Dying to Lose Weight All Over Again

by Phil Kaplan

In my list of 8 Reasons for Weight Loss failure, I include, as #2, “People rely on a drug or supplement to serve as a solution.”

I'll share some powerful insights in this blog post and provide you with additional resources if  you seek to understand  further.

First, I invite you to REGISTER for a Live Webinar, July 25, where I'll share unreleased strategies for restoring metabolism and removing energy blocks in only 7 days.  FREE!

BE SURE TO REGISTER (article continues below)

The allure of a weight loss drug rivals the allure of muscle-building cheesecake or a fragrance that makes you irresistibly attractive. 

All 3 seductive offers (fat burning drugs, food that has a muscle-building effect, and pheromone products that have suitors lining up to win you over) have found their way into the marketplace, and the simple truth is . . . as far as a consumer payoff, it just ain’t happnin’.

Of the three, magic foods, sexually magnetic fragrances, and weight loss drugs, the largest marketing resources go to the drug companies, thus, lots of people are tempted, lots of people are compelled to act, and lots of people “purchase.” 

IT’S, QUITE SIMPLY, A PRODUCT SALE

Even if the doctor writes a prescription, the exchange of money for wares at the pharmacy is a product purchase.  And despite the doctor’s blessing, a product should be carefully scrutinized before you introduce it into your body, your bloodstream, your life.

In today’s consumer marketplace, more and more “products” find their way over the pharmacist’s counter into the anxious hands of unwell people seeking reduction.

Reduction in blood sugar, and reduction in pounds.

The market is vast and growing. 

What a perfect marriage for drug sales.

DIABETICS GET FATTER AND VICE VERSA

There’s a co-systemic relationship between Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and Fat Accumulation, and in that, drugs that “treat” T2D were often considered as having potential in the weight loss market. 

Considering both categories of medication, weight loss and T2D, there’s a real and disturbing history of drug-related deaths.

Yes. 

Deaths.

THE HUNT IS ON . . . THE GREAT WEIGHT LOSS DRUG

In the mid-late 1990’s, Phen-fen, a far-too-popular weight loss drug, was pulled from the market after clear links between the use of the meds and Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (an often-fatal irreversible condition) became indisputable (over 40,000 cases reported while the drug was still being marketed) and the frenzied want for “product” resulted in an ever-growing tally of deaths.   

The willingness of the overweight population to harbor the thought, “sure it might be dangerous, but I’ll lose weight” is the prime weakness of the afflicted consumer.

In fact, shortly after Phen-Fen was pulled, and cries for alternatives created a gray market, a national poll conducted by Fitness (magazine) asked women if they’d rather live to be 90 in good health or lose 20 pounds permanently without any guarantee of health or longevity. 

The majority chose weight loss.

And so, that hunger and sentiment created an obsession for “the great weight loss drug,” with little real concern for long-term safety.

While periodic weight loss drugs hit the market and were, in due course, pulled (due to adverse events), diabetes drugs continued to offer purported “solutions” to the epidemic condition.

Enter Avandia.  Between 2000 and 2009, near 50,000 Avandia users suffered heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death as a result of this “breakthrough” diabetes drug. 

The FDA “restricted” its use and research for “new releases” continued.

TWO BIRDS WITH ONE PHARMACEUTICAL STONE

 Let’s back up a bit and zero in on something I alluded to moments ago.

High blood sugar prompts fat accumulation.

Fat accumulation increases the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes.

It’s no wonder, when considering the appetite of the marketplace and the size of the combined consumer audience, the two categories came together.   

Over the last half-decade, Diabetes drugs are released with the promise of “lowering A1C,” and some are subsequently submitted and at times approved or indicated as having a propensity for weight loss (semaglutide, liraglutide, etc).

They’re released under a variety of now-familiar brand names.

I’ve written a great many articles about the newest breed of “weight loss drug,” the GLP-1 products, so from this point forward I’ll keep things concise, and at the end I’ll provide a few links for those who want to know more about the drugs’ mechanism of action and their place in “weight loss drug history.”

In the remainder of this article, I’ll give you a “weight loss drug” overview, address a single point of concern (one of many), and equip you with a few thoughts to explore and consider if you’re in the temptation and consideration stage.

OVERVIEW: WEIGHT LOSS DRUG (AND SUPPLEMENT) RELEASES

Drugs, and some supplements, that hit the marketplace with a direct or indirect promise of fat loss are/were either (1) completely inert, (2) appetite suppressants, (3) stimulants, (4) digestion disruptors, (5) endocrine dysregulators.  

Whether they exert any metabolic effect at all, they may all have very real, sometimes severe, emotional ramifications as failure is imminent in the long term, but the last four categories have potentially severe physical, biochemical, and emotional side-effects as well.

