"There’s no doubt that losing weight with our modern lifestyles would be difficult. However, the answer to these forms of adversity is not to reach for pharmaceutical means of weight-loss."
You don't say! If we take a look around at the plant and animal kingdoms, it is possible to observe that certain life-forms do well in certain environments and with certain diets. Is there any life-form on earth that does well in an environment loaded with toxins and a diet of industrial processed and ultra-processed (I like simply 'adulterated') "foods"?
As I think you implied, there is only so much of this mess ('modern lifestyles') that we can fix. Still, most people could do better by just eating food instead of industrial glop. But it wouldn't be as cheap or convenient. (Related to "quick fix".)
I have struggled with weight gain most of my life. I have had to discover a number of different factors that were contributing to the problem, consumption of industrial glop (A.K.A. "food-like substances") being the most important one. About two years ago I found a combination of dietary and other adjustments that brought my weight down and kept it down without creating any major new problems. Finally! And keeping my older clothes really paid off.
Except that now I am underweight, for the first time in my life. Where does it end?
So I don't know any simple solution either. Popping pills sure isn't it. In fact I discovered something that surprised even the doctor that I work with (on a cash basis -- no interference from insurance companies). Five years ago I let myself be fooled into thinking that a certain genetic condition I inherited, that causes high LDL-C and super-high LP(a), was risky enough that I should try taking pharmaceuticals to lower cholesterol.
I won't go into details here about what I took, but around the same time, out of common sense, I adjusted my diet back to a reduced carbohydrate one that had worked previously but had created major new problems. By this time I knew the cause of those new problems (involving a birth defect) and I was able to compensate and avoid them. I also knew how much evidence there was for lowered cholesterol preventing heart attacks (I do also have heart disease), and losing excess weight made so much more sense to me. The cardiologist was uninterested in that. (He eventually removed himself from my life by wasting an appointment where he tried rather hard to persuade me to "get the shots". That's the last I ever had anything to do with him. Contraindications, what are those anyway? Fortunately, I knew them well.)
The result of this diet, that worked so well before? Nothing. Weight steady, and significantly overweight. It took three more years and a miracle to learn what was wrong. It was the cholesterol-lowering drugs. Working with my doctor, I had learned that the hereditary problem I have was not the death sentence that the industry would like us to believe, and that its risk did not correlate with cholesterol levels. So I dumped the drugs. The miracle was learning that they could prevent weight loss. And the diet started working. Over the next year, I lost the excess weight and moved into my ideal range. But then another 5 pounds below that, before it leveled off. And then another 5 pounds suddenly lower a few weeks when something got me that I couldn't identify (it has passed).
I have regained that last 5 pounds, and will be back in my ideal range soon. (I can identify 'ideal' by how I feel.) My doctor is providing information about what else I need to do about aging and muscle loss (the likely cause of my underweight). He's seen this work before. There is no pill for it. It involves exercise. I have problems with exercise because of an endocrine disorder (quite possibly iatrogenic), but there are still ways to make it work. No, it's not as convenient as popping a pill, but it actually works and isn't poisonous. That should be worth something.
As I have now said numerous times in numerous places on Substack and elsewhere, I have a view of life -- all life -- as having been designed and created. Each life-form has its particular design requirements. Violate those and you've got trouble. Pay attention to creation and creator and you are apt to do well, even if physical life is less than perfect. That is my view, and others can believe as they wish. It may not make sense to some, but popping pills to lose weight makes absolutely no sense to me.
Just a few points, these drugs are injected daily or weekly and cost several hundred dollars per month. They are violently expensive. I don’t actually believe that there are these shortages, I think that the makers are falsely causing the shortages to drum up hype and demand. There is no reason that they can’t make enough for everyone who would benefit from it and at a reasonable cost. This is a major marketing ploy!! Don’t fall for it
I can't help to wonder what the long term consequences will be. Since folks on these drugs do not have an appetite...will they be malnourished? Osteopenia/osteoporosis, muscle wasting due to inadequate protein intake, inadequate fat for hormone production, healthy brain, nerve conduction, cells. All the macronutrients and micronutrients will be deficient. What will happen long term? I guess we will find out.
