Wegovy? Mounjaro? It’s a lifestyle, but not as we know it.
There’s no doubt that the weight loss jab has achieved success for many reasons, in particular tackling the obesity problem in the UK in the hope to alleviate some stress on the NHS. It has helped people kickstart the road to a healthy weight, where diets and exercise have either failed or been hard to stick to and the weight loss has been much more rapid than following a more traditional means of shedding the weight.
And it is soon to be available in pill form which will perhaps encourage those who have a phobia about needles to try it. As I understand there are some side effects, more commonly nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. But one of the major effects on the body is the impact on muscle and bone. Such quick weight loss compromises muscle mass and bone density.
It is estimated that between 20-40% of total weight loss may be down to a reduction in lean body mass which includes muscle. It goes without saying that the greater the total weight loss the greater the risk of losing muscle IF protective measures aren’t taken.
Equally a reduction in muscle mass can impact bones as the mechanical stimulus that helps maintain bone falls short. It may not be the weight loss medication itself causing the damage but more the speed with which the weight drops off. Furthermore, once people stop taking it on average around 75% of the weight lost is regained within a year and the total weight lost will most likely be regained by 2 years.
And this is where we are missing a trick.
In the UK we have a wealth of expertise in health and wellness which includes nutrition and fitness, roughly around 70, 000 people who are registered professionals equipped with the knowledge to advise people on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So, I ask you, why are we not tapping into that wisdom and offering it alongside the weight loss medication?
Money, I hear you cry. Of course it’s an added expense, but then growing obesity rates have placed a heavy burden on the NHS for several decades and if the weight regain once off the medication places the individual back where they started, then surely there is no benefit gained. If the only solution is to not come off it at all, therefore compromising muscle and bone health in the long term, will that not put further financial burden on the health system down the line?
I’m not a medical person but I imagine one of the main reasons the weight loss is reversed once the medication is stopped is because there have been no changes made in lifestyle habits. Education is required here. In order for the weight loss to achieve a longer term success, people need to be equipped with the knowledge as to what to eat, how to exercise and indeed how to best look after themselves to maintain their new healthier weight.
It is important not to just tackle the physical but also the mental. A much wiser investment to reduce the obesity problem would be to help people understand what lifestyle habits they need to adopt alongside the weight loss medication, to keep the weight off and be healthier, both on the inside and on the outside. Currently it’s a bit like having an operation without being given the physio required to make a full recovery.
You may think this is just a blatant plug for the health and wellness industry, but think about it, it makes no sense. Giving people the means to lose the weight without teaching them how to maintain it, is setting them up to fail. In order to relieve the NHS long term, the only way forward for the weight loss medication to have longevity is equipping people with the knowledge of the nutrition and fitness they need to help look after themselves better.
According to Anette Sams, a research scientist, Wegovy contains semaglutide and Mounjaro contains tizepatide which both mimic the gut hormone GLP-1, and as she suggests, although in much reduced quantities, our bodies can produce these weight regulating hormones naturally through following a diet rich in pulses, nuts and vegetables. Brings new meaning to the phrase “you are what you eat” but also highlighting how knowledge is power when it comes to health.
Being on the weight loss medication for life without changing lifestyle habits doesn’t seem a viable solution. The long term heath impacts on muscle and bone may end up costing the NHS the money they have saved through reducing the obesity crisis in the first place, which kind of defeats the object.
Final thoughts
There’s no question that the weight loss jab has had a huge impact on the levels of obesity in the UK but in order to have more long term success, education on lifestyle habits needs to be deployed. Relieving the NHS with such an effective speedy method is something to be celebrated but a quick fix that only lasts short term defeats its purpose. The more people know about how they can go about changing their old habits in order to maintain their new weight, the better their long term health will be. A healthy lifestyle incorporates not just what you eat, but involves sleep hygiene, stress management, strength training, exercise and self-care.
If you ask anyone who has had the weight loss jab and seen the weight fall off, they will most likely say they feel lighter and healthier, a feeling they will want to maintain. Surely adopting lifestyle habits that endorse that feeling whilst protecting long term bone and muscle health is the best case scenario for everyone involved.
PS “Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.” Robert Boyce. Increase your knowledge contact Positive-Soul today.