Ozempic®* is the newest weight reduction pattern making waves due to social media. Influencers and healthcare suppliers alike are praising its effectiveness in serving to individuals shed undesirable kilos.
With all the thrill, chances are you’ll marvel if utilizing an Ozempic® injection for weight reduction is best for you. However how does Ozempic® work for weight reduction, anyway?
Let’s have a look at the science behind this standard prescription. When you perceive what Ozempic® is and the way it works, you’ll know how you can separate the hype from the info to make your best option on your targets.
What Is Ozempic®?
Regardless of its latest recognition, Ozempic® has been round for some time, and it’s not technically a weight reduction drug.
Obtainable by prescription solely, it’s a self-injectable remedy taken as soon as weekly to assist individuals with Kind 2 Diabetes handle their blood sugar ranges. It could actually additionally assist cut back the danger of stroke and coronary heart assault for sure individuals.
Weight reduction occurs to be a aspect impact of taking Ozempic®, however the FDA has not but accepted utilizing it solely for weight discount. Nonetheless, many healthcare suppliers are prescribing it off-label for this function.
The reasoning is that Ozempic® accommodates the identical lively ingredient – semaglutide – as Wegovy®**, a sister drug that has acquired FDA approval for weight administration. Since its approval, nonetheless, Wegovy® has been in brief provide, leading to docs and sufferers turning to Ozempic® as an alternative.
The principle distinction between these two medicines is their dosage of lively elements. Ozempic® has a most weekly dose of two mg of semaglutide, whereas Wegovy® targets a barely greater dosage of two.4 mg per week. Each dosages produce weight reduction outcomes, and it’s anticipated the FDA will approve utilizing Ozempic® for weight reduction quickly.
How Does Ozempic® Work For Weight Loss
Ozempic®’s lively ingredient, semaglutide, mimics the impact of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone.
GLP-1 is a naturally occurring hormone launched by your intestine after you eat. It impacts weight reduction in three key methods:
- It improves blood sugar management by boosting insulin manufacturing after a meal and suppressing the manufacturing of glucagon – a hormone within the liver that will increase blood sugar ranges.
- It tells your mind that you’re full, turning off cravings and starvation indicators, so you’re feeling glad.
- It slows down your digestive system, permitting extra time for digestion and absorption of meals. This motion helps maintain blood sugar ranges steady and retains you feeling fuller, longer.
By enhancing the consequences of GLP-1, Ozempic® helps you handle your urge for food and use power from meals higher. In consequence, chances are you’ll eat fewer energy, in the end resulting in weight reduction.
How A lot Weight Can You Lose With Ozempic®?
So, how a lot does Ozempic® assist with weight reduction? Analysis outcomes present that semaglutide may help sure individuals lose round 1 pound per week when mixed with weight loss plan and train.
- A big study confirmed that individuals who acquired a weekly injection of two.4 mg of semaglutide for 68 weeks misplaced 14.6% of their physique weight, whereas individuals who acquired a placebo remedy misplaced solely 2.4%. Each teams adopted a weight loss plan and train program.
- A smaller study confirmed that semaglutide was efficient at a decrease dose of 1 mg per week. Over 12 weeks, examine topics receiving semaglutide diminished their day by day calorie consumption by about 24%, reported much less starvation and meals cravings, and misplaced a mean of 11 kilos.
- One other study discovered that semaglutide produced comparable weight reduction ends in real-world sufferers as in managed scientific trials. This examine collected information from sufferers prescribed semaglutide at weekly doses between 1.7 and a pair of.4 mg for 3 to six months. Common weight reduction was 5.9% at three months and 10.9% at six months.
Do these outcomes imply that taking an Ozempic® injection alone will magically soften kilos? Undoubtedly not. However it could assist some individuals enhance their potential to drop extra pounds whereas following a nutritious diet and train plan.
Use Ozempic® Efficiently
There are a couple of necessary issues that you simply want to bear in mind in terms of efficiently utilizing an Ozempic® prescription for weight reduction.
It takes time to work.
Ozempic® gained’t assist you lose these pesky 5 to 10 kilos earlier than your trip. Because of the unwanted side effects of this drug, most individuals must scale up their dosage over a couple of weeks. All in all, it will possibly take months to start out seeing this long-acting remedy’s full results.
You might must take it long-term.
Most weight reduction interventions require sustained effort to take care of long-term outcomes, and Ozempic® is not any exception. When individuals cease utilizing Ozempic®, weight regain is widespread.
