On a recent episode of the Full Send Podcast, Santa Cruz Medicinals founder Brendan Ruh addressed the growing trend of lean and already-fit individuals turning to GLP-1 treatments.
The conversation began when co-host Neel raised longevity influencer Bryan Johnson’s widely discussed stance on GLP-1s. Ruh pushed back sharply and laid out his own position.
“If you are obese and have had trouble losing the weight, I think GLPs are definitely something you should look into,” Ruh said. “I think it’s pretty dumb to say, even though someone like me, someone who loves the natural route, if someone just time after time they’re just spending year after year in this state where they’re carrying a lot of extra weight around their midsection, should probably get on a GLP.”
However, his tone shifted when discussing lean individuals who pursue GLP-1s for aesthetics.
“For people that are in shape, I think it’s the dumbest thing ever to get on something like retatrutide. You have a bunch of dudes nowadays that are lean and pretty jacked hopping on reta to lean out.”
Ruh then referenced a physician he had recently featured on his own podcast, explaining what that doctor was observing firsthand with younger patients.
“This doctor on our podcast, like bro, he’s seeing these kids. He’s interacting with them, doing their lab work. They’re not getting micronutrients in because they’re not hungry at all. They’re already lean and they’re eating like 1,200 calories a day. Try to fit your micros into a 1,200 calorie diet.”
One of the podcast hosts responded simply: “That’s low.”
Ruh continued, connecting the caloric restriction directly to downstream hormonal and cosmetic consequences.
He said, “They’re cooked, bro. And then that cooks your testosterone. It creates this cycle. And these kids are vain. They’re doing it cuz they’re vain. You’re going to cook your skin. It’s just stu pid.”
Later in the episode, Ruh returned to the topic while discussing peptides more broadly, reinforcing the same threshold-based view of GLP-1 use.
“Reta, you know, is like very popular. Again, like sure, if you’re really overweight, you could use it, but not everybody should be using that,” he stated.
Throughout the conversation, Ruh’s position remained consistent: GLP-1 treatment have a legitimate place for people dealing with persistent obesity, but using them as a cutting tool when already lean is, in his words, counterproductive.
