Sort 2 diabetes is likely one of the commonest and well-studied fashionable illnesses. So, new medicines to fight this situation are always being developed.
One such kind of treatment known as a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist. These meds have turn into more and more common lately as a result of regardless that GLP-1 receptor agonists have been initially developed to deal with kind 2 diabetes, they started to indicate a really promising profit: vital weight reduction.
In case you suppose you’re a candidate for one in every of these medicines, learn on to study every thing you have to learn about GLP-1 agonists for weight reduction, how they work, who ought to take them, their negative effects, and extra.
What Are GLP-1 Agonists?
Hormones are your physique’s pure messengers. They carry essential messages to completely different organs to maintain your physique functioning usually. Each insulin and GLP-1 peptide are naturally occurring hormones.
The meals you eat will get damaged down into easy sugars (like glucose) in your abdomen.
This sugar then enters the bloodstream and travels all through the physique. Insulin directs the sugar out of your blood into your cells for use as power.
However when insulin can’t do its job nicely anymore, the sugar stays within the blood, and also you develop kind 2 diabetes.
This is the reason folks with diabetes have higher-than-normal blood sugar ranges. It’s additionally why most diabetes medicines (together with GLP-1 agonists) are focused in direction of blood sugar management.
However like all good planners, your physique at all times has a backup. When insulin begins slacking off (prefer it does in of us with diabetes), your physique sends out the GLP-1 hormone to select up the slack.
When scientists found this sensible transfer, they got here up with a option to mimic the physique’s actions. Thus, GLP-1 agonists have been developed.
An agonist is any manufactured substance (like a drug or treatment) that copies or boosts the actions of a naturally occurring substance (on this case, GLP-1) by stimulating its receptor.
How Does GLP-1 Work?
GLP-1 is often produced within the small gut. It has a four-fold messenger motion:
- It tells the pancreas to extend insulin secretion to handle your blood sugar ranges correctly.
- It additionally tells the pancreas to not launch hormones like glucagon, which might transfer glucose from different storage locations (just like the liver) into the bloodstream.
- It tells your abdomen to digest the meals slowly in order that extra sugars don’t get added to the bloodstream earlier than insulin can clear them out.
- It tells your mind that you just’re full and never hungry in any respect — aka, it decreases starvation and will increase satiety. This prevents overeating and retains you from taking in additional meals earlier than the earlier meal is absolutely digested.
This remaining motion has caught the attention of most people and has pushed GLP-1 agonists—essentially the most well-known being semaglutide—into the limelight, even amongst folks with out diabetes.
GLP-1 agonists can lower your urge for food and hold you feeling full on a regular basis. They could enable you drop some pounds, particularly in case you discover portion management difficult.
Does this imply anybody can take GLP-1 medication to drop some pounds? Let’s discover the professionals and cons of taking these medicines for weight reduction results.
6 Key Issues of GLP-1 Medication
GLP-1 agonists have been first permitted to be used as kind 2 diabetes treatment by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005. These medication are often obtainable in a liquid kind, together with a needle and syringe.
You’ll want to inject them into the fatty tissue beneath your pores and skin. The most typical injection website is the stomach, adopted by the outer thighs, higher buttocks, and the backs of your arms.
These medication are often beneficial solely after safer and extra standard strategies like weight loss program and train have failed to provide the specified outcomes.
Even then, GLP-1 agonists aren’t miracle medication and might’t work alone. They should be accompanied by dietary and life-style modifications for long-term use.
1. Be taught who can and can’t take these medication
To profit from GLP-1 agonist medication, your physique mass index ought to both be 30 or greater or be 27 or greater with a well being complication like:
- Prediabetes or kind 2 diabetes
- Heart problems
- Hypertension
- Excessive ldl cholesterol
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver illness
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
In line with MyFitnessPal’s registered dietician, Stephanie Nelson, you could seek the advice of your well being care supplier earlier than beginning this treatment. It’s because taking any treatment comes with sure dangers and potential negative effects. An excellent well being care supplier will enable you weigh the dangers you face by taking the treatment versus the dangers of not taking it.
They’ll additionally issue within the well being advantages you’ll obtain by taking the treatment. These medication are finest suited to people who’re at well being danger associated to their weight. For instance, you probably have weight problems, you’re at a greater danger of creating diabetes or coronary heart illness.
However in case you’re NOT at well being danger, then these medication aren’t beneficial for you as a result of they put you at pointless danger of negative effects.
You additionally shouldn’t take GLP-1s if:
- You may have a private or household historical past of thyroid most cancers, as they improve the danger of thyroid most cancers.
- You’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to get pregnant.
- You may have extreme bowel illness.
- You’re allergic/delicate to semaglutide.
- You may have a previous or lively consuming dysfunction.
One other factor to think about when choosing GLP-1s is the affect of those medication in your meals consumption.
For instance, GLP-1s impression meals consumption by quieting meals noise and subconsciously getting you to decide on much less salty, sugary, and fatty meals. This speaks to how highly effective your unconscious cues to eat are and the position your mind performs in weight problems.
However this can be a double-edged sword since you nonetheless have to be acutely aware and aware of what you’re consuming to make sure you’re consuming sufficient—which is the place monitoring what you eat is available in.
