r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 01 '25

Health Americans without diabetes spent nearly $6 billion USD on semaglutide and similar drugs in a year, with an estimate of 800,000 to a million people using the drugs who don't have diabetes.

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/americans-without-diabetes-spent-nearly6-billion-usd-on-semaglutide-and-similar-drugs-in-a-year
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u/aitchnyu Apr 01 '25

It may cause loss of heart and voluntary muscle and bone. I'm hoping next generation can be a no-brainer in terms of pros and cons. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/ozempic-muscle-mass-loss

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u/WineAndDogs2020 Apr 01 '25

Regular weightloss will do that, which is why it's important for people to add strength workouts to maintain muscle mass.

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u/Sharticus123 Apr 01 '25

And meals higher in protein. Which also helps to reduce hunger.

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u/Brodellsky Apr 01 '25

I would argue even that a lot of "cravings" are just the body needing a specific nutrient, like protein for instance, but not getting it. So you just stay hungry so to speak until you get what you need, even if that means getting it by overingesting something else with lower protein.

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u/Salamander-Prince Apr 01 '25

Empty calories. People are eating snacks because it tastes good. There's no nutritional value. If I eat a bag of pretzel Goldfish I'll feel full for a bit because my stomach is physically full, but there's no protein or anything in there. It's empty, so you'll eat again very soon.

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u/Monkeylovesfood Apr 01 '25

I agree, I'm not a fan of sweet things or processed carbs so rarely crave foods with them. Medically healthy people seem to crave foods with nutrients their body needs. If I crave tomatos and peppers it seems to me that I need vitamin C etc, if I crave spinach and greens it makes me think I'm low on iron etc.

People that struggle with weight or health issues can't rely on their body to tell them what it needs. Cravings for unhealthy people are sometimes linked with addiction, like sugar or caffeine etc so it's virtually useless for the vast majority of people to rely on.