While the “emotional” element may appear to be of lower concerns than physical side-effects (pancreatitis for example), any drug for which the disclaimer at the end of the TV commercial says, “suicidal thoughts or behaviors” would be enough to discourage me permanently. 

Even if, as in the newest Wegovy commercial, its buried under the upbeat inspirational music from the movie, The Greatest Showman (This is Me), it’s significant enough of a risk for the manufacturers to be subjected to a requirement to add it to the substantial list of potential risks.

For those wishing the magic drug would finally arrive, it’s easy to dismiss the melodic disclaimers with the formerly identified counter-thought, “but I’ll lose weight,” but here’s where it gets cloudy.

Losing weight, as an end-goal,
makes you vulnerable to a myriad of downside factors,
and as you become part of a vulnerable audience,
you become prey for anyone selling magic injections and pills.

 The FDA, as a part of its function, receives and collects reports of adverse events related to medications. 

The FDA receives its funding from industries driving massive revenues from the sale of food and drugs, so there’s a delicate dance between the veil of “consumer protection” and commerce.

When adverse event reports accumulate, the manufacturers are notified.  Quietly. 

As the public becomes aware of a threat or risk, it raises concern, so as what appears to be a stall tactic, covered up by the assurance it’s being handled, the FDA puts out a report of “review.”

They call this process “evaluation,” and it goes on, slowly, while the allure continues to escalate drug sales.

Consumers, during this evaluation, many seeing a reduction in appetite and scale pounds (which they view as evidence the drugs are working), rationalize with another expression suggesting ignorance of the facts before them.

 “But it wouldn’t be on the market if it were really dangerous.”

To support what may prove to be a flawed decision, they individually and collectively opt to trust that the exploration is going to land in their favor. 

For those who are resting upon “but this,” and “but that,” keep in mind that Phen-Fen and Avandia went through similar “evaluations” as incidents and deaths stacked up.

Although somewhere inside a voice says, “maybe this isn’t so safe,” that counter-voice retorts, “but I’m losing weight.”  That internal quieting of fear creates a very willing consumer, willing to buy and believe, at all costs.

YOU WON’T FIND NEW DRUGS “PROVEN SAFE”

If you peruse FDA reports, you’re NOT likely to find them referring to a recently-released drug as safe.  Their expert neutrality disguised as concern will rarely disavow any of the fears growing out of elevations in adverse event reports, but they’ll continue to “investigate” and the drug, at least for some time, usually stays in play.

Regarding the “suicidal thoughts” concern, the FDA, in a January 11, 2024, Safety Update¹ addressed their investigations with this:

“. . . because of the small number of suicidal thoughts or actions observed in both people using GLP-1 RAs and in the comparative control groups, we cannot definitively rule out that a risk may exist; therefore, FDA is continuing to look into this issue.”

See what I mean?

Going back about 90 days before the FDA Update, an October 2023 Reuters report² assessing the risk of suicidal thoughts as a side-effect of GLP-1 meds provided case studies and outcomes among users of these drugs and provided a science-based consideration of the link. 

 The report said:

“GLP-1 drugs reach the brain, according to pharmacology reports Novo and Lilly submitted to the FDA. That may account for their effectiveness in influencing hunger signals but could also increase risks of neuropsychiatric side effects.”

My intention isn’t to scare people away from using Ozempic or Wegovy for fear of suicide, it’s to provide truth so people can make wise decisions, and from my own continued evaluation of the long-term success / failure of weight loss drugs and my continued attention to the science as it unfolds, beyond digestive discomfort, sometimes severe, I’d find these to be the primary reasons to apply the utmost caution in your decision making.

1. Black Box warning (risk of thyroid cancer) 
   Note: A Black Box Warning is the highest safety-related warning a medication can have assigned to it  by the FDA, reserved only for severe risk and extreme potential for dangerous side effects

2. The expressed need to stay "on the drug" to maintain weight loss (weight regain is near inevitable upon cessation)

3. Magnification of risks of every potential side effect with long-term continuance 

4. Loss of muscle and bone density result in metabolic slowdown and structural degradation 

5. The risk of severe disruption, sometimes irreversible, of smooth muscle function in the stomach and intestine (gastroparesis)

 In conclusion, I’ll add a sixth. 

6. A program exists that can boost metabolism and reduce fat healthfully as it reverse disease and disease risk without any side effects at all

If you want to know more, let’s connect and review the true power of my Metabolic Reboot program, and/or explore the links below.

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

1. FDA January 11 Safety Update RE: GLP1 and Thoughts of Suicide
2. Reuters Report, October 2023, Wegovy and Suicide
3. Oh, Oh, Oh, Ozempic
4. Is Injectable Weight Loss A Thing?
5. Getting to Ozempic: Weight Loss Drugs Through Time
6. Download the eBook: The Way (Weight Loss and Weight Loss Drugs)