Toxic Exposures
GLP-1 ‘Skinny Jabs’: Rapid Weight Loss, But at What Cost?
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs come with real risks, yet those risks are often minimized by the media, softened by regulators, and masked by pharmaceutical advertising focused solely on benefits. Is there a healthier, more sustainable way to lose weight?
By Chimnonso Onyekwelu
By the year 2030, more than 40% of adults in the U.K. are predicted to be obese, with the figure in the U.S. rising to nearly 50%. While these numbers are startling, projections also show that by this same time, the global population of obese adults will exceed one billion.
As the single biggest risk factor for Type 2 diabetes — and a major contributor to heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, as well as digestive, liver and kidney conditions — addressing obesity is critical for optimal health.
It was against this backdrop that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of liraglutide (Saxenda) in December 2014 as a weight-loss treatment was celebrated as a major milestone.
Other drugs soon followed, including semaglutide (Wegovy) in 2021 and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) in 2023, both approved for long-term weight management.
Today in the U.K., more than 1.5 million people are accessing GLP-1 medications, with NHS England alone reporting a 900% increase in prescriptions for these injections since 2020.
In response to this growing demand, governments have moved to expand access. The U.K.’s phased rollout and funding of Mounjaro, alongside President Donald Trump’s recent deal with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, are framed as efforts to improve affordability and accessibility.
Yet this rapid expansion has gone hand in hand with mounting concern about the safety and risks of these drugs.
It is important to acknowledge that obesity is a deeply sensitive issue for many people, due to the societal stigma, expectations and the very real difficulty of losing weight.
However, the risks of the GLP-1s are also real and all too often downplayed by the media, softened by regulators, and covered up by benefit-centred ads from Big Pharma.
It is for this reason that we’ve written a fourth article on this subject (article 1, article 2, article 3).
Such is our concern; this article examines GLP-1 drugs, how they work in the body, the health risks that are frequently undercommunicated, the deeper problem of treating symptoms rather than causes and the path toward a healthier and more sustainable approach to weight loss.
What is GLP-1 medication and how does it work?
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications are drugs designed to mimic the action of natural GLP-1, a hormone released by the gut after eating. Receptor agonists turn something on in the body. In this instance, GLP-1 receptor agonists mimic the natural hormone GLP-1 and activate GLP-1 receptors throughout the body.
Under normal physiological conditions, GLP-1 helps regulate blood sugar by stimulating insulin release from pancreatic beta cells when glucose levels rise, while simultaneously suppressing glucagon secretion, thereby reducing glucose production by the liver.
Because of these glucose-dependent effects, GLP-1 receptor agonists were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, where they have been shown to lower levels of glucose attached to haemoglobin (HbA1c) — a marker of blood sugar levels over the past 12 weeks.
Beyond glucose control, GLP-1 also acts on the brain, where it plays a central role in appetite regulation and satiety.
However, please be aware that, naturally, the body only releases very small, short-lived amounts of GLP-1, mainly after eating. In comparison, GLP-1 medications like semaglutide (Wegovy) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro) create much higher and longer-lasting levels in the blood.
These drug levels are hundreds to thousands of times higher than what the body normally produces, and instead of brief spikes after meals, they keep the GLP-1 signal switched on continuously.
This is why these medicines have much stronger effects on appetite, weight loss and blood sugar control than the body’s own GLP-1 — but also why they also create so much damage.
In simplistic terms, GLP-1 drugs work by making people feel fuller for longer. They slow gastric emptying, reduce the hunger signal and thereby food intake, which together drive weight loss.
There’s no denying the results have been striking. Clinical trials show that people using Wegovy lose an average of around 15% of their body weight over 68 weeks, while those on Mounjaro can lose up to 21% over 72 weeks.
As prices fall and access expands, these outcomes are increasingly framed as a breakthrough for obesity treatment. Yet, amidst all these, a critical question remains: success at this scale may be undeniable, but at what cost to long-term health?
We are concerned that sustained exposure to synthetic GLP-1 receptor agonists may occupy and desensitise the body’s GLP-1 receptors, potentially reducing the ability of the body’s own gut-, brain stem- and pancreas-derived GLP-1 to bind and signal through those same receptors.
The resulting dysfunction could well be why the conventional medical narrative insists that obesity is an incurable, life-long disease requiring lifetime use of GLP-1 drugs.
The underreported risks of GLP-1 medication
One of the most common, yet least discussed realities of GLP-1 drug use is how quickly side effects accumulate.
Gastrointestinal problems are the most frequently reported adverse effect, with studies showing that up to 50% of users experience nausea, often alongside vomiting, diarrhoea, bloating and persistent acid reflux.
For many, persistent reflux leads to long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, introducing a second medication and a whole new set of risks.
These effects are not merely uncomfortable.
