Mounjaro/Zepbound’s Stable Weight Loss Curve

When it comes to GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs), most of the talk is about semaglutide (e.g. Ozempic and Wegovy), but there are other options. For example:

Ozempic’s cousin drug liraglutide is about to get cheaper. But how does it stack up?

Today, though, we’re going to talk about tirzepatide.

What is tirzepatide?

It’s another GLP-1 RA, meaning that although it’s chemically different from the other aforementioned drugs (and thus gets a separate patent), it’s doing fundamentally the same job in the same fundamental way.

For this reason, sometimes they all get held under the same umbrella when it comes to science examining their effects, for example:

Most People Who Start GLP-1 RAs Quit Them Within A Year (Here’s Why)

Still, there are small differences in their performance in various ways, so they call get different studies, too.

In the main study we’re going to talk about today, they looked at tirzepatide use for weight loss over the course of three years.

Note:

• Mounjaro is terzepatide licensed for use in diabetes
• Zepbound is terzepatide licensed for use in weight loss

They’re the exact same drug and are even made by the same company; the distinction is only because the FDA likes to be paid twice.

About the study

The study followed 690 participants who were took tirzepatide consistently over three years (65% being female, average age 49, average BMI 38.6).

Some results:

• The average time to reach nadir weight (i.e. their lowest recorded weight over the observation period) was 22 months
• Over that time, participants enjoyed a 23.1% mean weight reduction.
• Over the full three years, participants regained an average of 3.7 of those percentage points.
• This means that after the full three years, they had enjoyed, on average, a sustained net loss of 19.4%.

To break it down by dosages (participants were taking 5mg/day, 10mg/day, or 15mg/day):

• 5 mg: 73% regained <5%, 19% regained 5–10%, 8% regained ≥10%
• 10 mg: 65% regained <5%, 26% regained 5–10%, 9% regained ≥10%
• 15 mg: 73% regained <5%, 20% regained 5–10%, 7% regained ≥10%

Which is pretty good! You can read all about it here:

Three-year study of tirzepatide shows that most patients only regain 5% or less from their lowest weight

However! Headlines quoting that stat without any kind of caveat are a little misleading, as it can look like it is claiming that if you stop taking it, then you’ll only regain 5% or less from your lowest weight. Which is not true.

If you stop taking it, you’ll indeed bounce back to more or less your original weight, or potentially a little higher, because of metabolic adjustments as a result of losing muscle along with the fat due to eating less.

See also: What happens when I stop taking a drug like Ozempic or Mounjaro?

Want a natural method instead?

It is possible to get many of the effects of GLP-1 RAs without taking GLP-1RAs, by enjoying foods that increase incretin, a hormone group (the most well-known of which is GLP-1) that slows down stomach emptying, which means a gentler blood sugar curve and feeling fuller for longer. It also acts on the hypothalamus, controlling appetite via the brain too (signalling fullness and reducing hunger).

For what foods to focus on, see:

5 Ways To Naturally Boost The “Ozempic Effect” ← this is from Dr. Jason Fung, who is perhaps most well-known for his work in functional medicine for reversing diabetes, and he’s once again giving us sound advice about metabolic hormone-hacking with dietary tweaks!

Enjoy!