You lose weight with Ozempic, but you’re also losing muscle

Yes, you can lose weight on Ozempic, but it’s not just fat that’s disappearing—it’s your muscle, too.

Losing muscle mass can cause cardiovascular disease, increase your risk of premature death, and affect your quality of life, including posture and physical function.

People on GLP-1 drugs have said how their muscle strength seems to be ebbing—and it’s a real problem, say researchers at University of Virginia Health System.

Because of these very real health problems, GLP-1 drugs shouldn’t be for everyone, and should be restricted to people whose obesity is a health risk, such as those with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  Even then, they should be combining the drug therapy with regular exercise that maintains muscle mass, and they could also be encouraged to eat a healthier diet and take nutritional supplements, the researchers say.

Muscle makes up around 40 percent of the total weight loss, and this gets worse with older people, whose fat loss is just 8 percent of total weight loss, the researchers say.  Obese people usually already have lower muscle mass, and the drug increases the loss, which can affect their cardiovascular health.

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