In May, newly reported survey data from KFF showed that one in eight adults (12%) have tried a GLP-1 agonist — the class of drugs that includes Ozempic. Six percent reported currently taking one. Though these drugs have been prescribed for people with diabetes for decades, the conversation around their use for weight loss has exploded in the past couple of years. According to the same survey, “Awareness of GLP-1 drugs has increased in the past year, with about one-third (32%) of adults now saying they have heard ‘a lot’ about these drugs, up from 19% in July 2023.” Fifty-four percent of people who took a GLP drug said it was difficult to afford — and it is often reported that, although doctors recommend staying on these drugs for a lifetime, many abandon them after a year.
So, it’s no surprise that several wellness- and supplement-focused brands have launched products intended to meet the moment, though each of the products discussed in this piece positions itself slightly differently and uses different ingredients. In addition to supplements created to “mimic” the effects of drugs like Ozempic, there is also a growing segment of products to support users of GLP-1 medications, both in the supplement space and in grocery aisles. According to the CDC, 74% of adults in the United States are overweight and 43% of those people are considered obese.
Dr. Alexandra Sowa, an obesity medicine specialist, and founder of her own supplement brand, SoWell, said she recommends supplements for addressing targeted deficiencies to patients all the time. But, she said, it is important for patients to understand that such products will not achieve the same results GLP-1 medications do. On the flip side, “Not everybody needs a [GLP-1] injection.” she said. “There are other tools in the metabolic health toolkit.”
As with correctly using so many innovations in beauty and wellness, it comes down to education. “My concern is in the marketing of [these supplements] as interchangeable for a pretty serious medicine that is used to treat a medical condition,” said Dr. Rekha Kumar, endocrinologist at Weill Cornell Medicine. “But I don’t think these supplements are inherently bad.”
Consumers need to do their research — after all, products like these are not regulated by the FDA. GLP-1, short for glucagon-like-peptide-1, is, in the simplest terms, a hormone our intestines naturally make after a meal that regulates blood sugar and signals fullness to the brain, as explained by Dr. Kumar.
For a wide variety of reasons, the systems of people not on these drugs can “get out of whack,” said Colleen Cutcliffe, co-founder and CEO of Pendulum Therapeutics, which sells a probiotic called GLP-1 Probiotic, which is $95 for a one-month supply. “You have high GLP levels at the wrong time or too-low GLP-1 levels at other times, and then your body is all confused.” That’s when prescription GLP-1 drugs can help the body regulate.
Dr. Kumar examined the ingredients in several of the buzziest of these supplements, some of which use “GLP-1” in their names, to evaluate how they stack up against the potency of a prescription drug.
In mid-September, Lemme debuted its GLP-1 Daily supplement, priced at $90 for a one-month supply without a subscription. “The second we launched Lemme [in September 2022], we had thousands of messages from people interested in natural GLP-1 supplements,” said Simon Huck, Lemme co-founder. “People were writing us asking, ‘Do you have anything that increases GLP-1 levels?’ ‘Do you have anything around weight management?’ ‘Do you have anything around appetite regulation?’ So we started developing this product two years ago.” Before it launched GLP-1 Daily, Lemme put out Lemme Curb, aimed at reducing sugar and carb cravings, and Lemme Burn, intended to increase the user’s metabolism and combat belly fat.
The GLP-1 Daily supplement uses three primary ingredients: Eriomin lemon fruit extract, Supresa saffron extract and Morosil red orange fruit extract. When asked if the brand hesitated to name the product GLP-1 Daily, Huck said, “It felt like the right name because Eriomin is such a unique, patented ingredient, and there’ve been multiple clinical trials on naturally increasing GLP-1 in the body. So, it felt like one of the most important pieces of this formulation. So many people are interested in their GLP-1 levels, it just made sense that the name reflect that.”
So far, the product has been popular among customers, new customers and a lot of men, who aren’t typically the brand’s core customer but are interested in this category, Huck said. “GLP-1 Daily is our fastest growing product and has quickly become a top 3 seller.”