One study discovered that, on common, individuals gained about two-thirds of their weight again inside a 12 months of stopping the remedy. Nonetheless, extra analysis is required to grasp this higher.
Moreover, since semaglutide is a brand new drug, there may be restricted information accessible on its long-term security. The longest examine thus far lasted 68 weeks, which is about 1.5 years.
You’ll need to take into account your willingness to take this weekly injection indefinitely earlier than signing up for an Ozempic® prescription.
You continue to must make weight loss plan and life-style adjustments.
Ozempic® doesn’t exchange the necessity to eat wholesome and keep lively to drop extra pounds. As an alternative, by decreasing starvation and cravings, Ozempic® helps you overcome a few of the challenges of sustaining a wholesome weight.
Following a reduced-calorie weight loss plan stuffed with fiber-rich fruit and veggies, lean proteins, and wholesome fat is a should if you wish to see long-lasting adjustments to your weight and well being.
For many individuals, making these adjustments is overwhelming, and that’s the place packages like Nutrisystem could assist. By delivering scrumptious, perfectly-portioned meals and snacks to the doorstep, our plans have completed all of the work of planning, measuring, and cooking for you.
The Nutrisystem packages are designed by Dietitians to fulfill dietary pointers for weight administration. As an alternative of endlessly questioning which meals will assist you drop extra pounds and by no means making any progress, our packages lay all of it out for you.
We make it simple so that you can take the primary steps towards your weight targets by exhibiting you how you can pair our handy meals and snacks with a couple of easy and wholesome grocery additions.
Over time, this learn-by-doing method teaches you about portion management and how you can commonly incorporate scrumptious and wholesome meals, equivalent to lean proteins, fruits, greens, entire grains, and wholesome fat, into your weight loss plan.
Below the steerage of your physician, whether or not a pairing with Ozempic® is best for you, or used by itself, Nutrisystem may help relieve a few of the stress of losing a few pounds.
Is Utilizing Ozempic® For Weight Loss Proper For You?
With all of this thought-about, Ozempic® could also be a superb possibility for you in case you are following a nutritious diet and train plan however are nonetheless not seeing the outcomes you need, and you’ve got one of many following circumstances:
- Kind 2 diabetes
- Insulin resistance or prediabetes
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Coronary heart illness
- BMI of 30 kg/m2 or larger
- BMI of 27 kg/m2 or above who’ve not less than one weight-related illness
Nonetheless, Ozempic® will not be for everybody. It helps individuals battling long-term weight administration, so it’s undoubtedly not the best selection for somebody seeking to rapidly drop a couple of kilos.
Consultants additionally recommend you keep away from this remedy altogether in the event you:
- Have a household historical past of thyroid most cancers
- Are identified with MEN 2, a uncommon endocrine dysfunction
- Have a historical past of diabetic retinopathy
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Have a historical past of pancreas or kidney issues
- Are allergic to any of its elements
Facet Results
Lastly, you’ll need to take into account the unwanted side effects of taking this remedy for weight reduction.
Probably the most generally reported unwanted side effects of Ozempic® are digestive signs equivalent to nausea, diarrhea, stomach ache, bloating, and constipation. These signs affected near 75% of the individuals in a big examine, however for most individuals, they had been solely short-lived and occurred primarily through the first few weeks of remedy.
Different, extra extreme unwanted side effects, together with diabetic retinopathy, pancreatitis, and kidney issues, have additionally been reported.
It is best to communicate to your physician about all dangers, advantages, and unwanted side effects of taking Ozempic® that will help you determine if it’s your best option for you.
Conclusion
Dropping pounds will be difficult, and it’s regular to need to discover options that assist make it simpler.
Whereas Ozempic® has grow to be a scorching matter in weight reduction information, it’s removed from being a magic wand for weight reduction and isn’t an alternative choice to wholesome life-style adjustments.
In case you’re battling managing your weight, focus on the dangers and advantages of taking Ozempic® together with your physician. Our Nutrisystem packages also can assist you in your weight reduction journey by setting the muse for a nutritionally balanced weight loss plan tailor-made to your weight targets.
*Ozempic® is a trademark of Novo Nordisk A/S, and isn’t affiliated with Nutrisystem, Inc.
**Wegovy® is a trademark of Novo Nordisk A/S, and isn’t affiliated with Nutrisystem, Inc.
