Ozempic, Wegovy and other GLP-1 drugs have been part of many discussions since people, including many celebrities, started using them for weight loss. These medications can help fight type 2 diabetes and obesity. In a new video posted on her YouTube channel, TV host and actor Oprah Winfrey talks about these drugs, taking the GLP-1 drug, why obesity should be considered a disease, and more.
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Oprah was joined by Dr. Anya Jastreboff, an endocrinologist and assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Anya has been studying GLP-1 drugs for over 20 years.
Taking drugs for weight loss – the easy way out?
Dr. Anya said: “It’s not like that. Think about it. Consider when we treat a person with high blood pressure. When they come to us, we say: “A low-salt diet is very beneficial, and here are some medications that can treat the biological disease.” We should do the same for obesity. We should say: “Yes, healthy eating and exercise are critical to optimizing health and treating the biology of obesity.” Here’s medicine, or drugs, or surgery that will help.”
Obesity is a disease
Oprah asked Dr. Anya if obesity is a disease. To which she replied in the affirmative, adding that it was not a matter of choice, but more of biology. She explained that our body stores energy by storing fat – it achieves this with nutrient-stimulating hormones that tell our brains how hungry we are, how full we are or how much energy we need.
So, if we have such a regulated biology, why do people become obese? According to Dr. Onio, this is due to our obesity-causing environment – an environment of ultra-processed food, lack of sleep, lack of physical activity and stress. All of these factors basically drive how much energy or fat our body wants to store. “Our body does what it’s supposed to do, but there’s too much in this environment,” she added.
What defines obesity vs. overweight?
There are no great definitions now. Therefore, we are used to using definitions of BMI (body mass index). But BMI is really a screening tool; it is not something that was ever designed as a diagnostic tool. So, technically overweight was defined as a BMI over 25 and obesity was defined as a BMI over 30 … the drug indications were originally based on that. Now it is also evolving and changing.
Why are some people prone to obesity and others not?
According to Dr. Anio, we evolved in such a way over centuries and millennia that we did not want to starve. “We eat a lot more than we actually need. So, our body has really figured out how to burn the excess. But after a while, in this obesogenic environment, he actually says, “No, keep it; I might need it later.” So when we try to lose it, our body fights back and says no.
When Oprah asked an endocrinologist if this happens to her body or to people who are obese because of some hormones, she said, “It could be your brand because obesity is a neurometabolic disease or neuroendocrine hormones inform the brain. So maybe in your body, your body is like, “Maybe I’m really good at holding this energy.” I’m really good at storing extra fat in case I need it later. Someone else’s body can say, “I don’t need this.” That’s where our body is happy, and that’s because of the environment we live in.’
Oprah also talked about her “AHA moment” when she first took a weight loss drug. She said: “One of the things I realized the first time I took GLP-1 was that all these years I thought that skinny people – those people just had more willpower. They ate the best food. They were able to stick with it longer. They never ate potato chips. And then I realized the first time I took GLP-1, “Oh, they don’t even think about it.” They eat only when they are hungry and stop when they are full.”
