Comment by Aurornis
1 day ago
That is the question now. Some studies have some early evidence that GLP-1s might reduce inflammation markers a little more than weight loss alone.
Giving GLP-1s to normal weight people doesn’t work well because they can have to work harder to maintain their weight. That can be a real problem as people get older where maintaining muscle mass is important for quality of life and longevity. I remember how hard it was to keep some of my grandparents at a healthy weight, so adding a GLP-1 to a non-obese elderly group is a no-go for study purposes. Going to be hard to separate these effects out.
I'm normal weight and am on a low dose (1mg every 10 days) of tirzepatide. I'm able to maintain my weight at this dose, and I've seen improvements in inflammation and other blood markers as well. It's not impossible, it's just difficult to do within the normal health system parameters (specific dosages tested for weight loss, etc.). I use a gray market supplier direct from China and reconstitute the dose myself.
I have no trouble eating maintenance calories at 25.0 BMI on 3.5-4.5 mg/wk of tirzepatide, lol. (1mg every 10 days normalizes to 0.7mg/wk.)
My assumption was that GLP-1's don't suppress appetite so much as suppress the compulsion to eat when not necessary/more than necessary?
They also clearly have some impacts on metabolism. It’s well known that a challenge with dieting isn’t just eating less, it’s metabolic changes that make weight loss harder. GLP-1’s avoid that.
They do slow down the metabolism, yes.
They seem to also act on some reward mechanism - making some stuff (not just food. Alcohol, gambling, porn, smoking, other drugs have anecdotally been reported to feel less attractive / addictive) have a reduced pull on one's will. They also measurably delay gastric emptying - to the point that some medicines, meant to be taken on an empty stomach, are not safe to take within up to 3 hours from the last meal, compared to one hour or so for other people.
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> metabolic changes that make weight loss harder
Which are vastly overblown. I diet every year as part of bodybuilding, at a range of intensities and durations, and have never had issues with sudden metabolic changes that make it harder to lose weight.
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It’s both. That’s why it’s so effective.
What is appetite?