Disclaimer: This article is purely informational and makes no claims as to diagnosis, treatment, or cure by or from any supplement or program BodyHealth may offer. If you or someone you know is taking the drug Ozempic, they should do so only under the guidance of a licensed medical practitioner and report any issues, side effects, or distress to their medical practitioner immediately.

As of today, about 42% of Americans are considered clinically obese. This is a large rise from the 1970’s when only about 10% were.

And, while this has many causes, one of the major ones is the large amount of processed foods we consume on a daily basis which are quite different to natural foods, both in their nutrient quality and density, and how they affect our internal systems, hormones, and abilities to gain or remove body fat.

To combat this, recently, many have turned to the medication, Ozempic. This is a medication originally approved for the treatment of diabetes, but which has shown results in lowering appetite and blood sugar levels, and so allowing for loss of body fat.

And so, though it is not approved for this, many doctors have started prescribing it for this.

However, it works by bypassing the body’s natural systems and in some cases lowering the body’s ability to naturally perform these actions as the body gets used to receiving it.

And, for some, it can come with severe side effects to one degree or another: increased risk of heart attack, bowel obstruction, gallstones, thyroid cancer, vision loss, muscle loss and weak or brittle bones especially for those in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and severe stomach paralysis.

Not to mention the possible permanent lowering of digestive ability once off of Ozempic, along the return of the body fat lost, if the situation that originally brought about the obesity has not been addressed.

So understanding this medication, how it works inside our body, what it can and can’t do, its long term side-effects, and what to do if you intend to take it or already are is quite important.

Let’s dive in.

WHAT IS OZEMPIC AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Ozempic was developed about 20 years and was originally approved as a diabetic drug.

It works by affecting specific receptors on many cells in the body, in our digestive tract, the brain, and our kidneys.

These are called the GLP-1 receptors (GLP stands for Glucagon-Like Peptide).

GLP-1 is a hormone naturally created by our body which regulates digestion, blood sugar, and appetite by communicating with these GLP-1 receptors on cells.

Ozempic works by mimicking the effect of GLP-1 and so activating these GLP-1 receptors so they think they’ve received a message from naturally produced GLP-1.

This reduces cravings and appetite and so reduces food intake/calorie intake, and also reduces blood sugar levels, which can be helpful for people with diabetes, which is what it was originally approved for.

It does this in many ways. It affects our hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin. Ghrelin tells us when we need food and makes us feel hungry. And leptin tells our body when it’s eaten enough food and takes away the feeling of hunger.

So it reduces cravings or appetite for food, while increasing the feeling we’ve eaten enough. With this it also delays the emptying of the stomach, further making someone not want to eat as much. And some people get nausea taking this, also causing them to not want to eat as much.

In a lot of people this causes weight loss, pretty simply because they’re just not eating as much.

But it also increases metabolism, the burning and use of energy in our body, which is also necessary for fat loss.

This is because, when we activate the GLP-1 receptors, we’re also lowering sugar levels and removing sugar from the blood.

Remember, this was originally created for diabetics.

OZEMPIC, BLOOD SUGAR, INSULIN & GLUCAGON

Our body produces energy in a very specific way. Our cells can use sugars, amino acids, or fat to make energy.

But when it comes to sugars, they’re received and taken into our cells by a hormone called insulin.

Very simply, high levels of sugar in the blood stream are harmful to our blood vessels. It can damage them.

So the body needs to remove it as fast as possible.

So when sugar is in the blood stream, our pancreas releases insulin. This insulin then shuttles the sugar to our cells and tells the cells to take it in to use for energy.

At the same time. If our sugar levels are low, the pancreas releases the hormone glucagon. Glucagon then releases stored sugar in our liver and muscle cells (glycogen). Then insulin is released to take this to the cells and tell them to take the sugar in to make energy.

With type 2 diabetes, we have a situation where first there has been high levels of sugar for a long time, causing our cells to become overwhelmed by it. So insulin tells the cells to take in the sugar, but they don’t want to.

This is called insulin resistance. The cells are resisting the instructions of the insulin to take sugar in.

This then causes the pancreas to produce more insulin to force the cells to take the sugar in.

But after quite a while of this the body sort of gives up and stops producing insulin.

