I have just finished reading this book and I can highly recommend it if you are interested in the background, science, and future of weight loss jabs.
It’s a book about weight loss, why we gain weight, the impact of ultra processed food, why diets often don’t work, it covers a wide range of topics, and all through the lens of weight loss injections.
I actually listened to it on Audible, and it was read by the author, he is very easy to listen to and made it easy to understand.
Despite the title, it is all about the jabs. Johann himself was on Ozempic for several months, lost a few stones, and had been off the medication about 5 months at the time of writing.
I was particularly interested in discovering what they still do not know about the drug. Especially about the effects on our brains.
He explores that there is a link to depression following weight loss surgery as people have effectively lost the one thing that brought them comfort, food.
The evidence shows, that as well as impacting our appetite, it could also be impacting our reward receptors in our brain. This would mean that the sense of reward and comfort is no longer triggered by food. But they are also noticing that people on the drug are reducing other addictive behaviours too, such as drinking alcohol and even nail biting!
I personally have only had one alcoholic drink in the 10 weeks since I started the meds. It was a cocktail when I had a very posh lunch at The Savoy. The glass was beautiful, and sipping a cocktail felt appropriate, but I didn’t actually enjoy the taste. I am not a big drinker normally, and last year I gave up alcohol for 100 days as an experiment. I would occasionally open a bottle of wine on a Friday evening, have a glass, then another glass on Saturday, and find myself pouring the rest down the sink a week later.
But it was the fact that it had not occurred to me that I hadn’t drank until I read about it in the book.
The slightly worrying side of the impact of this reduction in reward could mean feeling more flat, more subdued, and less feeling of reward because food is no longer giving us that. I am aware that I have not once thought ‘ooh I fancy a takeaway tonight’ but I have fancied going out for Sunday lunch and looked forward to roast beef, loads of veg and a Yorkshire pudding. So, I hope my sense of what I find rewarding is shifting with me.
He also puts some of the blame for the obesity crisis on ultra processed food. Something I also believe to be the real issue. So, he tells of his discomfort of resorting to a manufactured medical solution to a manufactured food problem. A band aid.
But he also acknowledges that if your house is on fire, you could try to resolve the root of the problem, and find a safer way to build houses. But if your house is on fire, first you have to douse it with water.
My house is on fire. I’m using the jabs to get the ‘easy’ ‘quick’ fix. But then understand that the long-term solution is eating real food, not ultra processed food.
You can find the book on Amazon here https://amzn.eu/d/0d4LYzuX
And on Audible here https://amzn.eu/d/0flUgxL6
I can also recommend the podcast series ‘Wall Street Journal, Trillion dollar shot’.
You can listen to it here https://www.wsj.com/audio/search?query=trillion+dollar+shot
In this podcast they talk to the people from Elli Lilley about how the medication was created and how they see developments in the future.
It has given me great hope, that by the time I reach my goal, there will be new products available.
I’m hoping for a one-a-day pill designed for ongoing maintenance.