Ozempic customers have been proudly sharing their weight reduction journey with the drug on social media. However a physician has warned that almost all of their misplaced weight accounts for muscle mass.
Dr. Peter Attia, a Canadian-American doctor who based Early Medical, not too long ago talked about Semaglutide — the load loss drug marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy — on his podcast “The Drive.”
The drug debuted available on the market as a diabetes remedy however finally took the world by storm as a assured answer for weight reduction. Within the episode, Attia walked by the information and mentioned the effectiveness and unintended effects of the drug.
“Maybe extra disturbing to me is the people who find themselves reaching out to me who’re frankly not chubby remotely however are saying ‘I actually wish to lose 10 kilos to look good on my trip, I must be taking this, proper?’” he mentioned within the episode, as quoted by Insider.
Attia acknowledged that his sufferers who used Semaglutide did shed weight. Nevertheless, he additionally warned that not all of it was physique fats. For him, the ratio of muscle to fats is a extra useful means of measuring weight reduction outcomes and never simply the entire kilos misplaced.
“They’ve misplaced muscle mass at a fee that alarms me,” he mentioned earlier than noting that solely those that have already tried different weight reduction methods with out remedy are really helpful to make use of the drug. It is usually necessary for them to eat sufficient protein and train to protect muscle, in line with him.
“In the end, it’s not your weight that issues, it’s your physique composition and your well being,” Attia mentioned, reminding everybody that measuring muscle mass is healthier than simply monitoring the quantity on the size.
Final week, plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Su addressed the robust demand for Ozempic, Wegovy and related medicine among the many weight reduction group that led to shortages.
“The drug was by no means meant to be for people who find themselves close to their superb weight. It’s not even authorized by the FDA for informal weight reduction,” the proprietor of Creative LipoSculpting Middle advised Us Weekly.
“There are precise stipulations that sufferers want to satisfy to qualify for Wegovy as a weight reduction remedy [including] their BMI requirement [and] they should be over 30. So for informal weight reduction, it’s not authorized and could be thought-about an off-label use,” he added.
