Sort 2 diabetes is likely one of the commonest and well-studied trendy ailments. So, new medicines to fight this situation are continuously being developed.
One such sort of medicine known as a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist. These meds have grow to be more and more standard not too long ago as a result of although GLP-1 receptor agonists had been initially developed to deal with sort 2 diabetes, they started to indicate a really promising profit: important weight reduction.
For those who suppose you’re a candidate for considered one of these medicines, learn on to be taught every thing that you must find out about GLP-1 agonists for weight reduction, how they work, who ought to take them, their unwanted effects, and extra.
What Are GLP-1 Agonists?
Hormones are your physique’s pure messengers. They carry necessary messages to totally 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 effectively anymore, the sugar stays within the blood, and also you develop sort 2 diabetes.
For this 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 the direction of blood sugar management.
However like all good planners, your physique all the time 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 had been developed.
An agonist is any manufactured substance (like a drug or medicine) 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 normally 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 may 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 simply’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 last motion has caught the attention of most people and has pushed GLP-1 agonists—probably 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 maintain you feeling full on a regular basis. They might enable you to shed some pounds, particularly in the event you discover portion management difficult.
Does this imply anybody can take GLP-1 medicine to shed some pounds? Let’s discover the professionals and cons of taking these medicines for weight reduction results.
6 Key Concerns of GLP-1 Medicine
GLP-1 agonists had been first permitted to be used as sort 2 diabetes medicine by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005. These medicine are normally obtainable in a liquid type, together with a needle and syringe.
You should inject them into the fatty tissue below your pores and skin. The commonest injection website is the stomach, adopted by the outer thighs, higher buttocks, and the backs of your arms.
These medicine are normally really helpful solely after safer and extra typical strategies like eating regimen and train have failed to provide the specified outcomes.
Even then, GLP-1 agonists aren’t miracle medicine and may’t work alone. They have to be accompanied by dietary and way of life adjustments for long-term use.
1. Be taught who can and can’t take these medicine
To learn from GLP-1 agonist medicine, your physique mass index ought to both be 30 or larger or be 27 or larger with a well being complication like:
- Prediabetes or sort 2 diabetes
- Heart problems
- Hypertension
- Excessive ldl cholesterol
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver illness
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
In response to MyFitnessPal’s registered dietician, Stephanie Nelson, you need to seek the advice of your well being care supplier earlier than beginning this medicine. It is because taking any medicine comes with sure dangers and doable unwanted effects. A great well being care supplier will enable you to weigh the dangers you face by taking the medicine versus the dangers of not taking it.
They’ll additionally issue within the well being advantages you’ll obtain by taking the medicine. These medicine are greatest fitted to people who’re at well being danger associated to their weight. For instance, when you have weight problems, you’re at a larger danger of growing diabetes or coronary heart illness.
However in the event you’re NOT at well being danger, then these medicine aren’t really helpful for you as a result of they put you at pointless danger of unwanted effects.
You additionally shouldn’t take GLP-1s if:
- You’ve 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’ve extreme bowel illness.
- You’re allergic/delicate to semaglutide.
- You’ve a previous or energetic consuming dysfunction.
One other factor to contemplate when choosing GLP-1s is the affect of those medicine in your meals consumption.
For instance, GLP-1s affect 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 function your mind performs in weight problems.
However it is a double-edged sword since you nonetheless must be aware and conscious 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, that you must keep disciplined about making nutritious meals decisions and monitoring your energy to stop malnutrition and obtain wholesome weight reduction.
2. Know the GLP-1 medicine obtainable and their effectiveness
Many GLP-1 medicines can be found on the U.S. market. Nevertheless, solely the next three are at present permitted by the FDA to be used as weight-loss medicine:
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 stress, and triglycerides
- Analysis assessment 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. Take into account their potential unwanted effects
GLP-1 agonists include a protracted record of potential adversarial results akin to:
- Digestive system: abdomen ache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating, belching, and gastroesophageal reflux
- Nervous system: headache, dizziness, fatigue, temper adjustments, and suicidal conduct or ideation
- Low blood sugar and diabetic retinopathy in folks with diabetes
- Allergic reactions
- Drug interactions
- Coronary heart price adjustments
- Gall stones
- Pancreatitis
- Kidney injury
- Elevated danger of thyroid most cancers
In response to heart specialist and MyFitnessPal scientific advisor Danielle Belardo, MD, most gut-related unwanted effects may be resolved by dietary adjustments 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 specialists from our scientific advisory board. Be taught extra!
4. Perceive the insurance coverage protection of those medicine
Insurance coverage protection for GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide relies on a number of components, akin to the kind of medicine, plan, supplier, and well being situation.
GLP-1s are generally lined by insurance coverage, however provided that deemed medically essential. For instance, some suppliers cowl them in the event that they’re used to deal with sort 2 diabetes.
Medicare doesn’t cowl these medicine for weight reduction, however in some states, Medicaid does.
Make sure to test along with your supplier earlier than beginning this drug. Some plans might require prior authorization or a documented analysis. You might also want to fulfill sure well being standards or pay some copayment quantity.
Wegovy and Saxenda value $1,349.02 per month-to-month bundle.
Zepbound prices round $1,059.87 per 30 days.
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 response to the corporate, most individuals with industrial protection for this drug pay lower than $25 per 30 days.
5. Know the weight problems therapy options to GLP-1
Listed here are some methods for weight administration if GLP-1s aren’t for you:
- Go for home-cooked as an alternative of ultra-processed meals.
- Make small, sustainable adjustments to diet.
- Add extra protein and fiber to your eating regimen.
- Minimize down on high-sugar drinks. Drink extra plain water as an alternative.
- Be sure that to get satisfactory, high-quality sleep.
- Transfer your physique extra — whether or not it’s by train, taking a stroll, and even doing chores.
- In excessive circumstances, think about 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. Take into account the utmost therapy length for GLP-1
Analysis exhibits that individuals achieve round two-thirds of their misplaced weight again inside a 12 months after stopping GLP-1 dietary supplements. So, these medicine is probably not your most suitable option for long-term weight reduction.
Weight problems is taken into account a persistent situation. Medicine like GLP-1s suppress cravings, improve insulin sensitivity, and mute obesity-promoting pathways within the physique. However these results may 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 that you must be mentally ready to be on GLP-1s probably for all times in the event you want to obtain everlasting advantages.
The Backside Line: GLP-1s Aren’t Proper for Everybody
Selecting the best drug relies on many components like your well being standing, drug tolerance, price range, and insurance coverage protection. Communicate to your well being care supplier earlier than beginning any medicines.
On the finish of the day, eating regimen and train are simply as necessary in a profitable weight reduction journey. For a straightforward begin, introduce small adjustments like planning your meals, monitoring your energy, or creating an train routine.
