After Oprah Winfrey confirmed she’s taking a weight-loss drug as part of her regimen to stay healthy, questions began about how exactly she’s using the medication.
Winfrey didn’t specify which treatment she’s been prescribed in her exclusive interview with People, published on Dec. 13.
The possibilities include Wegovy and Zepbound, which are approved for weight loss for people with obesity or complications from being overweight. Many patients have also been using Type 2 diabetes drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro off-label because weight loss is one of their side effects.
All of the medications mimic a hormone known as GLP-1, which the body releases when a person eats food. Zepbound and Mounjaro also target a second hormone.
‘I now use it as I feel I need it’
The headline of Winfrey’s interview with People described her approach to the medication as using it as a “maintenance tool” after decades of fluctuating weight.
“I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she told the magazine.
Winfrey also said she took the medication before Thanksgiving “because I knew I was going to have two solid weeks of eating.” Instead of gaining 8 pounds like she did last year, she only gained half a pound, she revealed, noting the drug “quiets the food noise.”
It’s unclear whether the talk show host intends to take the medication long-term to prevent weight regain or if she plans to only use it intermittently. TODAY.com has reached out to Winfrey for comment.
Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist and obesity medicine specialist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina, says his take on her comments is that she’s using the drug for long-term maintenance.
“The way I interpret that quote is that she presumably has used this medication for some period of time to help her lose weight, and she’s planning to…
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