Why Ozempic Is Not for Everyone, According to Experts
- James Corden said Ozempic didn’t help him lose weight because he doesn’t eat only when he’s hungry.
- Ozempic, a brand name for the drug semaglutide, works by suppressing appetite.
- But Ozempic doesn’t address the root cause of eating behaviors nor change them, experts say.
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James Corden has opened up about his experience using Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has become a household name in the last few years thanks to its success as a treatment for obesity.
Speaking on a recent episode of his SiriusXM podcast, “This Life of Mine With James Corden,” the British comedian and actor, 46, said that he tried taking Ozempic for weight loss — but it seems he didn’t reap the same benefits as other high-profile weight-loss drug users like Elon Musk.
The former “The Late Late Show” host said that Ozempic, which works by suppressing appetite, didn’t have much of an impact on him because of his complicated relationship with food.
“I tried Ozempic, and it won’t be surprising to you when you look at me now, that it didn’t really work,” he said, per People. “I tried it for a bit and then what I realized was I was like, ‘Oh no, nothing about my eating has anything to do with being hungry.'”
“All this does is make you feel not hungry,” he continued, adding that he’s “very rarely eating” simply because he feels hungry.
“You are looking at someone who’s eaten a king size — and when I say king size Dairy Milk, one you give someone for Christmas — in a carwash,” he added. “None of that was like: ‘Oh, I’m so hungry.’ It is not that, it’s something else.”
Ozempic’s active ingredient is semaglutide, an injectable drug that helps people feel full by mimicking the hormone GLP-1. Brand names for the drug, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, have surged in popularity in recent years.
Common side effects of taking the drug include nausea and diarrhea, while some people can also regain weight after stopping treatment.
Ozempic doesn’t address the root cause of eating behaviors nor change them
For those who have a more complex relationship with food and maybe struggle with emotional eating, Ozempic might not be the answer.
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Brianna Paruolo, a licensed psychotherapist based in New York, told Business Insider that since Ozempic works primarily by reducing appetite and slowing digestion, it will not help someone whose issue with food stems from an underlying emotional problem.
“For individuals who use food as an emotional coping tool, simply reducing physical hunger (as Ozempic does) doesn’t address the root cause of their eating behaviors,” Paruolo said.
“Emotional eating is a complex behavior that often has little to do with physical hunger cues. It’s a coping mechanism for managing emotions, stress, or past trauma,” she added.
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
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Emotional eating can also lead to eating disorders like binge eating.
Noting that semaglutide was initially developed to treat type-two diabetes, which is a metabolic disorder, Sarah Boss, a clinical psychiatrist and director at The Balance rehabilitation clinic, said that Ozempic and other similar medications “have the potential to disrupt our very delicate metabolic system.”
Taking it “has the danger of worsening the underlying issue the individual is experiencing with their disordered eating pattern,” Boss said.
“It is essential to address the root cause of emotional eating with a mental health professional to slowly adapt to new behaviors rather than going for the quick-fix solution that everyone in modern society is looking for right now,” she added.
Paruolo advised that those struggling with emotional or binge eating would be better off using a combination of mental health support, nutritional counseling, and other medical care to meet their weight loss goals.
Doctors have also warned against using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic as a “quick fix.”
The National Health Service (NHS) England medical director, Stephen Powis, said in June that while such drugs “will be a powerful part of our arsenal dealing with obesity,” they should “not be abused.
“Drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy should only be used by people prescribed them for obesity or diabetes. I’m worried about reports that people are misusing them — they are not intended as a quick fix for people trying to get ‘beach body ready,'” he added.
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