Weight Watchers pitches new "GLP-1 Program"

Adding to the growing trend of endorsing pharmaceutical interventions for obesity.

On Thursday the popular weight-loss/lifestyle company Weight Watchers began launching their new initiative titled the “GLP-1 Program”. The new program deviates heavily from the prior intents of Weight Watchers, which focused on balancing eating habits through their points system (along with other lifestyle changes) with a focus geared more towards the use of pharmaceutical interventions to help individuals lose weight.

This new program focuses predominately on individuals taking GLP-1s, with the program allowing customers to connect with doctors who can prescribe these medications, along with a slew of other supposed benefits at a steeper price, as noted by a CNN article on this program:

The company has started advertising the clinic on its website. The support program is included in the company’s $23 monthly membership. For additional access to clinicians who can prescribe weight loss medications, members will pay a $99 monthly fee – excluding the price of the medication. Customers can also receive a prescription from their primary care physician if they prefer.

Interesting- customers are expected to pay a higher premium in order to gain access to some of this access to clinicians. Also, make note that the program seems to refer to all forms of GLP-1 RAs and not Semaglutide alone.

And this shouldn’t come as a surprise. A few months ago Weight Watchers bought the telehealth company Sequence with a focus on providing GLP-1 RA medications virtually. This came as a sign of the company’s changing intentions to focus follow the now rampant trend of miracle weight-loss with pharmaceuticals. It also follows with this strange approach of Weight Watchers to chastise “diet culture” as I mentioned in a prior post:

Again, Weight Watchers seems to be a exemplar in following cultural trends, all with the intent of making money and remaining relevant as other companies such as Jenny Craig shut down.

The website itself comes with this following screen, making the new program appear flashy and exciting:

Learn more? Don’t mind if I do! Well, I actually do mind, as the link doesn’t provide much learning aside from more pitches for the greatness of this program. It even comes with this tagline of saying how they will help you on your “GLP-1 journey”:

MY GLP-1 journey? As in, the journey my GLP-1 always makes when I eat food?

What I find rather interesting is this constant use of “GLP-1” rather than “GLP-1 RA” in all of the marketing (and even the name of this program) as GLP-1 RA is the proper designation for these drugs. Something tells me that this is intentionally done to obfuscate the fact that these medications are synthetic and act differently than native GLP-1, and instead the use of GLP-1 is intended to draw likeness to something naturally produced in our body. Although they both bind to GLP-1 receptors, these receptor agonists last far longer in the body, and on the surface I suspect that some of the adverse events being reported may be aligned with the longer half-life and higher binding of these drugs to these GLP-1 receptors compared to native GLP-1. It’s likely that this stronger effect may inducing a greater-than-expected effect on the body, such as going from reduced stomach emptying to gastroparesis and ileus, as well as a whole growing list of possible adverse events that are being investigated:

But let’s turn back to this “learning”. The website provides a link to information on “GLP-1”, which again makes allusions GLP-1 while playing down what these GLP-1 RAs are.

Here’s a excerpt from an “expert” on what GLP-1 agonists do for weight-loss (emphasis mine):

“GLP-1 agonists activate the receptors in the body that respond to GLP-1,” says Kushner. In other words, they act like the body’s GLP-1. By activating receptors in the pancreas, they’re able to regulate insulin and control blood sugar. But they also activate receptors in the brain to curb appetite and in the gut to slow stomach emptying.

That’s why, notes Kushner, “when a person uses a GLP-1 agonist, they may feel less hungry, have less cravings and thoughts of food, and feel more full after a meal and between meals.” They may also raise your resting metabolism.

Again, these drugs are activating similar receptors as native GLP-1, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that such activation is not without its drawbacks. It’s a bit disingenuous to say that these are just like our own natural GLP-1. These drugs aren’t even administered when eating, so it’s not as if they are being administered at timepoints similar to when our natural GLP-1 would be released anyways.

The explanation for what GLP-1 agonists are is even worse, as it doesn’t even provide any explanation for what differences these drugs have relative to native GLP-1:

GLP-1 (which stands for glucagon-like peptide) is a gut hormone released by specialized cells in your intestinal tract after you eat. “When you consume carbohydrates, GLP-1 boosts the amount of insulin the body makes in order to bring your blood sugar back to normal,” says Dr. Robert Kushner, M.D., professor of medicine and medical education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. It does this in two ways: by triggering extra insulin, a hormone that helps lower blood sugar levels, and by inhibiting glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar levels.

While GLP-1 naturally occurs in the body, it only lasts about two to three minutes upon release. But the drug form of GLP-1, known as GLP-1 agonists, can last up to 14 hours in your body. And that means the effects last a lot longer too.

Although this article was from February, it’s important to note that there’s some easy-to-spot misinformation here for how long these GLP-1 RAs last within the body.

In this case I’m not sure where exactly the “14 hours in your body” value came from, as Semaglutide has a half life of around 168 hours, or over a week. Intuitively, we can infer this given the fact that this and other GLP-1 RAs are administered weekly. Loosely, remember that drugs are administered based upon their half-lives. Or put another way, the more frequently a drug needs to be administered in a day/week the shorter the half-life of that drug is. In this case, a half life of 168 hours means that it takes nearly up to a week before half of a dose of Semaglutide gets eliminated from the body (this doesn’t take into account the multitude of variables that would influence individual differences in half-lives). Therefore, it’s a bit of a stretch to allege that these drugs last only 14 hours in the body, otherwise most of it would likely be eliminated by the time a patient receives the second dose.

