What you AREN'T being told about Wegovy and Ozempic.

Blog Post by Coach Julie

NCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach
Specializing in Women's Health and Gut Health

Wegovy and Ozempic are both GLP-1 (glucagon like peptide).

With GLP-1 drugs, you will lose muscle mass if you are not doing some sort of resistance training. “Much of the "weight loss" resulting from GLP-1 agonists is the loss of muscle, bone mass, and other lean tissue rather than body fat (Ida, et al.).”

When taking GLP-1 drugs it’s important to focus on getting adequate protein to at least maintain muscle mass.  (Usually .75g of protein per pound of lean body mass is adequate.  If your goal weight is 150 pounds that means 113g of protein per day.)

A significant loss of bone mass, for example, predisposes serious bone diseases such as osteopenia and osteoporosis. And a significant loss of muscle mass lowers metabolic rate (increasing the risk of weight regain), raises the risk of falls, and impairs function and quality of life.

Research has found that when people stop taking Wegovy/Ozempic, they rapidly regain weight. (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism: Journal, June 2022) Experts say this is because the drug is not a cure and it does not prevent the metabolic adaptation that occurs during weight loss.

A study published in April 2022 which sought to examine changes in body weight and cardiometabolic risk factors upon the termination of the drug, found that after a year people had regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost. The positive changes they had seen in cardiometabolic risk factors like blood pressure, blood lipids, HbA1c, and C-reactive protein had similarly reversed.According to the study authors, these findings reinforce the need to continue treatment in order to maintain the benefits of the medication. (Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism: Journal, April 2022)
The fact that people may need to stay on Wegovy indefinitely in order to maintain the weight loss has raised concerns about long-term use. (NPR, 2023)
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As a nutrition coach, I have been asked several times about these two drugs.  I always suggest talking with your doctor about this and making sure that this is the right answer for you.  My opinion though is to always work on lifestyle, diet and fitness interventions first.  I would invest in a coach before I spent the money on this very expensive drug.  If you have further questions, shoot me a DM, we’ll talk.

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