CHARBONNEAU – Ozempic’s effects go well beyond losing weight

 THE MASS MEDICATION of a weight reduction drug is giving hope to millions. Its effects will go beyond weight loss.

About 3 million now use GLP-1s such as Ozempic.  Now that cheaper generic versions are on the market, millions more will be injecting it.

If the claims were made a century ago, you would think it was snake oil.

They claim that GLP-1s may reduce cardiovascular events, kidney disease, stroke and inflammation, cancer risk, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, sleep apnea and depression.

Of course, the caveat is that more studies need to be done and the side effects can be debilitating. They include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, cramping, indigestion or heartburn.

Even the desired effect of feeling unusually full can be uncomfortable.

Ozempic reduces the pleasure of eating.  It reduces the “food noise:” thoughts of food that are repetitive and unwanted.

More than weight loss, GLP-1s are causing a cultural revolution.

The body-positivity movement that celebrates larger bodies is facing headwinds. Magazine covers used to feature larger bodies and cool brands. Food author Dakshana Bascaramurty explains:

“With the rise of the Kardashians, everyone wanted a butt like a Thanksgiving turkey. On social media, influencers built followings based on being healthy and sexy at any size — self-serving, sure, but an important message for the millions of Canadians who dealt with the physical and psychological implications of living in a world where large bodies had long been condemned.”

But now, why celebrate your large size when you can obtain the weight you want with Ozempic?

Gyms are rethinking the workout message. After stuffing themselves over the holiday season, people used to flock to gyms to lose weight. Why bother when you can lose weight without trying?

Ads for GLP-1s are promoting their drugs less as obesity treatments and more as part of an athletic lifestyle.

Restaurants are going to have to adjust to customers with small appetites.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food distribution researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax, says GLP-1s were a hot topic at the recent Canadian Restaurants Conference. “The industry will have to adjust or it won’t survive,” he says.

Even McDonald’s recently announced plans to adapt its menu: a symbolic moment for the brand that taught us how to supersize.

Grocery stores will need to adapt. The layout, the lighting, that intoxicating bread smell, are designed to leverage a lack of impulse control. Think of that old dieting advice: never go to the grocery store hungry. “That’s essentially what we’re seeing with GLP-1 consumers,” Charlebois says. “They’re never hungry.”

The culture of family gatherings, where food is the focus, will have to change. How merry will it be as everyone glumly sits around their tiny portions and stops at one drink?

Ozempic threatens to take the joy out of life.

Chef Joel Brown used to celebrate food. One of his  biggest sources was not just cooking food and eating it but learning the history of different cuisines and seeing how meals brought people together. His joy faded after a month of taking Ozempic for weight reduction.

“I would look at a restaurant menu or I go into a grocery store, and it would just be like, that part of me is dead,” he said.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.