During an episode of The Diary of a CEO, biomedical scientist Dr. Rhonda Patrick weighed in on the rising popularity of GLP-1 receptor agonists.
The topic came up when host Stephen Bartlett referenced the d**gs in a casual, almost tongue-in-cheek way: “Or I could just take a Zen. I just get the pen out, jab, jab, jab, and all of this stuff disappears, right?” he said.
Patrick acknowledged that, for people dealing with significant weight issues, these medications can be highly effective. “These GLP-1s are very life-changing for people that are obese, people that need to lose 40 lbs, 50 lbs, 30 lbs. It’s not easy to lose that weight with diet and lifestyle,” she said.
She then explained how the d**gs work in the body. “They are basically making you feel satiated and not hungry. They’re affecting your satiety hormone so you don’t feel hungry. They’re also slowing gastric emptying so food stays around in your intestines longer so you feel full,” she said.
However, Patrick stressed that the results may not be permanent if the medication is discontinued.
“Many studies have shown now that individuals that do take these GLP-1s do lose a lot of weight. But if they stop taking the GLP-1s, they gain the weight back, and oftentimes they gain all the weight back because your body’s kind of trying to go back to that reset point and their hunger comes back with a vengeance,” she said.
Bartlett referenced a New York Times story about a woman lost 50 pounds on a GLP-1 d**g but regained 20 pounds in just a month after stopping due to insurance issues.
He noted that she described the return of hunger “not as a gradual increase, but as a ferocious, animalistic urge to eat.”
Patrick agreed with that characterization. “Your body’s like it hasn’t been hungry. And it’s like, wait a minute, I’ve been starving for so long. I need to eat,” she said.
She also raised concerns about potential side effects, particularly muscle loss when proper nutrition and training aren’t maintained.
“When you’re largely fasting throughout the day, if you’re not getting enough protein, then your muscle is not going to have amino acids to basically keep growing. In any weight loss diet, if you’re not eating enough protein and you’re not resistance training, up to 40% of your weight can come from muscle weight loss,” she said.
In addition, Patrick mentioned possible health risks, including increased signals for kidney cancer and a black box warning related to thyroid cancer, while noting that the thyroid findings come from animal studies.
Her strongest criticism, however, was aimed at relatively healthy individuals using these d**gs for minor weight loss.
“What we’re seeing is Hollywood. We’re seeing just your average moms. They’re like, ‘I want to lose 10 pounds, but I want it to be easy.’ They’re 10 or 15 pounds, whatever. And they’re going to these GLP-1s,” she notes.
Patrick warns: “I don’t know that we have data showing it’s actually beneficial in that population because they’re already pretty lean and they’re just wanting to look a little bit better. We don’t really know if it’s beneficial. There are so many people I don’t think need to use it to lose their 10 pounds. It’s ridiculous.”
