The race is on to stop Ozempic muscle loss | Hacker News Reader

The race is on to stop Ozempic muscle loss

seattletimes.com

8 pointslxm9 comments

A lot of information flying around but if you want to see some of the studies that pointed to the loss of "lean body mass":

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2206038

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183

IMO one thing worth considering is the amount of muscle loss that occurs during regular rapid weight loss -- not enough studies have done comparison (I assume since it's very hard to induce the latter state).

It is interesting to think about the possibility that rather than decreasing the amount people go to the gym, GLP1 Receptor Agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, etc) might increase it.

I've written a little bit about this here[0], and while I don't always cite YouTube doctors, Doctor Mike Hansen has a pretty good evidence-heavy take[1].

For example one thing he gets into is that Tirzepatide (ex. Zepbound, Mounjaro -- the only one FDA approved for weight control) is more successful at fat loss relative to Semaglutide (ex. Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus).

[0]: https://glp1.guide/content/can-glp1-drugs-replace-diet-and-e...

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScBx37MBZ2s

Ozempic paralyzes the stomach, that is one way it works.

Not sure you want food rotting in your stomach.

That is why surgeons tell patients not to take ozempic a few days before surgery.

Imagine thinking that a drug that paralyizes your stomach is the way to go lol.

Is there any evidence that Ozempic causes more muscle loss than what is to be expected from caloric restriction? I haven’t seen any.

pretty interesting read...we gave you a drug to lose weight and we recommend eating right, protein and exercise to prevent the issues around frailty etc... so they recommend the very things that could have them lose the weight to begin with?

Losing weight is simple. Just don't eat too much.

But simple doesn't mean easy. That's where Ozempic comes in. Ozempic makes it difficult to eat too much.

Yup, and it does that in multiple ways -- both reducing your desire to eat too much as well as slowing down digestion.

This is a very mistaken view of losing weight.

Many people try this but fail: obesity is a lot more complex then just "don't eat that much".

It's as if the body's feedback mechanism break and get set "too high".

Some people need to eg do intermittentent fasting, some keto, some this, others that,...

But "just eat less" never works as it's too general advice, usually leading into starving/severe hunger which obviously heavily backfires.

So in general your point is correct: less energy in -> weight loss.

But in practice it's not that simple, which is why people fail so much.

I started tracking what I eat and eating less and I have lost 30+ pounds since August. I am actually less active than I was before then as well. Anyone who says "Eating less doesn't work for me" is either not actually eating less (they aren't tracking calorie intake and are judging by vibes) or is some statistical anomaly and therefore not worth considering when giving general advice.

“X worked for me” is not a basis for strong medical, health or fitness pronouncements. No matter how many people imagine it does.

“Eating less” is generic advice. It’s obvious, but people struggle implementing it until they find the right way for them.

Our bodies and psychology react to changes, and often fight “simple” changes in ways that are nonobvious or difficult to manage. People juggle multiple problems, related and unrelated at the same time.

Congrats on your success. try not to imagine/project that every problem you solve for yourself can be best solved by others the same way, or vice versa.

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