With the current recognition of weight reduction and diabetes medication, individuals are at all times looking out for the most recent (and least expensive) Ozempic or Wegovy dupe. Enter: “Oatzempic,” a brand new drink taking on TikTok.
The drink—with a reputation that mixes the phrases “oats” and “Ozempic”—is made by mixing oats, water, and lime juice. TikTok customers are calling it the most recent weight reduction tonic, with some claiming that the beverage may help you lose 40 kilos in two months.
One TikTok creator’s video exhibiting her second day of the “Oatzempic Problem,” as she known as it, has gotten greater than 2.7 million views. On the time of publication, the hashtag #Oatzempic had greater than 1,100 posts and counting.
Whereas the elements in Oatzempic drinks are wholesome and should assist with weight administration, specialists warning that the drink’s comparability to Ozempic and larger weight reduction claims are overblown and deceptive.
“Ozempic is a hormone that impacts your mind, in addition to your intestine. It suppresses the urge for food for as much as per week,” stated Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Heart at Orange Coast Medical Heart in Fountain Valley, California. “If you eat oats, it will probably show you how to really feel full for a couple of hours. [They are] definitely not the identical.”
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Making a glass of Oatzempic is sort of equivalent to consuming a bowl of oatmeal, which may help folks with weight reduction. “In case you change your morning meal with oats, it will probably put you in a calorie deficit and show you how to drop a few pounds,” stated Ali.
The most important contributor right here is the fiber in oats—one cup packs in about 8 grams of fiber, which may help hold you feeling full and cut back your urge for food, in accordance with Ali. One particular kind of fiber in oats—beta-glucan—is a soluble fiber that absorbs water, turns it right into a gel, and slows down digestion.
Moreover, a 2023 evaluation of earlier analysis concluded that oats “have a constructive position in sustaining physique weight and BMI, lowering p.c physique fats, and regulating urge for food and power.”
However whereas oats and oatmeal might assist help weight reduction and weight administration, their mechanisms and outcomes are vastly completely different than weight reduction drugs.
Ozempic—together with different in style medication 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 physique. This slows down the digestion course of, which may help sufferers keep fuller for longer and eat much less.
Although oats (and fiber generally) may also set off the physique into releasing GLP-1 naturally, it’s not in the identical approach or on the identical scale as GLP-1 receptor agonists, stated Rudolph Bedford, MD, a gastroenterologist at Windfall Saint John’s Well being Heart in Santa Monica, California. “Oatmeal simply fills you up,” he added.
Ali agreed: “Whereas a breakfast of oatmeal is wholesome and filling, it’s definitely no alternative for Ozempic.”
The promise of quick weight reduction is the massive draw with Oatzempic claims, however wholesome and sustainable weight reduction usually takes a slower method. “Everyone seems to be in search of a straightforward answer, however sadly, there isn’t a simple answer with weight reduction,” stated Ali.
In case you’re losing a few pounds via dietary adjustments, Ali stated {that a} tempo of dropping one to 2 kilos per week is an affordable aim. “However it’s important to consider the place the particular person is ranging from,” he stated. “Individuals with the next weight may lose extra at first.”
In case you’re all in favour of attempting Oatzempic, Bedford stated there’s no hurt in giving it a attempt—that is mainly simply having oatmeal, in any case. “It’s definitely not going to harm anybody,” he stated. (You’ll, nonetheless, need to drink loads of water to assist keep away from further bloating, gasoline, and constipation, he added.)
However merely ingesting a glass of Oatzempic is unlikely to have any actual results if different life-style habits stay unchanged. In that case, Ali stated specializing in different adjustments, together with an general nutritious food regimen and extra energetic life-style, is helpful. “It’s necessary to give attention to the food regimen all through the day,” he stated, “not only one meal.”