But what about adverse reactions? The websites provides an all-too familiar description in which the most minor of adverse reactions are listed:

Since most GLP-1 agonists such as Wegovy and Saxenda (and the soon-to-be-approved Mounjaro, which combines a GLP-1 agonist with something called a GIP) are taken via injection, a little irritation or discomfort wherever you inject is fairly common. Beyond that, though, side effects tend to be limited to the gastrointestinal system, where these medications work by changing gut hormones. “The most commonly reported side effect is nausea, which feels like motion sickness or morning sickness,” says Dr. Sarah Fishman, M.D., a professor of medicine, endocrinology, diabetes, and bone disease at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Also on the list? Constipation and diarrhea, as well as some abdominal discomfort and bloating. Research indicates these effects could result from slower stomach emptying.

However, “these side effects are often intermittent, mild, and short-lived,” she says. They usually happen when you first begin taking the drugs, a period when you are steadily increasing your dosage. As a result, “they usually resolve within a few days of the injection, and within a few weeks of longer term use,” says Fishman.

Intermittent, mild, and short-lived? Sounds a bit familiar…

On one hand this article is from June and may have based the information around the available information at the time. On the other hand, if were to start a program titled “GLP-1 Program” I would probably update my articles to reflect some of the adverse events being examined today.

So not only do these articles fail to outline the proper extent of what these GLP-1 RAs are they also seem to lack any information on serious adverse events being reported. The article does note medullary thyroid cancer and these medications, but that portion of the article seems to be confusing more than anything:

And if you’ve heard that GLP-1s can increase your risk of thyroid cancer, don’t be alarmed. “There is a theoretical increased risk of medullary thyroid cancers, but it’s not clear how likely this is to actually happen in people,” says Fishman, who along with Vash stresses that the link has only ever been studied in animals.

Saying that it’s not clear how likely this will happen in people isn’t evidence that this wouldn’t happen. Again, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

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Apologies to readers who may be bored by the Ozempic and GLP-1 RA coverage, but I find it important to highlight that this is the direction that the pharmaceutical industry is taking. This is the new bread and butter of Big Pharma in a post-COVID vaccine world.

And because of this the pharmaceutical industry, the medical industry, and even the diet and lifestyle industry is getting in on finding ways to entice people to become dependent upon these medications.

The fact that Weight Watchers of all companies is getting in on the Ozempic craze should tell us a lot about how profit-driven many of these companies are, and quite frankly how often they are willing to give up any semblance of integrity if it means following cultural trends and making a quick buck.

And let’s not forget that Oprah Winfrey, the highest-profile individual to be the face of Weight Watchers, has come out detailing her use of the drug.

Is it really any surprise that she would now promote this medication? Someone who is the face and investor of a company? Talk about conflicts of interest…

The USA Today article is something else as well, because it doesn’t raise any concerns about ethics and persuasion from Big Pharma, but instead enforces this idea that willpower and steady lifestyle changes aren’t enough to lose weight (emphasis mine):

Winfrey said it wasn't until this year that she added weight-loss medication to her health regimen, which also includes hiking, eating her last meal at 4 p.m. and drinking a gallon of water a day. She also serves as an investor and board member for WW, formerly WeightWatchers, which announced in March it would add weight loss drugs like Wegovy to its program.

"I was actually recommending it to people long before I was on it myself," Winfrey told People. "I had an awareness of medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way."

She added: "Obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower — it's about the brain."

“Your obesity is outside of your control and only medications with unknown side effects and high costs can provide you the help you need”.

Now, let me be clear and state that I am not downplaying the difficulties in losing weight or denigrating those who take these medications. I am simply pointing out that pharmaceutical companies are finding more ways to prey on the public, and targeting the obesity epidemic in such underhanded ways is the new norm.

The article goes on to state how Oprah’s transparency in her use of these drugs will remove the “shame” in people who may want to seek out these medications but may not feel like they can do so:

"A lot of people look up to Oprah as a source of mentorship, inspiration and guidance," he says. "If Oprah speaks about a medication and shines light about it, then a lot of people will not only look at it more favorably, but they would also research it more on their own, get more information and learn more about it."

After looking into the science behind the medication, Winfrey said she "released my own shame about it" and consulted her doctor, who prescribed it to her. Vazirnia emphasizes these medications can cause side effects and should only be taken under medical supervision.

"The fact that there's a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for," Winfrey said. "I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."

There’s a lot to say about the language in this excerpt, but I can’t help but feel like this is some pitch from pharmaceutical executives, using celebrities and high-profile individuals as a way of marketing these drugs. It’s also strange that the era that has enforced such ridiculous notions such as “fat shaming” are now trying to remove “Ozempic shaming”. Heaven forbid we criticize a move to medicalizing society even more than it already is.

In any case, this is a sign of things to come and a reason for people to remain vigilant against cultural trends and influences.

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