Ozempic Shots for Weight Loss
Weight loss trends are a tale as old as time and likely always will be, despite my best efforts. I decided to do some digging on one of the most recent ones so that people will at least be able to make a more informed decision because you’re not likely to see this on a commercial or hear it from a doctor. This will not be an opinion piece so as to keep the information as unbiased as possible.
All information herein was derived from the manufacturer’s publication which can be found here. Scroll to page 6, Table 3 under Clinical Studies (section 14.2) which reports the weight loss outcomes of the participants in a randomized double blind study. The participants were randomly assigned to a group that received a placebo, a .5mg dose, or a 1.0mg dose. I’ll summarize the trial for you here but feel free to fact check.
The mean weight of the Placebo group was 89.1kg (196 pounds). The mean weight of the .5mg group was 89.8kg (198 pounds). The mean weight of the 1.0mg group was 96.9kg (213 pounds)
The “mean changes from baseline” (i.e. average weight loss) was 1.2kg (2.64 pounds), 3.8kg (8.36 pounds), and 4.7kg (10.34 pounds) respectively.
Comparatively, the .5mg group lost 5.72 pounds more than the placebo group. Comparatively, the 1.0mg group lost 7.7 pounds more than the placebo group.
These were the results after a 30 week long trial. It should also be noted that all participants attained these results while also incorporating lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. For comparison, I’ve added a before and after of a 35 week weight loss client below. This client lost 16 pounds overall, averaging .46 pounds / week compared to the .34 pounds / week from the trial. As impressive as that is, when we look at the body composition during the transformation we see a drastically better picture. Lean body mass increased by 5.8 pounds and body fat mass decreased by 21.8 pounds.
To give the benefit of the doubt, let’s assume the weight lost during the trial was only from body fat loss (which is highly unlikely) this client still lost double the amount of body fat to the tune of .72 pounds / week, while gaining lean body mass. These results are typical of a client dedicated to a weight loss program designed by a certified coach.
So, how does this drug (and others like it) achieve any weight loss in the first place? To keep this as simple as possible, this medication is in a class of drugs known as glp-1 ra (glucagon like peptide 1 receptor agonist). GLP1 is released by intestinal cells in response to pressure exerted when you eat food and has differing effects on different types of cells. For example, it tells your pancreas to create and release more insulin, which has an effect of lowering your blood sugar as the sugar is forced into cells. GLP1 also instructs your liver to stop releasing sugar into the blood and store it instead, often times as fatty acids (see more on this here). It also signals to your brain that you’re full, which slows the movement of food through your digestive system. Feeling full generally means that you will eat less, which would put you in a calorie deficit, which is likely the cause for any weight loss experienced by the participants.
As with any program, it only works for as long as you do it, so when participants stop the injections, any and all progress will revert back to their default lifestyle. Hopefully this wasn’t overly technical. As always, feel free contact us with any questions, we’re happy to help.