Mar 29, 2023·edited Mar 29, 2023Liked by Modern Discontent
I have a hunch-- but no proof-- that these new weight loss drugs contributed to the untimely deaths of Kirstie Alley (aggressive colon cancer) & LM Pressley (cardiac arrest, opiates, etc).
----
Look at how cringey this video is of Chelsea Handler. You can tell it's a pharma ad because she keeps repeating the product name.
Yes! Actually because I’m a total sugar addict and because I was so turned off by sugar, it helped me learn new behaviors and adopt better eating habits. I’m basically a clean eater, pescatarian, but wine and brownies, chocolate.. Semaglutide completely obliterated those cravings and thoughts.
I’ve never felt better in many ways and I’m hoping to manage the off ramp and use Semaglutide judiciously.
153 pounds to 123! I’m small framed a normal size 2-4.
"Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics has included medications such as Ozempic and other similar drugs into their recommendations for childhood obesity"
Are they inclusive enough to also cover children who "identify as fat" with that? I believe that's the so-called "trans fats". *badum tish* (Formerly aka anorexic. Unhealthy either way!)
Love Semaglutide! Game changer. I get it from a compounding pharmacy. Lost 30 pounds, A1C at 4.6, blood work looks incredible, stops sugar craving, and slows gut motility. I’m off now as I’m at 125 pounds, my ideal weight. BMI dropped from 26 to 21. It’s expensive but worth it. I’m a retired pharmacist so I know exactly what I signed up for. Additionally, I microdosed it, still worked well! Healthy weight loss of 2 pounds a week.
Insulin is not "excreted", it is "secreted". To be excreted would be to remove it from the body, such as being excreted through urine or sweat.
However, the entire premise of these drugs is faulty, since Type 2 diabetes is a "disease" of EXCESS INSULIN! But actually, it is not a disease at all, but rather a physiologically normal response to an abnormal and dangerous dietary regimen of too much and too-frequent consumption of carbohydrates, and most particularly overconsumption of fructose, a sugar component of sucrose and HF corn syrup that contributes to fattly liver disease and liver insulin resistance.
"There’s no doubt that losing weight with our modern lifestyles would be difficult. However, the answer to these forms of adversity is not to reach for pharmaceutical means of weight-loss."
You don't say! If we take a look around at the plant and animal kingdoms, it is possible to observe that certain life-forms do well in certain environments and with certain diets. Is there any life-form on earth that does well in an environment loaded with toxins and a diet of industrial processed and ultra-processed (I like simply 'adulterated') "foods"?
As I think you implied, there is only so much of this mess ('modern lifestyles') that we can fix. Still, most people could do better by just eating food instead of industrial glop. But it wouldn't be as cheap or convenient. (Related to "quick fix".)
I have struggled with weight gain most of my life. I have had to discover a number of different factors that were contributing to the problem, consumption of industrial glop (A.K.A. "food-like substances") being the most important one. About two years ago I found a combination of dietary and other adjustments that brought my weight down and kept it down without creating any major new problems. Finally! And keeping my older clothes really paid off.
Except that now I am underweight, for the first time in my life. Where does it end?
So I don't know any simple solution either. Popping pills sure isn't it. In fact I discovered something that surprised even the doctor that I work with (on a cash basis -- no interference from insurance companies). Five years ago I let myself be fooled into thinking that a certain genetic condition I inherited, that causes high LDL-C and super-high LP(a), was risky enough that I should try taking pharmaceuticals to lower cholesterol.
I won't go into details here about what I took, but around the same time, out of common sense, I adjusted my diet back to a reduced carbohydrate one that had worked previously but had created major new problems. By this time I knew the cause of those new problems (involving a birth defect) and I was able to compensate and avoid them. I also knew how much evidence there was for lowered cholesterol preventing heart attacks (I do also have heart disease), and losing excess weight made so much more sense to me. The cardiologist was uninterested in that. (He eventually removed himself from my life by wasting an appointment where he tried rather hard to persuade me to "get the shots". That's the last I ever had anything to do with him. Contraindications, what are those anyway? Fortunately, I knew them well.)
