Why Ozempic isn’t for everyone, according to experts

• James Corden said Ozempic didn’t help him lose weight because he doesn’t just eat when he’s hungry.
• Ozempic, a brand name for the drug semaglutide, works by suppressing appetite.
• But Ozempic doesn’t address the root cause of eating behaviors or change them, experts say.

James Corden spoke about his experience using Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has become a household name in recent years due to its success as an obesity treatment.

Speaking on a recent episode of his SiriusXM podcast, “This Life of Mine With James Corden,” the 46-year-old British comedian and actor said he tried Ozempic for weight loss — but apparently didn’t has achieved the same benefits as other high-profile diet drug users such as Elon Musk.

The former “The Late Late Show” host said Ozempic, which works by suppressing appetite, didn’t have much of an impact on him because of his complicated relationship with food.

“I tried Ozempic, and it won’t be surprising to you, looking at me now, that it didn’t really work,” he said, per People . “I tried it for a bit and then I realized I was like, ‘Oh no, nothing about my food has anything to do with me being hungry.’

“All it does is keep you from being hungry,” he continued, adding that he “very rarely eats” simply because he’s hungry.

“You’re looking at someone who ate a king size — and when I say king size Dairy milk, one you give to someone for Christmas — in a car wash,” he added. “None of this was like, ‘Oh, I’m so hungry.’ It’s not that, it’s something else.”

The active ingredient in Ozempic is semaglutide, an injectable drug that helps people feel full by mimicking the hormone GLP-1. Brand names of the drug, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, have grown in popularity in recent years.

Common side effects of the drug include nausea and diarrhea, while some people may also regain weight after stopping treatment.

Ozempic does not address the root cause of eating behaviors or change them

For those who have a more complex relationship with food and perhaps struggle with emotional eating, Ozempic may not be the answer.

Brianna Paruolo, a licensed psychotherapist in New York, told Business Insider that because Ozempic works primarily by reducing appetite and slowing digestion, it won’t help someone whose eating problem stems from an underlying emotional issue.

“For people who use food as an emotional coping tool, simply reducing physical hunger (as Ozempic does) does not address the root cause of their eating behaviors,” Paruolo said.

“Emotional eating is a complex behavior that often has little to do with physical cues of hunger. It’s a coping mechanism for dealing with past emotions, stress or trauma,” she added.

Emotional eating can also lead to eating disorders such as binge eating.

Noting that semaglutide was originally developed to treat type two diabetes, which is a metabolic disorder, Sarah Boss, clinical psychiatrist and director of The Balance rehabilitation clinic, said Ozempic and other similar drugs “have the potential to disrupt our very delicate metabolism. system.”

Taking it “has the danger of exacerbating the underlying problem the individual is having with their disordered eating pattern,” Boss said.

“It is essential to address the root cause of emotional eating with a mental health professional in order to slowly adapt to new behaviors rather than opting for the quick fix that everyone is looking for in modern society at the moment,” he added it.

Paruolo advised that those struggling with emotional or binge eating would be better off using a combination of mental health support, nutritional counseling and other medical care to achieve their weight loss goals.

Doctors also warned against using weight loss drugs like Ozempic as a “quick fix”.

NHS England chief medical officer Stephen Powis said in June that while such drugs “will be a powerful part of our obesity arsenal”, they “should not be abused”. .

“Drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, should only be used by people prescribed for obesity or diabetes. I am concerned about the reports that people are abusing them – they are not intended as a quick fix for people trying to get their ‘beach body’ ready. “, he added.