The holy grail of modern medicine

Modern medicine has knocked in a hole in one. It hasn’t conquered obesity, but it has made doing so effortless. All you need to do is get yourself a weekly injection.

This promise of no-sweat weight loss has captured the British and American public; the latest Gallup poll estimates 15.5 million US adults—some 6 percent of the entire population, have turned to drugs like Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide), and 3 percent of American adults are currently on the drugs at any given time. Sales of Mounjaro alone, which is now preferred over Ozempic and Wegovy, are set to reach $34 billion a year by 2029.

In the UK, some half million adults have taken the injectable weight loss drug, but as a recent poll by The Guardian discovered, one in five adults would do so if it were free through the National Health Service.

And that’s the catch: Instant, effort-free weight loss doesn’t come cheap. In the US, Wegovy and Mounjaro cost $1,000–$1,350 a month for weekly injections. In the UK, the shots, which can only be obtained privately at the moment, will set you back £150 each—or £600 every four weeks.

But Big Pharma is not an industry that overlooks opportunity. The UK government has announced the National Health Service will soon be picking up most of the tab for the shots, making them available as an NHS drug so that the costs plummets to £9.90 a shot. Not only that, but pharmacists will be able to prescribe them so that patients don’t have to go through all the messy details of booking an appointment with their doctor to determine whether the drug is actually a good fit.

At first, UK GPs will be able to prescribe Mounjaro only for those with a BMI of 40 or more (or 37.5 for ethnic groups at higher risk) who also suffer from four of the following conditions: type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and heart disease.

In the US, NovoCare, a support vehicle of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, has noted some insurers will cover obesity injections like their product, making the drugs more or less free.

But US insurers require patients to meet FDA criteria before they’ll pay for it: for adolescents, a BMI of 30 or higher, and for adults, a BMI of 27 or higher with weight-related health problems. If your insurer doesn’t cover the drugs, Novo Nordisk offers a Wegovy Savings Card for a 28-day supply (although savings are limited to $225 per month and 13 refills).

But watch as the restrictions begin to fall away, just as they do with most drugs, as Big Pharma produces friendly studies showing that the drugs are not only safe but absolutely necessary for your health.

And that’s already starting to happen. Besides the weight-loss bonanza, Mounjaro and the others have reached the holy grail of pharmaceuticals: the all-purpose drug. The latest claim is that in addition to helping you shed pounds, this class of drugs assists your body in killing cancer and preventing dementia, stroke and heart attacks as well.

Of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, or even an expensive empty plate.

What doesn’t usually get reported is that the drugs, Mounjaro in particular, appear to target muscle mass. In one study, about 40 percent of weight lost turned out to be muscle—it’s one reason for that “Ozempic face” celebrities have begun to complain about. Then there’s the host of gastrointestinal effects, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, plus effects on appetite, making it difficult to stop eating once you get off the drugs.

If all this sounds too worrying and expensive a way to lose pounds or tackle type 2 diabetes, there are simpler solutions. This month we feature the work of  functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and metabolic health expert Ben Azadi, who has more than 17 years’ experience helping thousands to reclaim their health.

In “Biohack Your Weight Loss,” Azadi has assembled his top 11 anti-inflammatory supplements that function like natural cheat codes for losing weight and resetting your metabolism—something that weight-loss drugs demonstrably fail to do.

Everyday foods like coffee and apple cider vinegar and supplements like L-carnitine, conjugated linoleic acid, capsaicin, green tea extract, forskolin extract, Garcinia cambogia and African mango can boast results that rival Wegovy on a good day without all the ugly side effects.

Apple cider vinegar has been shown to improve blood glucose levels after a high-carb meal by 34 percent; African mango extract creates an average weight loss of 28 lb after 10 weeks and a 6 in. loss around the waist.

Research into some of the other supplements and foods has shown they help you burn more calories during exercise; increase fat breakdown, often by boosting the production of brown fat; help you shed fat in the abdomen and around the organs; and much more.

The answer to extra weight, as with so much in health, can usually be found in nature. All you have to do is learn to trust it and its extraordinary, finely tuned genius.

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community