Semaglutide: a New Approach to Weight Loss
Gaining weight is frustratingly easy for most people. Losing weight, on the other hand…not so much.
Unfortunately, the $33 billion weight loss industry has offered consumers a lot by way of hype, but not much when it comes to effective solutions.
Until now. A medication called semaglutide is finally showing some promise on the weight loss front.
What Is Semaglutide?
Semaglutide is an analogue to “glucagon-like peptide-1” (also known as GLP-1), and it’s taken weekly as a subcutaneous injection.
Like GLP-1, semaglutide acts on the parts of your brain and gut that control appetite and fullness. It also slows how quickly your stomach empties.
Originally, semaglutide was approved strictly for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. But researchers quickly discovered an added benefit: weight loss.
During drug trials, researchers found that people taking semaglutide lost an average of 12.5% of their body weight during the trial. More than a third of trial participants lost 20% of their body weight.
Is There a Downside to Semaglutide?
Semaglutide can have some side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and fatigue. However, these usually resolve by adjusting dosage.
To this point, bariatric surgery has been the only other approach to medical weight loss that provides comparable results to semaglutide. But because bariatric surgery involves major surgery, the comparative risks make semaglutide a much safer option.
Does Semaglutide Really Work?
All of the above probably sounds too good to be true. Which begs the question: does semaglutide live up to the hype?
Here are some actual results from semaglutide’s drug trials:
- Up to 16.2% weight loss (as a percentage of original body weight) over 52 weeks in a trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of different dosages of semaglutide.
- An average of 37 pounds of weight lost (12.4% of body weight).
- Losses of 15-20% of body weight compared to 2.4% when taking placebo in a study that included lifestyle and diet changes.
Why Is This Important?
Being overweight has serious health implications. Specifically, it is linked to the following:
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol (especially LDL or “bad” cholesterol)
- Heart disease and stroke
- Fatty liver and gallbladder disease
- Cancer (especially breast and colon cancer)
- Sleep apnea
- Arthritis (especially in weight-bearing joints)
- Lower back pain
Are you struggling to lose weight? At Renew Youth, we can help you decide if semaglutide could be the answer you’re looking for. To learn more about semaglutide and other weight-loss strategies, call us at 800-850-7511 or fill out our contact form to schedule your free consultation.
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