A growing body of research (here and here) links GLP-1 drug use to increased rates of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), gastritis (stomach inflammation), gastroparesis (dysfunction of the stomach muscles leading to slow emptying) and non-infectious gastroenteritis (non-pathogen-related inflammation and irritation of the gut), with evidence suggesting that delayed gastric emptying — the very mechanism through which GLP-1s suppress appetite — can persist even after stopping the drug.
A landmark 2025 population study involving over two million patients also found that GLP-1 drug users had more than double the risk of acute pancreatitis, alongside higher rates of gallbladder and biliary disease, kidney stones, arthritis and sleep disturbances, showing how a “simple jab” can quickly evolve into a myriad of medical complications.
Less visible, but increasingly documented in the literature, is the scale of muscle loss that accompanies rapid GLP-1 drug-induced weight loss. Studies (here and here) report that between 25% and 40% of total weight lost on GLP-1 drugs over 36-72 weeks comes from lean muscle mass.
This loss of fat-free muscle mass massively impairs metabolic health through the loss of vast numbers of mitochondria (the body’s energy-producing cells), reduces strength and bone density, weakens immunity and accelerates frailty, particularly in older adults.
Appetite suppression frequently leads to inadequate intake of protein and essential nutrients, meaning that some of the dramatic weight loss seen is due to under-nutrition rather than improved metabolic function.
The recurring pattern is clear: a quickly achieved dramatic weight loss, followed by muscle and nutrient depletion, then additional medications to manage side effects. The question is no longer whether GLP-1 drugs work — but what they irreparably damage and diminish in return?
The real problem: Treating symptoms, not root causes
GLP-1 drugs have tapped into a perfect storm of societal pressure, emotional vulnerability and the desire to meet impossible beauty standards.
Being overweight carries stigma, leaving many highly sensitive to judgment and quick to shut down conversations about obesity. Losing weight the natural way takes willpower, commitment and discipline, which overwhelms many.
Pharmaceutical companies know this, preying on people’s vulnerability with aggressive marketing, political support and the promise of rapid weight loss without the need for willpower.
The result is a population being steered toward medical solutions while the underlying drivers of obesity, such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyles, stress and social isolation, remain unaddressed and escalating.
Few are warned about what happens when the injections stop. A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials shows that people begin regaining weight within eight weeks of stopping GLP-1s, often recovering two-thirds of their lost weight within a year.
By contrast, those coming off behavioral weight management programs regain only about 0.22 kilograms (kg) or .5 pounds per year in the first year, compared with 11.5 kg (about 25 pounds) for those stopping Wegovy.
This rapid rebound exposes patients to health and emotional risks, reinforcing dependence on medication rather than promoting long-term metabolic resilience.
Turning to drugs for obesity also carries a societal risk: it may distract from public health efforts to prevent obesity in the first place.
Regulators like the FDA and World Health Organization (WHO) have classified obesity as a chronic disease, giving pharmaceuticals a license to monopolize treatment.
This has sidelined natural interventions, such as nutrition, lifestyle medicine, strength training, stress reduction and sleep optimization — approaches that improve metabolism and insulin sensitivity without fostering long-term dependency on drugs.
The focus on synthetic GLP-1 drug agonists overshadows the truth: there is no shortcut to reversing decades of poor lifestyle choices and environmental stressors.
A healthier way forward to rebuilding, not medicating, health
Let’s be honest and real. Losing large amounts of weight isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. For many people, it is emotionally exhausting, physically challenging, charged by underlying emotional trauma, and shaped by years and sometimes decades of frustration, stigma and failed attempts.
The appeal of GLP-1 drugs sits squarely within this struggle: they offer hope when hope feels scarce. But health cannot be injected. Sustainable weight loss is not about fighting the body into submission; it is about working with it.
While medications may produce rapid results, they do little to repair the metabolic, nutritional and lifestyle foundations that drive long-term health — and happiness.
Pharmaceuticals may be able to create short-term weight loss, but it comes with potential long-term risks. Natural approaches that work with your body, speaking directly to your genetic blueprint, offer truly sustainable solutions without the risk of debilitating adverse reactions.
True and lasting change comes from rebuilding those foundations:
- Prioritizing whole, minimally processed foods.
- Eating adequate protein and fiber.
- Reducing added sugars.
- Staying hydrated.
- Moving daily.
- Building muscle.
- Sleeping well.
- Managing stress and emotional health.
- Restoring a healthier relationship with food and often one’s own body.
These approaches are slower, and they demand patience. But unlike GLP-1 drugs, they don’t cause damage and their benefits do not disappear when treatment stops.
They strengthen metabolism, preserve muscle, support mental wellbeing and reduce disease risk in ways no drug can replicate — offering not a quick fix, but a path to lasting, genuine health.
Originally published by Alliance for Natural Health International.
Chimnonso Onyekwelu is a legal researcher at Alliance for Natural Health International.
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