. So if you would eat the whole grain, then it would be healthy for you.

But if you went with white flour, that's just a pure energy. So the availability of the energy is very high in the foods that we eat. And that's just an example. We do that with almost any food. We process it so that it's tasty, but it also means that the fibers are gone.

Natalie Tysdal (08:32)

Well, the bread is one thing, but l I mean we could we could spend a lot of time talking about the meat and how that's processed and and all of that. So we're talking about a lot of things that change and the food companies and most of the food that we go to the grocery store, if it's in a box, if it's in a can, those are some of the things and the the what's added would be what, salt, other preservatives and sweeteners?

Kasper Wickzén (09:00)

Yeah, so that's also another thing. It's of course easier and cheaper to make things taste good by adding artificial things to it. So of course it's both. You strip it from fibers because that makes it tasty and then you add additional flavorings to it to make it taste even more. And that creates two problems. Of course it's unhealthy to eat, but it also tunes our palate to that.

So people become used to that things should taste like that. It's very difficult when they then taste the real thing to go back to it. So we've kind of been tuned into that food should taste like the modern food that everybody else is eating, even though our bodies were not really designed for it. Our bodies were designed to eat whole foods, not processed foods.

Natalie Tysdal (09:55)

Whole Foods and Natural Foods. So so you left this industry that you became very successful and and spent a lot of time in. And what is your goal now and w how are y how are you helping people and what do you think people need to do to be different from everything that you worked in for so long?

Kasper Wickzén (10:15)

So I think my angle to metabolic health is that it's not the individual's fault. It's not a lack of willpower, it's not a lack of knowledge. I think it's the system that's the problem. But it also means it's very difficult for the individual to make healthy lifestyle choices. So what's really driving me now is giving people help, additional tools that will actually make their lives healthier without

making drastic changes that are maybe difficult to sustain. So I think I'm a realist. So in the perfect world, everybody would be eating whole foods, a lot of plants, exercising every day. But the reality is that, yeah, But the reality is that life comes in the way, right? So, and

Natalie Tysdal (10:57)

We'd have our own gardens and we would we we we we would do it all, but that's not very practical. Right, right.

Kasper Wickzén (11:05)

you have a family and a job. And if we're talking woman 45 to 55 years old.

That's where everything is happening right now. having the bandwidth to also take on lifestyle changes in a structural way is very difficult. So what's really driving me is helping people where they are and giving them tools to do that. And that is essentially what the company that I'm engaged with now, Secret, is doing. So we have a specific tool that can actually help make meals healthier for you without changing them.

and that we're rolling out now.

Natalie Tysdal (11:44)

So what is what is the issue? It's the metabolic issue. I know that that's kind of the core. Explain what you do and what it is you see people need to help balance this problem that we have.

Kasper Wickzén (11:58)

I it's essentially like I talked about, people get too much fast energy. That's the core of it. The reason is the food system, but the core is that what we eat is too fast energy and that's making us sick. So what we have developed is a technology called Cypol, which you consume either as a capsule with your meal or as a liquid. And that technology can turn down the digestion speed of carbohydrates and fats.

So instead of having the energy that you eat translate directly into energy in the blood, we slow it down so it flows more gradually into the bloodstream. And what that does is that it reduces the blood sugar spikes that you get following a meal. So with the same meal, we can make that meal metabolically healthier for you. And you will also get energy over a longer period of time. So energy is not coming all at once. It's coming over hours, like our body was used to.

And that means that you feel more satiated, you feel fuller for longer. You don't, if you have our product for lunch, you don't get that 3pm afternoon dip that people are talking about. And when they start craving sugary things and grab for stuff, which is essentially an effect of getting energy very fast and then that energy disappearing out of the system or being stored. So that we are now.

rolling out to people. But essentially what we want to do is say an additional helping hand in their life so that they get a positive spiral going. So when they start using the product already from the first meal, they get this experience and that gives them additional energy and bandwidth to also look at other aspects of their life and improve. So we really want to be that metabolic health ignition for people. So kind of

being where they are, docking into their existing lives and helping them be slightly healthier in what they're doing.

Natalie Tysdal (14:00)

What is what is this product made of? Is it a natural substance and and how long does it take to take effect? I I'm I'm curious because we hear so much, I just did another interview.

it was metabolic health as well, and it's about more fiber slowing down your digestive system. And

Kasper Wickzén (14:15)

Yeah. Yes.

Natalie Tysdal (14:18)

I mean metabolic health is like the thing, which is also the hot issue of GLPs and slowing down the digestive system. So I know that's a loaded question with a with a lot of things. but what is the product made of?

