Weight-loss drugs better for slimming down than dieting, says expert

Those planning to slim down with a diet in the New Year may want to think again. 

An expert has now claimed that changing eating and exercise habits will never be as effective as weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Ozempic.

University of Ottawa Professor Yoni Freedhoff, who has spent decades studying the best ways to slim down, compared data from lifestyle-based weight-loss trial Look Ahead to two trials of new slimming jabs. 

He has now warned that those hoping to make a significant change to their body shape through dieting may be in for disappointment.

Participants in the Look Ahead trial stuck to an ‘intensive’ diet plan, shedding, on average, 4.7 per cent of their total body weight and keeping it off for at least four years.

Those in the jab trials, however, kept off between 10 and 25 per cent of their body weight over the same timeframe, depending on the type of drug used.

‘It’s not a bad thing that we have medications that deliver better outcomes than lifestyle – in fact, it’s terrific,’ said Prof Freedhoff in an article for medical news website Medscape. 

More than four in ten Brits set a New Year resolution to lose weight (file photo)

‘[They] provide not only dramatically greater and more durable weight loss than lifestyle interventions, they have also been shown to very significantly reduce the risk for an ever-growing list of other medical concerns, including heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnoea, fatty liver disease and more, while carrying minimal risk.’

Last year more than four in ten Brits set a New Year resolution to lose weight, with four out of five giving up by the third week of January.

Weight-loss drugs include semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro.

Earlier this month a plan was announced to roll out tirzepatide on the NHS. Nearly a quarter of a million people are expected to be eligible for the drug in the New Year.