Former “Biggest Loser” trainer and fitness coach Jillian Michaels warned against the dangers of the semaglutide injection drug Ozempic, which is primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes but is frequently used for weight loss.
Ozempic has become a popular pick among celebrities for weight loss, with big-name stars, including Sharon Osbourne and Oprah, admitting to using the drug to drop pounds. But Michaels cautions users about some of the drug’s side effects, which she says outweigh the benefits.
“If it was the easy way out, I would recommend it,” the 49-year-old fitness coach told Fox News Digital during an interview published Wednesday. “I’d be like, ‘Fantastic, let me get in the business. Let me get my app on board. Let me sell these drugs through my app.’ Just like Weight Watchers.”
“Of course, I would get in line and profit like crazy if I didn’t really believe these things were bad, based on the research that’s already out there,” Michaels added.
The “Biggest Loser” trainer cautioned people against taking health advice from untrained celebrities.
“All these celebrities are not health experts,” Michaels told Fox News. “They’re not nutritionists. They’re not fitness experts. And they don’t spend all day talking to doctors.”
She continued, saying, “Every medication, whether it’s antibiotics or vaccines, have a cost-benefit analysis. They all have side effects. So, when we look at Ozempic and all of those drugs there are many side effects from extremely nefarious to just absolutely sh***y, no pun intended.”
Michaels mentioned both common and serious side effects associated with semaglutide, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, pancreatitis, changes in vision, kidney issues, and gallbladder problems.
She also mentioned a phenomenon that’s been nicknamed “Ozempic face.” This happens when a person using the drug loses weight too quickly, which results in sagging skin, especially in the face.
Finally, the fitness coach pointed out how people who use Ozempic for weight loss will need to stay on the medication to maintain the benefits if they don’t change their lifestyle. She argues that since the medication is an appetite suppressant, the same results can be achieved without resorting to using Ozempic.
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“Here’s the problem with this: [It’s] that you can never get off these drugs. If you do get off of them, all of the meta-analysis shows us that you will gain all the weight back, and then some, two-thirds of it within the first year,” Michaels told the outlet.
“You will plateau on Ozempic. It will stop working right around the 18-month to two-year mark. It’s going to stop working. Now what are you going to do? Because now you’re literally beholden to it. It’s expensive. Insurance isn’t going to cover it forever. Are you going to be on it forever? So, we don’t even know what this looks like five years down the road, ten years down the road.”
“It has proven what I’ve been saying for three decades, calories in, calories out is weight loss. Health is a different conversation, but it facilitates weight loss,” she said.
“Second thing, we know that women and men of all ages can lose weight because most of these people on Ozempic are 40-plus. And they’re shrinking, so it looks like you can still lose weight if you’re eating less food.”