'Oatzempic Challenge': Experts Weigh In on Viral Weight Loss Drink - Health.com

borostos.blogspot.com

With the recent popularity of weight loss and diabetes drugs, people are always on the lookout for the newest (and cheapest) Ozempic or Wegovy dupe. Enter: “Oatzempic,” a new drink taking over TikTok.

The drink—with a name that combines the words “oats” and “Ozempic”—is made by mixing oats, water, and lime juice. TikTok users are calling it the newest weight loss tonic, with some claiming that the beverage can help you lose 40 pounds in two months.

One TikTok creator’s video showing her second day of the “Oatzempic Challenge,” as she called it, has gotten more than 2.7 million views. At the time of publication, the hashtag #Oatzempic had more than 1,100 posts and counting.

While the ingredients in Oatzempic drinks are healthy and may help with weight management, experts caution that the drink’s comparison to Ozempic and greater weight loss claims are overblown and misleading.

“Ozempic is a hormone that affects your brain, as well as your gut. It suppresses the appetite for up to a week,” said Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. “When you eat oats, it can help you feel full for a few hours. [They are] certainly not the same.”

Elena Vafina / Getty Images

Making a glass of Oatzempic is nearly identical to eating a bowl of oatmeal, which can help people with weight loss. “If you replace your morning meal with oats, it can put you in a calorie deficit and help you lose weight,” said Ali.

The largest contributor here is the fiber in oats—one cup packs in about 8 grams of fiber, which can help keep you feeling full and reduce your appetite, according to Ali. One specific type of fiber in oats—beta-glucan—is a soluble fiber that absorbs water, turns it into a gel, and slows down digestion.

Additionally, a 2023 review of previous research concluded that oats “have a positive role in maintaining body weight and BMI, reducing percent body fat, and regulating appetite and energy.”

But while oats and oatmeal may help support weight loss and weight management, their mechanisms and results are vastly different than weight loss medications.

Ozempic—along with other popular drugs like Wegovy, Victoza, and Saxenda—is a glucagon-type peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, which works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone produced naturally by your body. This slows down the digestion process, which can help patients stay fuller for longer and eat less.

Though oats (and fiber in general) can also trigger the body into releasing GLP-1 naturally, it’s not in the same way or on the same scale as GLP-1 receptor agonists, said Rudolph Bedford, MD, a gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “Oatmeal just fills you up,” he added.

Ali agreed: “While a breakfast of oatmeal is healthy and filling, it’s certainly no replacement for Ozempic.”

The promise of fast weight loss is the big draw with Oatzempic claims, but healthy and sustainable weight loss often takes a slower approach. “Everyone is looking for an easy solution, but unfortunately, there is no easy solution with weight loss,” said Ali.

If you’re losing weight through dietary changes, Ali said that a pace of losing one to two pounds a week is a reasonable goal. “But you have to take into account where the person is starting from,” he said. “People with a higher weight might lose more at first.”

If you’re interested in trying Oatzempic, Bedford said there’s no harm in giving it a try—this is basically just having oatmeal, after all. “It’s certainly not going to hurt anyone,” he said. (You will, however, want to drink plenty of water to help avoid extra bloating, gas, and constipation, he added.)

But simply drinking a glass of Oatzempic is unlikely to have any real effects if other lifestyle habits remain unchanged. In that case, Ali said focusing on other changes, including an overall nutritious diet and more active lifestyle, is beneficial. “It’s important to focus on the diet throughout the day,” he said, “not just one meal.”

Adblock test (Why?)

"oat" - Google News
March 29, 2024 at 11:30PM
https://ift.tt/jarJRBn

'Oatzempic Challenge': Experts Weigh In on Viral Weight Loss Drink - Health.com
"oat" - Google News
https://ift.tt/ZfmBtNF
https://ift.tt/6s5cTLA

Bagikan Berita Ini