Kasper Wickzén (14:34)

The product itself, it's difficult to get your head around, but when you do, it's also very simple how it works. the product is made of silicon dioxide, which is a natural mineral. It's the most abundant mineral on earth. What we have done, and it exists in foods today, so you'll find it in broccoli and spinach and so on.

Natalie Tysdal (14:55)

Which not everyone likes

to eat, my husband and son being the number one. I try so hard to get them to eat broccoli.

Kasper Wickzén (15:01)

Very good in fiber though. A lot

of fiber.

Natalie Tysdal (15:06)

Yeah. Well they they say the whole house smells if I make broccoli. And I love broccoli.

Kasper Wickzén (15:10)

yeah, yeah, me too. I ate it raw, but that's another thing.

Natalie Tysdal (15:13)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (15:15)

But what it is, so we've taken this mineral and then we have engineered it, the surface of it to give it porosity. And we have patented a structure where we can control the pore sizes in these minerals. And these pore sizes, they're exactly the same size as your digestive enzymes in your gut. The one's called amylase and lipase. So you have two enzymes.

that break down carbohydrates and fats, amylase and lipase. So these you can see as kind of the scissors in your digestive system. So when you eat carbohydrates, for the body to use the energy of that, they need to be broken down into smaller pieces and then they'll transfer into the bloodstream and you can use the energy. What we can do is that with our particles, we can entrap a portion of these digestive enzymes in your gut. So amylase and lipase.

which means that there are less around to break your food down. We don't block, we don't stop, but we slow down the breakdown of carbohydrates and fats. So it's not really digestion we slow down, it's the breakdown, which means that

Natalie Tysdal (16:23)

Hmm. Okay.

Kasper Wickzén (16:25)

nutrients become available at a slower and more gradual speed. And this is happening locally in the gut. And because we are a natural mineral, the body is used to that mineral, and then it passes through the digestive system.

We have a very, very gentle side effect profile. People don't really see any side effects with us. The only thing you need to remember is to drink a glass of water to your meal because we bind a little bit of water. But essentially we slow the breakdown of carbohydrates and fats. We don't address proteins, which is the enzyme that break down protein. So people have full uptake of protein. And then of course the effect of slowing down.

breakdown of carbohydrates and fats is that you get energy over a longer period of time but we also reduce the amount of calories that are taken up from the carbohydrates and fats that you eat. So

Natalie Tysdal (17:18)

So

Kasper Wickzén (17:18)

over time that translates into better blood sugar management but also weight benefits of using the product.

Natalie Tysdal (17:20)

Yeah. So who is the

who who is the the clientele? Is it anyone? Is someone trying to lose weight? Diabetics? Who are you targeting with the company?

Kasper Wickzén (17:34)

So we have different strengths of the product. We have a medical food, which is called Carbfen, so that's a high dose product. That is targeted pre-diabetics, diabetics, overweight and obese people. We have a lot of people that have been on GLP-1s also, that is titrating off GLP-1s to our product and using that as a way to mitigate all of the appetite coming back when you stop a GLP-1 treatment.

all of the food noise coming back because essentially what you get with our product is increased satiety, increased fullness, less cravings in between meals, which is what people struggle with. And then we have a lower dose of the product, which is in capsules called glucose stabilizer. And that is intended for everyone that is eating a modern diet essentially, because then we take that diet and we make it more in tune to how your body is designed to process energy.

Natalie Tysdal (18:29)

Wow. It it sounds like a perfect mix. especially because we're hearing I just did another episode on GLPs and the great success people are having, but then the fear they have when they realize I'm trying to titrate off and I'm gaining weight every week. So yeah, there there's a lot out there that it sounds like you're able to to help.

Kasper Wickzén (18:53)

That would be the two segments we have. would either be people coming off, GLP-1, that would be number two. The biggest segment we have is actually women that are going through menopause, where they feel that a lot is going on in their lives, their bodies don't behave in the same way as it did before. A lot of people say, I do the same, I eat the same, I exercise as much, but then I've started to put on weight and I don't understand it. And they don't have the bandwidth.

to completely change their lives. They also have a family to adhere to and they cook food for their kids and they don't want to eat a different meal. They buy our products as that additional tool in the toolbox to

Natalie Tysdal (19:33)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (19:34)

make that meal healthier for them and to regain control essentially of what impact their diet has on their health. That's the absolute biggest group that we are selling to and I call a customer every week.

