It’s official: the latest weight loss fad has dropped, and it’s as toxic as ever. With 462.1 million views on TikTok, the hashtag #Ozempic – referencing a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes - has gone viral for its supposed weight loss benefits.
In May 2022, rumours began to circulate that Kim Kardashian used it to shed 16 pounds in three weeks ahead of the Met Gala. Mindy Kaling has had similar allegations levelled at her, accused of going one step further and hosting “Ozempic parties” with friends.
A once-weekly medicine for adults with type 2 diabetes, Ozempic is used to improve blood sugar to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular incidents and trigger weight loss. The Ozempic guidelines note that it “may help you lose some weight” but adds that it “is not for weight loss.”
It isn’t just celebrities that are taking Ozempic. Concerningly, the hashtag is inundated with people sharing their “results” rather than those calling out this irresponsible quick fix. Many film visuals of their weekly progress, demonstrating their quick “weight loss transformation” with little to no effort. It isn’t the body positive space it projects itself to be.
So long, detox teas.
I’ve been living with type 1 diabetes for eight years now. An autoimmune condition, it occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. I wear an insulin pump and issue a dose each time I eat, scanning my blood sugar using a flash glucose monitor. Comparatively, type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin.
When I first learned of the Ozempic trend, I felt sick to my stomach. The first month after I started experiencing the 4Ts of type 1 diabetes – toilet, thirsty, tired, thinner – the weight fell off me to such an extent that friends and family asked me if I was on a diet. I was told that I looked “amazing”: looking back, I have no idea why. I looked deathly ill, and I was: my blood sugar level was so high that the hospital told me I was “lucky” not to be in a coma, or worse.
Losing that weight wasn’t a gift: it was deeply traumatic, and horribly dangerous. I might not take Ozempic specifically, but the glorification of diabetes drugs as some trendy weight loss fix concerns me. Scrolling down my TikTok feed, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to emulate such an unsettling experience. Worse still, why anyone would willingly put themselves in such danger.
The Ozempic fad isn’t just an individual health issue, either: it’s a privilege issue. In January 2023, Novo Nordisk reported shortages of the drug across the US due to increased demand.
The reality is this: more than 1 million Americans living with diabetes ration their insulin because they cannot afford it. Meanwhile, Ozempic can wield a yearly cost of $16,000 (£13,005) without insurance, costing $1368 (£1,112) for a single pen or between $170 (£138) and $342 (£278) per weekly dose. Rich people paying upwards of $1000 (£813) per month for a drug they don’t need to take – potentially impacting the access of type 2 diabetics – is deeply unethical. It’s capitalism at its very worst.
In the UK, NICE recommended the use of semaglutide – the non-patented name for Ozempic - for people living with obesity in February 2022. Though it can only be prescribed as part of a specialist weight management service, one swift Google search offers the sale through companies like myBMI and Numan.
The jabs were made available on the NHS in 2021.
Dr Gareth Nye is a senior lecturer at Chester Medical School and Endocrinology theme lead for The Physiological Society. As Dr Nye recognises, Ozempic disrupts the body’s response to blood sugar. “The response to blood sugar is one aspect of hundreds that work together like an orchestra in the body”, he explains. Taking Ozempic disrupts not only one feedback loop, but hundreds.
It might seem like a quick fix, but this trend can cause long-term damage. It can facilitate changes in intestinal health, impact the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, and cause either inflammation in the pancreas or gall stones. On a short-term level, taking Ozempic can also trigger hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), which can cause tiredness, dizziness and confusion. In more severe cases, it can even lead to seizures. Dr Nye also fears that disrupting the hormonal cycle can cause metabolic conditions – including type 2 diabetes itself – once the doses of Ozempic stop.
Health threats aside, why are people enticed by quick fix fads like Ozempic in the first place? Dr Aishah Iqbal is a medical doctor, personal trainer and weight loss coach. As Dr Iqbal notes, short-term fixes like the Ozempic trend fail to address longstanding dietary and lifestyle habits that could be contributing towards weight gain. “Fundamentally, we need to look at our lifestyle hand in hand with our mindset”, Dr Iqbal advises. “Weight gain is a by-product of the lifestyle we are leading – lack of sleep, high stress levels, low self-esteem, negative mental character, and lack of nutritional understanding are all elements that play a role.”
The bottom line is this: diabetes drugs are not a weight loss fad. Our medications are not a “trend” or a fashion statement: they’re necessary for our survival. It’s insensitive to pretend otherwise.