Commenting on Lemme’s product, Dr. Kumar said, “I like that the brand has very natural ingredients and doesn’t have additives. The extracts in it are based on some research, but marketing it as an alternative to actual GLP-1 injections would be my concern.” She added that supplements will never achieve what prescription drugs can, based on strength alone.
Hum’s supplement focuses on just one ingredient, which is in its name: Best of Berberine — it sells for $35. Though Hum has been careful not to market the product this way, Berberine has frequently been touted as “nature’s Ozempic.”
According to Walter Faulstroh, CEO and co-founder of Hum Nutrition, Best of Berberine is a product that has been sought after by consumers who stopped taking a GLP-1 drug and saw their weight come back — a common occurrence. Berberine is a natural compound found in plants that may lower glucose levels. “It can support healthy weight management, but it cannot [provide the] drastic weight loss results you would experience with a drug like Ozempic,” he said.
Hum also offers other products related to weight management, including Skinny Bird, which is said to help curb appetite, and Ripped Rooster, which i”helps the body burn fat,” according to the company. Best of Berberine is its most recent launch in the category.
According to Dr. Kumar, “Berberine shows data for improved glucose metabolism, so it’s something that could be considered more of a natural Metformin, but [it does have] he level of clinical efficacy of a GLP-1.” Metformin is another prescription medication sometimes prescribed for weight loss.
Probiotic brand Pendulum also uses “GLP-1” in the name of a product, which, unlike the other appetite-suppressant supplements, is a probiotic. Prior to launching its GLP-1 Probiotic, Pendulum offered a Glucose Control probiotic and a Metabolic Daily probiotic. “We came up with a GLP-1 probiotic because, baked into both of those [aforementioned] formulations are a couple of probiotic strains that have been shown to stimulate GLP-1 production,” Cutcliffe said. As hype around GLP-1 drugs rose, she expected consumers to be looking for alternatives and natural routes to boosting their GLP-1, he said.
In June, Arrae, best known for its popular debloat supplement, launched MB-1 with wild postings reading “Your all-natural fauxzempic.” It costs $65 for a one-month supply, without a subscription.
The product, geared at “optimizing metabolic burn,” contains ingredients including African mango seed, said to reduce fat cells; green tea extract, which Arrae’s website says “acts as a prebiotic for balanced metabolism and steady energy;” and chromium picolinate, “an essential trace mineral that improves insulin sensitivity,” according to the brand.
Looking at the ingredients in Arrae MB-1, Dr. Kumar noted that B vitamins are common in weight loss supplements, and chromium picolinate has some research behind it that supports a reduction in sugar cravings.
The need for customers to do research and consult doctors before taking supplements is nothing new, but the stakes can feel higher when it comes to weight and weight loss, already such a vulnerable topic for so many. Though supplements may be able to help curb cravings, it is important that customers understand that they will not — and cannot — yield the same results as an injectable prescription medication, given the higher strength of prescription medications.
“We have to be very careful with brands coming in and saying, ‘Oh, I have something that could potentially help the GLP-1 pathway, so we’re going to call this the GLP-1 [supplement].’ Or, I have something that could maybe reduce your hunger a little bit. So we’re going to call this ‘fauxzempic.’ That’s disingenuous,” Dr. Sowa said. “These GLP-1 medications are revolutionary in their sweeping success and the percentages of weight loss that we see, we’re just not going to find that with a supplement. … But there is room for both to exist.”
Sowa, in fact, sells a supplement called Balanced that features many of the same ingredients as the brands discussed above, including chromium and berberine, though she is clear that she does not consider it to be a substitute for a GLP-1 prescription.
“It can be even predatory to [offer] promise to someone in their most vulnerable state when we know that it’s not going to give them what they need,” she said. “I am a fan of supplements; I recommend them all the time in my practice when [a patient has] targeted deficiencies or there’s a specific need. But we do know that, across the board, weight loss does not happen from supplements. And we are at a point in time, thankfully, that we have other efficacious solutions.”
But, she added, “Sometimes just getting people actively involved in thinking about their health, even once a day [by taking a supplement], can have a big benefit. … Like, ‘OK, I took my supplement, and now I’m going to go to the gym. … But we have to be very careful about overpromising what can be delivered.”
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