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‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

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Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#521
post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. How was it socially isolating? I’m curious because I exercise and diet and this is not my experience. I understand it being challenging though.

OP commented on a weight-loss scheme of eating every other day. Given the social attitudes around eating (which I suspect to be the #1 most common social activity), this alone has the obvious potential to eliminate ~%50 of the most likely socializing opportunities.

They said every other day was easier than "normal" dieting.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#522
post #440
post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prior to the 20th century, it was pretty routine for average people to have inadequate access to nutrition. The rise in obesity corresponded with sweeping changed in agricultural policy that backstopped the prices of staple foods with subsidies and improved land and water management to prevent dust bowls. The result is everybody has enough food available cheaply all the time. Rolling any of that back is likely to rep…

Obesity rates started rising in the 1980's in the US, not the turn of the 20th century. This corresponds with poor diet, not abundant nutrition.

They were going up before the 1970s, there was a momentary blip in the mid/late 70s before they started going up steadily again.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#523
post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-obese people who eat McDonalds and drink Coke are unequivocally healthier than obese people who adhere to the healthiest diets. There's absolutely zero academic research that disputes that obesity (and exercise) by far is the largest risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Wow that's some impressive logical gymnastics. If these people adhere to the "healthiest diets" they will eventually no longer be obese. American food is shit. Most people have no clue what healthy food is, even if they intend to eat a healthy diet.

You're strawmanning here. Parent commenter clearly meant healthy as in containing only "healthy" foods. If you eat 4,000 calories of brown rice, chicken and broccoli a day you will get fat. Colloquially, though, their diet would be called healthy because of it's constituent foods.

Edit: you will get fat assuming you are like most people and do not expend greater than 4k calories / day in total

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#524
post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. How was it socially isolating? I’m curious because I exercise and diet and this is not my experience. I understand it being challenging though.

Because if you want to lose quickly, and once you get the discipline to lose you do want it to be quick, you have to restrict your calories A LOT. I'm not OP but when I was losing, as a 6"2 male, I was eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day. This does not allow you to eat anything outside of small meals and drink anything outside of water or diet sodas. I was still going sometimes to the restaurant with friends…

> Going to a night club without drinking is not fun at all for example.

This is where coke and mdma come in.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#526

I’m currently taking one of these drugs and it has been no less than a miracle in my life. I became obese when I was around 5, topping out around a 34 BMI. When I was 20 I lost a substantial amount of weight the old fashioned way (diet and exercise), and within 8 months I was BMI 23. Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. 7 years later, I had a bad ankle injury and regained weight to about 29…

I'm also on one of these drugs (Tirzepatide) and have been for a few months. The first time I remember knowing I was fat was when a babysitter made fun of me for it at age 6. I've been fat ever since and I'm in my late 30s now.

I've lost significant amounts of weight (60+ pounds) three times in my adult life, through simple calorie restriction (intermittent fasting, including before I'd ever heard the term). Every time, I've gained the weight back. At the beginning of 2022, I was the heaviest I've ever been.

I've accomplished very hard things in my life, including those that take sustained effort. Sufficient willpower isn't a problem for me in general. I honestly only ever hear "it's easy, just eat less and move more" from people that have never actually been fat. "I did it and I lost 15 pounds, no big deal!" and the like. 15 pounds is easy for me to temporarily lose too. I've done it enough times I should know ;)

I've heard people say that the solution is to eat (healthy food) when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. The thing is, I'm never full. I can eat until I physically can't eat anymore (not something I do regularly, of course), and as soon as my stomach has emptied a bit, I feel fairly hungry again. "Eat until you feel full" is literally a human experience I had never really had.

On this drug, I finally know what people are talking about. I still like food, and I still get hungry. But it doesn't dominate my thoughts. I eat, and don't feel like eating again for hours. I eat something that I'd normally easily eat all of like a big burrito or whatever, and I feel quite full halfway through with no desire to finish. I'm steadily losing weight, with none of the usual preoccupation with hunger, ascetic adherence to a strict calorie plan, etc. But above all, I feel like I must be experiencing what most thin people experience all the time. I'll be perfectly happy to take the drug for the rest of my life, though I do hope affordability improves.

As for side effects: I've had some heartburn, but none of the other commonly reported side effects.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#528
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it makes more logical sense to you that everyone is just weak-willed?

Yes, it doesn't to you?

I think it makes sense to someone who has never tried to starve their body. Doing that will change your appreciation for the human brain.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#529
Convincing people to not fool around never worked so the birth control pill was invented to allow people to indulge with less consequences. I recall someone (I forget who) said that things that prevent you from eating will never work and the only solution is something that allows you to indulge without the consequences. Does this drug allow you to indulge without consequences or does it make you not want to eat? If its the later, I bet that it won't have long term success.

Edit: A drug that allows you to indulge without consequence in this context would be a bad thing. It would allow people to eat non-stop without the consequences and would increase the demand for food in the modern nations to unreasonable levels. If you think about it, this kind of drug would have the same outcome as bulimia (think, hunger games).

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#530
post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-obese people who eat McDonalds and drink Coke are unequivocally healthier than obese people who adhere to the healthiest diets. There's absolutely zero academic research that disputes that obesity (and exercise) by far is the largest risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Wow that's some impressive logical gymnastics. If these people adhere to the "healthiest diets" they will eventually no longer be obese. American food is shit. Most people have no clue what healthy food is, even if they intend to eat a healthy diet.

This is pseudoscience. As long as you consume a certain amount of calories and get your daily nutritions, you can eat whatever you want without getting obese. You can still become obese eating 3000 kcals of salad every day without exercising. Of course, healthy caloric intake will only ensure you don't become obese, you'll still be consuming way more fat/carbs than you should if you eat McDonalds, but it is certainly possible to create a "healthy" everyday-McDonalds diet (but you would be changing the meal to the point it won't be recognizable)
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