talk to and I hear all of these live stories from from women that is they're frustrated because they don't feel they get help they feel like the system is not helping them they don't feel like they're obese and should be taking a pharmaceutical they don't really know how to adapt the diet and this is a nice balanced way of of actually helping

Natalie Tysdal (20:13)

Yeah, yeah. I I wanna talk a little bit more about that because paramenopause and menopause is so misunderstood. And for a lot of women, they don't know that that's what they're going through. Yeah, they they may be in their thirties and things are changing and then they get to their forties and it's not diagnosed, it's not really talked about, but it's such a s it can be such a slow, not always, such a slow process. If they're taking something like this

Can they eat normally like they always have, or is there a recommendation that you do make some changes or do you just naturally want to make those changes because you feel different?

Kasper Wickzén (20:55)

So think with everything, if you live unhealthy and then you treat and you stop, then you go back to a bad trajectory.

Natalie Tysdal (21:02)

Yeah. Right.

Kasper Wickzén (21:04)

Unfortunately, that's how it is.

Natalie Tysdal (21:06)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (21:06)

But of course, if you do take a product like this, you will be healthier. So you will not progress as fast into a diseased state. But essentially what we want people to do is use this as a tool to also start making other healthy choices in their lives. And that's what we see.

also with people. People get a lot of quick wins. This works from the first meal that they use it to. A lot of people within the first month will see weight loss also. So they get confidence and they get more bandwidth to also do other lifestyle choices that is good for them. So I don't think any treatment should stand alone. I think you need to have a holistic view on your health.

Tools can be used as an additional ignition, I think, to help people. But I don't think anyone should be on a treatment for life. That's not how it's meant to be. They should

Natalie Tysdal (22:02)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (22:02)

help people in the right direction.

Natalie Tysdal (22:05)

Yeah, what are some of the other things that that you would suggest? I know this is a tool, but if you're adding other things to your to your toolbox of overall health, feeling better, dropping a few pounds, what would those suggestions be from you?

Kasper Wickzén (22:20)

I think if you talk food, fiber is very underrated. Fiber is something that we've depleted our food off, but it's not so difficult to implement. Fiber is not like most people when you say fiber, they think like cereals and so on. But essentially fiber is what's in plants. So increasing plant intake in your diet will have a dramatic effect.

both on your metabolic health, but also on your digestive system, your bowel movements, toilet habits, all of that will improve if you increase your fiber intake. You need to do it gradually. So your body is adapting to increased fibers because you need your good microbiome and good bacterias to grow in a speed so they can actually handle it. But that will help you a lot. And then of course, movement is very important.

What people don't, I think people know that it's important to do strength exercise and to keep and have muscle mass. But I don't think everybody's connecting muscle to metabolic health. And actually one of the key energy uses in our system is our muscle and a key driver of our metabolism is our muscle mass. So if you lose a lot of muscle mass, then you also deteriorate your metabolism.

So keeping active, doing movement, doing strength exercise is very important also for how your metabolism is working. What we see it, if we talk to GLP once is almost impossible not to. So one of the issues of that is of course that people, they go into a starvation mode and then they lose often a lot of muscle mass and they don't do strength exercise to defend that muscle mass. And then they come out.

of a treatment with maybe a weight loss, but a worse ratio and body fat versus body muscle mass, which actually has put them in a worse metabolic state, even though they may be thinner. Yeah.

Natalie Tysdal (24:29)

Yeah, and less energy right, less energy. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kasper Wickzén (24:32)

So that body's resting state is using less energy, which is a lower metabolic level. defending your muscle mass is really important from also metabolic point of view. It's not just about

It's not just about avoiding fall injuries or looking good. It's also really important for how your body is working.

Natalie Tysdal (24:54)

And that doesn't mean the gym four or five times a week and big heavy weights. I mean it they're th I think that's what people often think is I don't have time to go to the gym and I don't wanna be big and muscular and it's not really about that.

Kasper Wickzén (25:08)

No, it's about being strong in your body. I do movement at home. I think if you can do 15 minutes a day, you come a long way. Also, when you're active, timing the activities is really important. So if you think of it as a meal is an injection of energy and that energy needs to go somewhere. So it either fills up your liver and your fat cells or it goes out into your muscles.

So if you add movement following a meal, you use a lot of the energy that you are taking. So that's very good for you because then you avoid it being stored in your fat cells. So when

Natalie Tysdal (25:47)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (25:48)

you move, it's also really important for how you use the energy that you're getting into your system. So walking,

Natalie Tysdal (25:54)

Yeah, I had it.