Whereas taking GLP-1 medicines, you have to keep disciplined about making nutritious meals selections and monitoring your energy to stop malnutrition and obtain wholesome weight reduction.
2. Know the GLP-1 medication obtainable and their effectiveness
Many GLP-1 medicines can be found on the U.S. market. Nonetheless, solely the next three are at the moment permitted by the FDA to be used as weight-loss medication:
Semaglutide (Wegovy)
- Sort: injectable
- Frequency: weekly
- Beginning dose: 0.25 to 1.7 mg for the primary 16 weeks
- Upkeep dose: 2.4 mg
- Efficacy findings:
- Producer-sponsored research of 803 and 1,961 folks: common lower in physique weight of seven.9% and 14.9%, respectively, with smaller waists and decrease complete levels of cholesterol, systolic blood strain, and triglycerides
- Analysis evaluation in 2021: weekly dose of Wegovy led to weight discount results in a number of research
Liraglutide (Saxenda)
Tirzepatide (Zepbound)
- Twin GLP-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist
- Sort: injectable
- Frequency: weekly
- Beginning dose: 2.5 mg in 0.5-mL liquid resolution for the primary 4 weeks
- Upkeep dose: 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 mg from week 5 (based mostly on therapy response and drug tolerance)
- Efficacy findings:
- Manufactured-sponsored SURMOUNT-3 trial: complete imply weight lack of 26.6% over 84 weeks
- Manufactured-sponsored SURMOUNT-4 trial: complete imply weight lack of 26% over 88 weeks
3. Bear in mind their potential negative effects
GLP-1 agonists include a protracted record of potential adversarial results reminiscent of:
- Digestive system: abdomen ache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating, belching, and gastroesophageal reflux
- Nervous system: headache, dizziness, fatigue, temper modifications, and suicidal conduct or ideation
- Low blood sugar and diabetic retinopathy in folks with diabetes
- Allergic reactions
- Drug interactions
- Coronary heart price modifications
- Gall stones
- Pancreatitis
- Kidney injury
- Elevated danger of thyroid most cancers
In line with heart specialist and MyFitnessPal scientific advisor Danielle Belardo, MD, most gut-related negative effects might be resolved via dietary modifications like consuming smaller meals, rising fiber consumption, and staying hydrated.
Enjoyable Truth: MyFitnessPal provides a FREE 7-day GLP-1 Vitamin Plan, made in collaboration with consultants from our scientific advisory board. Be taught extra!
4. Perceive the insurance coverage protection of those medication
Insurance coverage protection for GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide will depend on a number of elements, reminiscent of the kind of treatment, plan, supplier, and well being situation.
GLP-1s are typically coated by insurance coverage, however provided that deemed medically obligatory. For instance, some suppliers cowl them in the event that they’re used to deal with kind 2 diabetes.
Medicare doesn’t cowl these medication for weight reduction, however in some states, Medicaid does.
Make sure to verify together with your supplier earlier than beginning this drug. Some plans could require prior authorization or a documented prognosis. You might also want to fulfill sure well being standards or pay some copayment quantity.
Wegovy and Saxenda price $1,349.02 per month-to-month bundle.
Zepbound prices round $1,059.87 monthly.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (the producers) provide financial savings applications for folks with out insurance coverage protection.
With this, it can save you round $500 a month for a four-week provide of Wegovy or Zepbound. In line with the corporate, most individuals with business protection for this drug pay lower than $25 monthly.
5. Know the weight problems therapy alternate options to GLP-1
Listed below are some methods for weight administration if GLP-1s aren’t for you:
- Go for home-cooked as a substitute of ultra-processed meals.
- Make small, sustainable modifications to vitamin.
- Add extra protein and fiber to your weight loss program.
- Reduce down on high-sugar drinks. Drink extra plain water as a substitute.
- Ensure to get satisfactory, high-quality sleep.
- Transfer your physique extra — whether or not it’s via train, taking a stroll, and even doing chores.
- In excessive circumstances, contemplate different weight reduction remedies like surgical procedure or medicines that trigger weight reduction (like phentermine).
- Search recommendation from professionals like a registered dietician, psychologist, endocrinologist, or bodily therapist to obtain custom-made care tailor-made to your wants.
6. Bear in mind the utmost therapy period for GLP-1
Analysis reveals that individuals achieve round two-thirds of their misplaced weight again inside a 12 months after stopping GLP-1 dietary supplements. So, these medication might not be your best option for long-term weight reduction.
Weight problems is taken into account a power situation. Medication like GLP-1s suppress cravings, improve insulin sensitivity, and mute obesity-promoting pathways within the physique. However these results might be reversed as soon as the drug is stopped.
Briefly, GLP-1s can be utilized for the therapy of weight problems however can not treatment it fully. That’s why you have to be mentally ready to be on GLP-1s doubtlessly for all times in case you want to obtain everlasting advantages.
The Backside Line: GLP-1s Aren’t Proper for Everybody
Selecting the best drug depends on many elements like your well being standing, drug tolerance, finances, and insurance coverage protection. Communicate to your well being care supplier earlier than beginning any medicines.
On the finish of the day, weight loss program and train are simply as essential in a profitable weight reduction journey. For a straightforward begin, introduce small modifications like planning your meals, monitoring your energy, or creating an train routine.
