NBC News
The Food and Medicines Administration (FDA, in English) is taking energetic measures against the versions composed of the popular drugs to lose weight Wegovy (whose active substance is semaglutida) and Zepbound (with tirzepatida), and those that depend on these cheapest medications to lose weight can be attracted by a dangerous sector of the market of dietary supplements.
Of colored patches and gummies with fruit punch to prebiotic powders and sublingual dyes, these dietary supplements that affirm “complement” or “supercharge” the body levels of the LPG-1 intestinal hormone abound. While compound medications require at least one virtual consultation with a doctor to obtain a recipe, these supplements can be acquired without recipe.
In the best case, these products are misleading, says Jamie Alan, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Faculty of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. The so-called LPG-1 supplements, whose name refers to the agonist drug class of the Glucagon-like agonist drugs that includes Wegovy and Zepbound, are probably ineffective to lose weight.
“If you can buy without a recipe, it is not a GLP-1 drug itself,” says Alan, “it is another thing that is marketed to support your endogenous production of LPG-1”. “These things are only older supplements that are renowned, and there really is no scientific evidence behind them,” he adds.
Ashwagandha and green tea extract are some of the natural ingredients that have been recycling in dietary products, according to Alan. Ashwagandha is often announced as stress soothing and, although stress hormone, cortisol, is related to weight gain, there is few evidence that this perennial leaf bush helps directly to lose weight. Green tea and its extract can have a “possible modest effect on body weight”, according to mixed investigations cited by the Office of Dietary Supplements, some of which relate the extract with liver damage.
“We are returning to these products that have been ineffective in the past,” said Alan. Among the ingredients that appear in the LPG-1 supplements labels are from the Berber to chromium, through the saffron extract, whose effects on weight loss have been little investigated.
And what is missing in ingredient lists is worth mentioning.
The Kind Patches brand indicates that its GLP-1 adhesive “does not contain synthetic LPG-1 and is not an agonist drug of the LPG-1.” Lemme, the Kourtney Kardashian Barker brand, includes a discharge of identical responsibility for its GLP-1 Daily Support Capsules. Trim Biome GLP-1, manufactured by INNO SUPPS, presumes “clinically studied ingredients”, but not the hormone that appears in the product name.
Lemme declined to comment; Inno Supps and Kind Patches did not respond to a request to contribute their own.
Jeff Ventura, vice president of Communications of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a commercial group of the supplement industry, said in a statement that “there are no direct comparators” for GLP-1 medicines in the dietary supplements industry.
“Although some supplements ingredients have proven promising in limited studies related to metabolic health and weight control, they do not have the same effects as GLP-1 drugs,” said Ventura.
“It is very delicate, because they will put that great ‘LPG-1’ and make you think: ‘Well, perhaps this is the drug’, if you are not thinking about how to read these labels or if you do not know how to read these labels,” Alan added.
The FDA does not regulate the security or effectiveness of dietary supplements before they go on the market, whether multivitamin of daily consumption or powdered proteins and after training. He advises to consult a doctor before adding a supplement.
“Some of them could be harmful,” says Alan, “there will be some people who could have an important pharmacological interaction, which could have an important medical condition. In most cases, the risk is minimal, but not in all.”
Why do the drugs GLP-1 disappear?
The GLP-1 drugs are not new, since they are used to treat type 2 diabetes since 2005. Demand shot after the FDA approved Wegovy and Zepbound for weight loss in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The consequent shortage made the intervention of compound pharmacies legal.
Compound pharmacies usually mix, alter or combine medication ingredients to meet the specific needs of a patient. For example, a pharmacy can make a liquid version of a medication that only occurs in the form of a pill for someone who has problems passing the pills. In case of medication shortage, they are also authorized to manufacture drugs that are “essentially copies” of those available in the market.
The versions composed of Wegovy and Zepbound became very popular, partly because they sold for much less money than their brand equivalents. Wegovy, for example, is priced at $ 1,349 for a four -week supply, although some insurance plans cover it. Weightwatchers offers compound semaglutida from $ 129 per month.
That is coming to an end: the FDA declared the end of the shortage of Tirzepatida in December and did the same with that of Semaglutida in February. Manufacturers must withdraw their products. The grace period for Tirzepatida manufacturers is over, and semaglutida producers have until Tuesday or May 22, depending on whether they are a state -licensed pharmacy or an outsourcing center.
This leaves a huge margin so that GLP-1 supplements sellers flood the world market of 49.3 billion dollars and convince consumers that a package of 15 dollars of unproven patches will give the same results as the brand drug Metabolic of the Cleveland Clinic.
Butsch, who has been a Novo Nordisk consultant (wegovy manufacturer) and Eli Lilly (Zepbound manufacturer), said he was already worried about the omnipresence of semaglutida and tirzepatida compounds in recent years.
“The FDA says it very clearly: these compound versions are not the same,” he said, “they don’t have the same ingredients. They have not been tested.”
Worse, Butsch added, compound manufacturers and now supplements are using lower prices to go to an already vulnerable clientele. Walmart, for example, sells various LPG-1 supplements for less than $ 50.
Blair Cromwell, director of Global Communications at Walmart Marketplace in the United States, said dietary supplements are sold by third -party vendors in his marketplace.
“Our policy allows the sale of dietary supplements if they comply with applicable regulations, as well as federal, state and local laws, and FTC guidelines,” he said, adding that the company would probably review the products marketed as GLP-1 supplements and “would eliminate them if they discover that they make inappropriate or inaccurate statements.”
“(The welfare market) has continued to take advantage of the desperate, and these are people who have poor access,” said Butsch, “patients with obesity have always had little access to medications for obesity.”
He added: “There is some optimism among people who think that some money can be saved and continue to obtain benefits.”
No simple remedy can match the LPG-1
Dariush Mozafarian, cardiologist and director of the Food Is Medicine Institute of the University of Tufts, said: “There is no simple dietary remedy that will do what these drugs do in a short time.”
Even so, the metabolic mechanism that supplements claim to achieve-impulse the production of LPG-1-does not lack merit.
“The foods I eat are biological information that activates the hormones of my body, including the LPG-1,” said Mozaffarian, and pointed out that it has been shown that healthy fats and fiber-rich foods trigger the production of LPG-1.
But his natural liberation in the bloodstream is ephemeral; The drugs with LPG-1 mimic the hormone and keep it for longer, which can help suppress appetite.
“It is too early for GLP-1 supplements) to have a scientific basis,” said Mozafarian, “but I think in the future we can give people clearer recommendations about what a natural form is, based on lifestyle, to enhance the function of GLP-1.”
For now, he said, “I would not spend money on these supplements, but on healthy food.” Alan, on the other hand, of the Michigan State University, was blunt: “At this point it is snake oil,” he said, “you are really wasting your money.”
