Nutrition in the News: Ozempic

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of the newest weight loss trend Ozempic. What is this drug and why is everyone trying to get their hands on it, especially celebrities? I want to put out a disclaimer that this article is mainly pointing out the misuse of the drug and not attacking anyone who uses it for its intended medical purpose. This drug can be extremely helpful for people who need it, type-2 diabetics, but many people (not diabetics) are trying to get there hands on it for rapid and easy weight loss.

What is Ozempic?

Ozempic or semaglutide (it's generic name) is a weekly injection of medicine for people with type-2 diabetes, the kind caused by insulin resistance, to lower blood sugar. The drug also claims to lower risk of cardiovascular disease which is linked with stroke, heart attack and death. The intended use of Ozempic is for blood sugar management, NOT weight loss but that is the side effect most people are looking for.

How Does the Drug Work?

Here's where I'm going to get a little science-y, let's talk about the mechanism of action with this drug. Every person needs to maintain a healthy blood sugar range, not too high and not too low and this is regulated through hormones in the body. Hormones send signals from one area of the body to another telling it what to do like when you send a text or email! Hormones are like when your mom texts you telling you to take the chicken out of the freezer.

So there are two hormones involved in blood sugar maintenance, insulin, which many of us have heard of, and glucagon, the forgotten sister. These hormones do the opposite of each other, insulin lowers blood sugar and glucagon raises it. In periods of not eating (about 4-6 hours) your blood sugar can go down, so the body sends a "text" using glucagon to the liver saying "we need to raise our blood sugar!". Then the liver releases the glucose (sugar) it has stored for this very occasion. Now the opposite reaction happens after you eat a meal. After you eat, your blood sugar rises too high so a different text is sent. This text is sent to the pancreas saying "we need to lower blood sugar!" to which then insulin is released and fixes the problem.

People with type-2 diabetes have trouble releasing insulin which causes high blood sugar. Unmanaged diabetes can cause serious health problems over a long period of time such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, and neuropathy.

Ozempic works by acting on receptors in the body responsible for releasing insulin. The drug enhances the body's ability to release insulin and also reduces its ability to release glucagon. This is great for people with type-2 diabetes and has proven to improve glucose levels.

The Side Effects

One of the main and most sought out side effects from the drug is appetite suppression. Appetite suppression basically just means you don't get hungry and don't want to eat. The other side effect that comes from taking this medication is the slowing of gastric emptying. This means it takes longer for the food you eat to leave your stomach causing you to feel fuller longer. These effects are due to insulin being released in the body. The side effects cause weight loss and this is what everyone is after.

The Controversy

This is where we get into all the juicy celebrity gossip! Like I said in the beginning of the article, I'm not attacking anyone who is prescribed this drug and uses it for a medical condition, I'm talking about the people using it specifically for weight loss. It should be know that this drug is not marketed for weight loss and is not yet prescribed for weight loss.

Many celebrities have admitted to taking the drug specifically to shed some extra pounds such as Chelsea Handler, Sharon Osbourne and Dolores Catania (just to name a few). Keep in mind, most of the celebrities taking this drug are not overweight or obese to begin with. Some celebs have said they felt weak and nauseous (probably from not eating!!) while on the drug and claimed they barely ate and had no appetite. People are upset with celebrities taking the drug saying it is taking away from those who actually need it for diabetes management.

It should also be noted that weight gain is extremely common after coming off the drug. Your appetite is back and the desire to eat is no longer suppressed, leading people to eat like they had before going the drug. Unless you change your eating and exercise habits after stopping the drug, most likely all the weight you lost will come back.

America's Desire to be "Skinny"

I think this is such an interesting point in history which explicitly points out the flaws in our countries beauty standards. Healthy people are willing to inject themselves with a drug that alters their appetite to lose weight, something about this all seems so inappropriate and wrong.

Dolores Catania from Real Housewives of New Jersey, openly admitted to using the drug saying "I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon" she told Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live” on April 4, 2023. I nearly passed out when I heard this, the idea of looking larger than other women caused someone to take a drug they did not need. Where is the line drawn in the never ending desire to be "skinny"?

My Takeaway

I think the Ozempic wave should spark a conversation between individuals about body acceptance, beauty standards, healthy practices and nutrition education. People need to understand that messing with your health like this is no joke. Who knows the long term health effects this could have on people who don't need it!

Social media has a HUGE effect on people's perceptions of their bodies and how they should look, myself included! I believe that as a woman in America you're almost born into this battle of learning to accept your body. The media shows us what women should look like based on the beauty standards and it's our job to try and fit into that mold. Try to always remember that most of what you see on social media is fake, edited, and/or made to be perceived in a certain way.

YOU'RE ALL BEAUTIFUL AND NEVER FORGET IT!!!

References:

https://www.ozempic.com/faqs.html ; https://pagesix.com/article/celebrities-who-used-ozempic-for-weight-loss/ ; https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/insulin-and-glucagon