The pharma industry’s pursuit of non-androgenic anabolic dr**s could spark a shift in public health, according to bodybuilding expert Dr. Mike Israetel.
Israetel expanded on this idea in a recent post. In his view, GLP-1s like tirzepatide and the upcoming retatrutide are already “health elixirs,” not just because they drive fat loss, but because they improve metabolic health even beyond the scale.
However, he points out a major limitation: these don’t selectively burn fat. Just like any sustained calorie deficit, they can lead to significant muscle loss alongside weight reduction, which becomes a serious problem for long-term health outcomes.
That’s why Israetel believes the missing breakthrough is a safe muscle-building companion d**g. If millions of people could lose fat while gaining or preserving muscle, the benefits would be enormous. People would experience lower inflammation, better mobility, reduced diabetes risk, and dramatically improved quality of life, especially for older populations where muscle mass often determines independence and survival.
Israetel also talked about this during a recent appearance on the Trensparent podcast with Nyle Nayga. He outlined why the combination of effective fat loss treatments with muscle-building compounds represents the missing piece in modern health optimization.
The discussion centered on GLP-1s, a class of d**gs originally developed for diabetes management that have proven remarkably effective for weight reduction. Israetel explained that pharma companies are racing to develop complementary muscle-building d**gs, though their motivation stems from practical rather than aesthetic concerns.
“Multiple gigantic pharma companies are looking into non-androgenic anabolics like crazy. Why would they do that? They don’t give a cr*p about bodybuilders,” Israetel said. “They care about geriatric and untrained populations who are now using semaglutide and tirzepatide to lose fat. It’s working so well. The problem is when you lose weight, you don’t eat enough protein.”
This protein intake issue highlights a fundamental challenge with current weight loss medi cations: they work effectively but cannot distinguish between different tissue types during the reduction process. While patients successfully shed pounds, they often lose valuable muscle mass alongside unwanted body fat.
Israetel himself uses these strategically in his own training protocols.
“I am taking tirzepatide at currently, I’ll adjust it based on hunger, 7.5 milligrams per week once weekly,” he revealed. He described the weekly injection schedule as convenient, with minimal adverse reactions compared to earlier generation options.
“I probably get better nausea from splitting it up, but honestly I just don’t get nausea. I get a little bit heartburn, but I take medi cations for that anyway,” he explained. “It’s clean burning as heck. It’s sure not semaglutide, which is going to give you way worse side effects. Tirzepatide is way better.”
His enthusiasm escalated when discussing retatrutide, a next-generation compound currently in development. “Tirzepatide is already a god molecule. Like, it’s amazing. I have nothing about it I don’t like. Retatrutide is like magic magic juice,” he said.
According to Israetel, retatrutide offers benefits extending far beyond simple appetite management. “It does like 10 other things for your health and longevity. It sensitizes you to muscle growth more. It controls your appetite like a turn dial. It reduces whole body systemic inflammation. It reduces neural inflammation. It pulls out your intra-abdominal fat. Retatrutide specifically zaps liver fat like nothing they’ve ever tested. It’s a health elixir, period.”
The compound does present one notable side effect related to metabolic activity. “Retatrutide causes me to increase my body temperature as it does for everyone. And like I can’t bulk on retatrutide. That’s ridiculous. I’m just not hungry and then I’m eating and I’m sweating,” Israetel noted.
His personal protocol involves year-round baseline usage with adjustments based on training phase. “I try to take year-round tirzepatide at at least at 5 milligrams per week. That’s just my dose. For some people five is way too much. Super individual,” he said.
During dedicated fat reduction periods, he layers an additional compound, building up to approximately 8 milligrams weekly on top of his baseline amount.
For someone naturally inclined toward constant hunger, these treatments represent a transformative tool.
“My hunger knows no bounds. And so hunger control for me is the biggest unblock ever for prep,” Israetel admitted.
Beyond appetite management, these offer practical solutions to metabolic challenges common in performance enhancement. Israetel mentioned using GLP-1s to counteract insulin resistance associated with growth hormone protocols, describing the benefit simply as “Huge. It does a ton.”