So we have high, damaging sugar in the blood stream, and the cells aren’t taking it in.

This is diabetes in a nutshell.

And this is why diabetics take insulin. The body is no longer producing enough insulin on it’s on so they need to take insulin to push the sugar into the cells.

What does this have to do with Ozempic?

Ozempic inhibits the release of glucagon (this is what caused stored sugar to be released into the blood stream). So we don’t have sugar being released into the blood. And at the same time, it stimulates the release of insulin to take sugar that is already in the blood to the cells.

So if you have something that will decrease glucagon and increase insulin, you’re going to reduce overall blood sugar in people. So it works for diabetes, because diabetes is essentially high blood sugar, as covered above.

So ozempic reduces cravings, improves satiety, and reduces blood sugar.

And in someone who needs this we have all the downstream effects of improved cardiovascular function and reduced side effects of diabetes. It will reduce these and people will be healthier.

If you go from 300 lbs down to 200 lbs, your blood sugar will be better, your blood pressure will go down, fat loss occurs, and fatty liver reduces.

But it’s not solving the reason we got the excess body fat in the first place, and if that isn’t take care of, then when coming off Ozempic, we can gain the body fat back again.

And it may be harder to get rid of the second time, even with more Ozempic, as our body gets used to the Ozempic, and to a degree, de-sensitized to it.

So what is causing these cravings and excess body fat in the first place?

HIGH CALORIE & ADDICTIVE PROCESSED FOODS

Many people can’t lose body fat for two main reasons: the high levels of processed sugars and processed foods they consume daily, and the affects these things have on our hormones, causing imbalances and mixed messages being sent to our cells.

This can make it very hard for someone to burn body fat even when they severely restrict their calories.

It’s our hormones that say to burn calories in the first place. So if our hormones don’t say to, even with exercise and calorie restriction, our body won’t do it. Or not as much as is needed.

Our body is just getting too many mixed signals from the processed foods we’re eating.

So then the usual things that are supposed to happen that regulate appetite, satiety, energy levels, and fat-burning don’t occur, or occur much less.

But these processed foods do more. They’re very high calorie, while being nutritionally barren, and… they’re chemically formulated to make us want to eat more.

Look, if you ate an apple, you’d get about 95 calories. Eat 3 apples and you’d get just under 300 calories. But you wouldn’t want to eat more. You’d be full.

And, apples help lower cortisol levels and are high in fiber, helping our digestive system.

But if you ate a bag of Doritos, you’d get about 2,100 calories, the average amount of calories a woman should get in a day.

And you wouldn’t have gotten any nutrition.

And beyond that — you’d want more.

You’d still be hungry. Not just for food, as you got virtually no nutrition, but for more Doritos.

These processed foods are designed this way. They’re designed to make you want to keep eating them, to buy more.

And while that’s great for business. It’s bad for your health.

But back to Ozempic.

THE SIDE EFFECTS OF OZEMPIC

We’ve covered a lot here. But we do need to go over the side-effects, as well as what you can do.

As covered above, taking Ozempic can come with severe side-effects to one degree or another: increased risk of heart attack, bowel obstruction, gallstones, thyroid cancer, vision loss, muscle loss and weak or brittle bones especially for those in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and severe stomach paralysis.

As well as the return of the body fat lost, if the situation that originally brought about the excess body fat has not been addressed.

Let’s look at our digestive tract.

First, Ozempic not only causes decreased appetite, but as part of this, it causes delayed stomach emptying. So food stays in our stomach longer. This can cause the food to go rancid and bubble up, along with stomach acid, causing acid-reflux or heartburn.

But even more, we’re talking about a drug that is, to a large degree, paralyzing our stomach. So we can get gastroparesis. This is a long-term condition that causes food to move through the stomach more slowly than normal. It occurs when the stomach muscles that push food through the digestive tract become weakened or impaired.

This can bring on nausea, vomiting, bloating, belching, upper abdominal pain, stomach pain, and heart burn.

But remember, this isn’t just when talking Ozempic. This is a potentially long-term condition that can continue after coming off Ozempic.

This can get so bad that the stomach won’t empty or intestinal blockage is created to the point that the person may need to go to the hospital, come off Ozempic and, truthfully, hope that it’s not a permanent condition.

