Ozempic is one of the first-generation weight loss injectable. Of course, with the plans to create second and third generation drugs down the line. These drugs are very popular with the Hollywood celebrities, musicians and movie stars to lose weight. The most famous celebrity was Oprah to promote these drugs for weight loss.
With all the push from celebrities, there is a very big downside with taking these GLP-1 receptor drugs. For those who are not familiar with a GLP-1 receptor drug, there are drugs that mimic the effects of the hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). They lower blood sugar by simulating insulin which slows gastric emptying and reducing appetite. Example of the many GLP-1 drugs are Trulicity, Byetta, Rybelsus, Ozempic, Victoza, Adlyxin, and Saxenda. All of these brands are marketed as a treatment for type-2 diabetes but were instead promoted for their side effect of weight loss.
People who have been taking these drugs have been losing weight so fast that for most of the other people they believe that they can see the results by the loss of the musculature in face. These drugs have become so popular that they are now very difficult to get. This has caused a lot of the people to regain the weight due to a lack of available. The second problem that has occurred is that several insurance companies will not approve your use of drugs like Ozempic because these drugs were approved for the treatment of type-2 diabetes and not for weight loss. Even the studies can be confusing because the study includes a diet change or exercise which alters the outcome of the study. If this diet change consisted of a decrease change in the amount of protein, then there could be a loss of muscle since muscle consists of protein.
If the doctor prescribes the drug without the same change in diet or exercise, the result may be seriously different from the results in the study. Therefore, the results in the real world are not as good as the results from the clinical trials. Even the outcomes are good, my biggest fear is that these drugs are only prescribed because of the outcomes without looking into the reasons that got the patient there in the first place.
I keep hearing that these drugs may be the patient’s only way because other methods have not worked. Patients unable to lose weight because of the refusal to change the behaviors in eating that got them there in the first place. These patients refuse to try low carb or keto. Friends that I have spoken with tell me over and over again that the carbs, the ice cream, the chips, the breads are just so good that they are unwilling to give it up. When you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that in the old days, the doctors would rather recommend weight loss surgery as a short cut to the weight loss instead of low carb or keto diets.
Any good doctor should recommend changing the patient’s diet to surgery or a weight loss drug. There is a major concern about these drugs used for weight loss without dietary instructions or instructing them on exercise or resistance training.
What people don’t focus on is the side effects associated with these drugs. One of the big side effects are the feelings of nausea and vomiting. Some doctors who regularly prescribe these drugs will prescribe anti-nausea medication as well, because the side effect is so common. Am I the only person that sees a problem with this? Prescribing a medicine with known side-effects and then prescribing a medication to prevent the side-effects? It has gotten so bad that there are patients out there who only know how to lose weight is with the use of these medications and just tolerating the side effects. It has become so deceiving that there are other ways to lose weight without being subject to the nausea and vomiting.
Now I could probably get into the conspiracy theory about the money given to doctors to push these drugs on their patients instead of recommending healthy ways to eat and lose weight but that would be so unbelievable, right?
There is hope because there are some doctors that have realized that the patients taking GLP-1 drugs have lost muscle mass at an alarming rate. There have been claims that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t account for the muscle loss. This means that instead of focusing on the body composition, the main focus is on the weight loss, not caring where the loss came from.
In any diet, there may be muscle loss unless to pay attention to the protein and resistance training. Once again, there is no short cut to losing weight. It does take work. It takes more work when you are eating poorly, which undoes any progress you have accomplished. A lot of fitness influencers will always recommend supplements which of course, they sell. I know it is hard to disseminate the good information from the bad, but I will suggest this. Anyone telling you that you are deficient and need some type of supplement that they recommend and will sell you, maybe it’s not a good choice.
For those of you that still want the easy way, I am sure that doctors can prescribe the GLP-1 drugs with the anti-nausea medication and a medication that will prevent the loss of protein. We need to serious think about our health and make the right choices.