Kasper Wickzén (25:55)

taking a five minute walk doesn't have to be more after you eat. Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Natalie Tysdal (25:57)

after you eat. And it signals your brain to do something with that. just that simple walk instead of eat and then go sit. Yeah.

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (26:07)

So small

things that you can implement in your life.

Natalie Tysdal (26:11)

Yeah. so with with the product that you have, is there ever a scenario where it is used with GLPs? Because a lot of people are finding success with the GLP or does it need to be one or the other?

Kasper Wickzén (26:26)

No it is. So we have a whole GLP-1 companion protocol written out. we sell in two channels. We both sell directly to consumers, but we also sell through practitioners. So we also listed on full script. And in that companion program, we tailor both to patients that are on the GLP-1s, to patients that are tight trading off, so lowering the dose, and to people that have come off and want to maintain an achieved weight loss.

Most people that use it while they're on GLP-1, they use it to dose down a little bit. So especially if they have very serious side effects with the GLP-1 treatment, this is an additional tool that they can use. It's a completely different mode of action. We work locally in the gut. It's a mechanical mode of action. Whereas the GLP-1s, they are essentially triggering an appetite hormone in your system or suppressing an appetite hormone.

So there is no interaction between the two. So we have people that use it in conjunction with the GLP-1 treatment. And of course it's two different things. So to simplify it, a GLP-1 is making you eat less, reducing your appetite. And what we're doing is making what you eat better for your body. So reducing the impact of the meal that you do eat. And what we also see with GLP-1 patients is that people will eat less.

but they will still eat the same stuff that they eat before.

Natalie Tysdal (27:57)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kasper Wickzén (27:59)

So just reduce the amount that they eat. And that doesn't make it metabolically good. So still the same modern food that they're eating is not rich in fiber. It's not like they changed the diet. They just reduced the amount. So you would still metabolically benefit from taking our product to improve how fast that energy is moving into your system.

Natalie Tysdal (28:23)

One of the things I emphasize the most with my listeners and those watching is understanding why you're taking something. And not just doing it because, hey, it worked, but really educating yourself and understanding so that then when you see the difference and you can make the modifications and that's really an important part of our overall health.

Kasper Wickzén (28:45)

I agree and I don't think that everybody knows how GLP wants work. I

Natalie Tysdal (28:49)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (28:50)

don't think they understand that the tactic it uses is starvation. I think if people told them now you're gonna go on this drug and you're gonna starve for half a year, we're gonna make you starve. And then I think people would then understand what implications it would have. Because if you're in starvation, the body starts eating itself and what it can eat is of course both the fat and the muscle.

You need to have really good strategies around that when you

Natalie Tysdal (29:17)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (29:18)

go on something. You shouldn't just start without having good guidance. And I think that's probably the biggest issue that we have with GLP-1s. Because I think they're a great tool. I think they can help a lot of people, but they need to be used in the right way. then they need, people also need to have a strategy for when to stop with them. Yes.

Natalie Tysdal (29:37)

Yeah. And how to stop, which I I love what you're doing in

in in helping people be able to stop and then understand what you're eating, what you're buying at the grocery store, what you're feeding your family, like just understanding all of that and being healthier. I mean that that really living longer, feeling better, all of that is really for most people that's the big goal.

Kasper Wickzén (30:00)

No, exactly, exactly. And to reach that goal, you shouldn't go your dieting like some people do with the GLP ones. Go on and off. You

Natalie Tysdal (30:10)

Yeah.

Kasper Wickzén (30:10)

should use them to come to a better state and then find tools that can maintain what you have achieved. Then you will put yourself up for a longer, happier, healthier life.

Natalie Tysdal (30:22)

Absolutely. Well, I am gonna get a link from you, but if you if you have an easy one you wanna tell people about to find your product, that would be great.

Kasper Wickzén (30:32)

The easiest way to find us is to go to Secret Life. So Secret, like the female name, is actually with taking the name because it's a Swedish Viking name and it means beautiful victory. So that's what we aspire to, that we can help people get a metabolically healthier victory in their life. So the domain is called secretlife.com. And here anybody that are inside the US can buy our products.

You can also go to your practitioner and ask for it. It's on Fullscript and they can get it for you.

Natalie Tysdal (31:05)

Well I'll get the link from you for anyone who didn't write it down. I'll put it in the show notes. And I just appreciate you educating us today, helping us understand and best of luck with a company. I love how you've taken your knowledge and your experience with some of those other big food companies and turned it into something good to help people.

Kasper Wickzén (31:24)

Thank you. It's been a pleasure being here.