The result of this diet, that worked so well before? Nothing. Weight steady, and significantly overweight. It took three more years and a miracle to learn what was wrong. It was the cholesterol-lowering drugs. Working with my doctor, I had learned that the hereditary problem I have was not the death sentence that the industry would like us to believe, and that its risk did not correlate with cholesterol levels. So I dumped the drugs. The miracle was learning that they could prevent weight loss. And the diet started working. Over the next year, I lost the excess weight and moved into my ideal range. But then another 5 pounds below that, before it leveled off. And then another 5 pounds suddenly lower a few weeks when something got me that I couldn't identify (it has passed).
I have regained that last 5 pounds, and will be back in my ideal range soon. (I can identify 'ideal' by how I feel.) My doctor is providing information about what else I need to do about aging and muscle loss (the likely cause of my underweight). He's seen this work before. There is no pill for it. It involves exercise. I have problems with exercise because of an endocrine disorder (quite possibly iatrogenic), but there are still ways to make it work. No, it's not as convenient as popping a pill, but it actually works and isn't poisonous. That should be worth something.
As I have now said numerous times in numerous places on Substack and elsewhere, I have a view of life -- all life -- as having been designed and created. Each life-form has its particular design requirements. Violate those and you've got trouble. Pay attention to creation and creator and you are apt to do well, even if physical life is less than perfect. That is my view, and others can believe as they wish. It may not make sense to some, but popping pills to lose weight makes absolutely no sense to me.
Just a few points, these drugs are injected daily or weekly and cost several hundred dollars per month. They are violently expensive. I don’t actually believe that there are these shortages, I think that the makers are falsely causing the shortages to drum up hype and demand. There is no reason that they can’t make enough for everyone who would benefit from it and at a reasonable cost. This is a major marketing ploy!! Don’t fall for it
I can't help to wonder what the long term consequences will be. Since folks on these drugs do not have an appetite...will they be malnourished? Osteopenia/osteoporosis, muscle wasting due to inadequate protein intake, inadequate fat for hormone production, healthy brain, nerve conduction, cells. All the macronutrients and micronutrients will be deficient. What will happen long term? I guess we will find out.
I have a hunch-- but no proof-- that these new weight loss drugs contributed to the untimely deaths of Kirstie Alley (aggressive colon cancer) & LM Pressley (cardiac arrest, opiates, etc).
----
Look at how cringey this video is of Chelsea Handler. You can tell it's a pharma ad because she keeps repeating the product name.
https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1618679381228154881
----
Kirstie Alley was against mandates, and probably unvaccinated:
https://twitter.com/kirstiealley/status/1449459890817208326
Presley's weight loss before death:
https://www.tmz.com/2023/01/30/lisa-marie-presley-opioids-weight-loss-death-golden-globes/
Yes! Actually because I’m a total sugar addict and because I was so turned off by sugar, it helped me learn new behaviors and adopt better eating habits. I’m basically a clean eater, pescatarian, but wine and brownies, chocolate.. Semaglutide completely obliterated those cravings and thoughts.
I’ve never felt better in many ways and I’m hoping to manage the off ramp and use Semaglutide judiciously.
153 pounds to 123! I’m small framed a normal size 2-4.
"Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics has included medications such as Ozempic and other similar drugs into their recommendations for childhood obesity"
Are they inclusive enough to also cover children who "identify as fat" with that? I believe that's the so-called "trans fats". *badum tish* (Formerly aka anorexic. Unhealthy either way!)
Overrated. Lost 4 pounds after 2 months. Not worth it.
Love Semaglutide! Game changer. I get it from a compounding pharmacy. Lost 30 pounds, A1C at 4.6, blood work looks incredible, stops sugar craving, and slows gut motility. I’m off now as I’m at 125 pounds, my ideal weight. BMI dropped from 26 to 21. It’s expensive but worth it. I’m a retired pharmacist so I know exactly what I signed up for. Additionally, I microdosed it, still worked well! Healthy weight loss of 2 pounds a week.
Very good post. Thank you.
Something tells me Handler likes any drug.
Insulin is not "excreted", it is "secreted". To be excreted would be to remove it from the body, such as being excreted through urine or sweat.
However, the entire premise of these drugs is faulty, since Type 2 diabetes is a "disease" of EXCESS INSULIN! But actually, it is not a disease at all, but rather a physiologically normal response to an abnormal and dangerous dietary regimen of too much and too-frequent consumption of carbohydrates, and most particularly overconsumption of fructose, a sugar component of sucrose and HF corn syrup that contributes to fattly liver disease and liver insulin resistance.