There are also reports of retinopathy, where the retina in our eyes can be affected.

And there are some cases of thyroid cancer, though these are not very common. If someone has a family history of thyroid cancer, they should be very careful with it.

There is also a risk of gall stones if someone loses weight very fast.

And some people have gotten pancreatitis from it.

The other downside is that the weight loss that occurs, at least 25%, is in large part lean body mass (muscle and bone), which can be very hard to get back.

Especially if someone is in their 40’s, 50’s or 60’s, getting back the muscle and bone lost will be much more difficult.

This can lead to decreased strength and brittle bones. And falls can have a much more serious impact, even causing fractures.

So…

IF YOU’RE ALREADY TAKING OZEMPIC OR WANT TO

Now, some of you reading this will have already started taking Ozempic. And some of you may want to or intend to, despite the high cost and side-effects, and I won’t be able to dissuade you.

That’s fine. While all of the below should be fully cleared with your doctor, if you’re dead set on taking it, or already are, there are some things that can help to mitigate the negative effects.

First, the side-effects do seem to be dosage-related. And some doctors are even experimenting with micro-dosing (much smaller dosages than the norm).

The theory is that, as a person’s innate GLP-1 hormone is supposed to be doing all of this naturally, too much GLP-1 stimulated artificially by Ozempic can lead to our body becoming desensitized to it, much as occurs with insulin resistance.

The receptors just stop responding, the drug stops having an effect or requires more to have an effect, and our body’s natural ability to do this on its own significantly lessens.

So if you give a little bit from the outside, you can still get the response, but the chances of side effects from the drug are much less.

In regards to muscle and bone loss (and this is very important as these truly are quite hard to get back): if you follow a high protein/essential amino acid diet, low in sugar and no processed sugars or foods, and if you engage in heavy weight lifting several times per week, you can most likely preserve your lean body mass — muscle and bone — though I can’t guarantee it or to what extent.

But if someone takes Ozempic and doesn’t do this, doesn’t get their protein, doesn’t exercise with heavy weights, it won’t be good in the long run. That is for sure.

Next, when coming off, it is best to wean off. This is a drug that is bypassing our body’s natural functions. And to a large degree could be “turning off” our body’s ability to start performing those functions again on its own once you’ve come off.

Many people regain their same body fat in about a year unless they stay on the drug because the cravings come back, the metabolism goes back down and now they have less muscle on their body, which by itself burns body fat.

They’ve basically put their body back into the same situation they had in the first place when they come off.

So know that. There is no long lasting effect to this, and you would have to get your lifestyle and diet fully adjusted well before coming off in order to try to maintain the results.

So a person should do that and then wean off slowly in consultation with their doctor.

And if this helps get in discipline and lifestyle, and if the person is getting in high protein and essential amino acids, lifting weights, and micro-dosing, then it could be possibly a big help to some.

But all of the above would have to be thought with and it would have to be understood there are very real side-effects, and how easily or uneasily these are addressed afterwards cannot be said.

So if someone can do this without the drug and the $8,000-9,000 per year that they would spend on it, they should do that.

It’s much better.

But if someone truly wants to try Ozempic, or already has, then make sure you fully understand the above, ask your doctor about it, and work to implement it as much as possible.

And if you want to learn more about healthy, natural fat loss at any age, check out our Fat Loss Series, where you will learn about every aspect of what causes us to build body fat, how this occurs, what keeps it there or prevents fat-burning, and what to do.

It’s quite in-depth and very effective.

I hope this helps.

And, if you haven't already, make sure you join our PerfectAmino VIP Group, where you can ask all your health & fitness questions.

SOURCE REFERENCES

1. Processed Foods Highly Correlated with Obesity Epidemic in the U.S. - George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
2. The Ozempic Effect: Everything You Need to Know About Medical Weight Loss - Columbia Surgery.
3. Cancer Benefits and Risks From Ozempic, Wegovy, and Other Weight Loss Drugs - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
4. Are new weight-loss drugs the answer to America’s obesity problem? - Harvard Gazette.
5. The pros, cons, and unknowns of popular weight-loss drugs - Johns Hopkins University Hub.