GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound have gone from relatively niche diabetes medications to one of the biggest (and most controversial) stories in health and wellness. As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from the podcast the past couple of months while I’ve been recovering from a SCAD heart attack. Today, I'm back with a brand new conversation about weight loss drugs with Ragen Chastain, a researcher, writer, speaker, and board-certified patient advocate who has spent more than 20 years examining the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. She brings a research- and statistics-informed perspective to a conversation that is often dominated by pharmaceutical marketing, influencer anecdotes, and very simplified claims about what these medications do. We do a deep dive into GLP-1 medications, weight loss, food noise, hunger, weight stigma, and what we actually know about the safety and long-term effects of these drugs. In this episode, we get into: * Ragen’s journey from dieting and doing her own literature review to becoming a researcher and advocate in the weight-inclusive healthcare space * What we know about the failure of long-term weight-loss interventions * Weight-inclusive healthcare and why it shouldn’t depend on whether we believe people can or cannot lose weight * How GLP-1 medications work, including their effects on blood sugar, gut motility, digestion, and hunger * The difference between diabetes dosing and the higher doses used for weight loss * What “food noise” actually means (and what it doesn’t mean) * How diet culture and restriction can affect hunger and thoughts about food * The medicalization of hunger * Why the same symptoms can be interpreted and treated differently depending on the size of the person experiencing them * Weight stigma in healthcare and the assumption that weight loss is the answer to an enormous range of health concerns * What we know and don’t know about the long-term safety of GLP-1 medications * Why research on a medication at one dose cannot automatically answer questions about that medication at another dose * Study dropout and what can get lost when we look only at headlines, abstracts, and conclusions * Conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical research * Concerns about the quality and transparency of long-term safety data * What happens when medications designed to suppress hunger are used in people whose bodies are otherwise regulating blood sugar normally This is part one of the conversation. In part two (releasing next week) we’ll dig further into weight regain, body composition, how GLP-1 research is presented to the public, the explosion of claims that these medications can treat everything from cardiovascular disease to mental health concerns, pharmaceutical influence on healthcare providers, and what you can actually do when a doctor recommends a GLP-1. Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership: If you're looking for community and continued learning, apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group. We meet every other Thursday, and have a private online space for ongoing conversations between sessions. Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe Find more resources from Ragen: Substack: https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ragenchastain/?hl=en This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
