Ozempic vs Mounjaro: Is There a Better Option Than Weight Loss Jabs?
In short
Everyone seems to know someone on a weight loss jab like Ozempic or Mounjaro. As I understand it, they work by mimicking a natural hormone that tells your body you’re full and slows down digestion, so you eat less and the weight comes off. To me they’re an illusion of a shortcut: once you’re on them you’re on them for life, and when you stop the cravings and the weight come back. My money’s on a low carb lifestyle with gentle exercise, and a bit of intermittent fasting if you want to speed things up.
Key points
- Why people want them. People want results, they want them now, and they want the path of least resistance. A jab that makes your food cravings disappear sounds like a miracle.
- How they work. They mimic GLP-1, a natural hormone that tells your body you’re full and slows down digestion. Food stays in your stomach much longer, so you’re not hungry, you eat less, and the weight loss begins.
- It’s a lot like intermittent fasting. From where I sit in the low carb and carnivore world, the jabs are basically mimicking what people do with intermittent fasting: limiting how much and how often they eat.
- What happens when you stop. Once you’re on them, you’re on them for life. Stop, and back come the cravings, your food intake goes up and the weight goes straight back on, sometimes with a vengeance.
- Side effects I’ve read about. Nausea, vomiting, gut problems, constipation, fatigue and muscle loss, plus pancreatitis, kidney problems and, more rarely, thyroid tumours that have been linked to at least one of them. Talk to your doctor about any of this.
- No replacement for discipline. The jabs can mute hunger for a while, but they don’t teach you a way of eating you can stick to for life.
- My pick is low carb. A low carb diet and gentle exercise, with some intermittent fasting once you’re in the groove, without the jabs and without the risks. It builds resilience, muscle and confidence, and no needle will ever give you that.
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you probably know somebody who’s been taking weight loss jabs like Ozempic or Mounjaro. So which one is better? In this short video, filmed out in the drizzle, I have a chat about whether they’re a good thing at all, and what I’d do instead.
I’m not a doctor, dietitian or nutritionist, just a bloke telling you what worked for me. If you’re on one of these drugs or thinking about it, talk it through with your doctor before you change anything.
An illusion of a shortcut
I get it. People want results and they want them now. One little jab and all your food cravings disappear. It sounds like a miracle. But I reckon these drugs create the illusion of an easy path rather than fixing why the weight went on in the first place.
As I understand it, they mimic a natural hormone that tells your body you’re full and slows down how quickly your stomach empties. Food sits there far longer than the usual three or four hours. You’re not hungry, so you’re not eating, so you’re not getting the calories, and the weight starts coming off. It’s a pretty simple idea.
You can get the same effect without the needle
From the low carb and carnivore side of things, what the jabs are really doing is mimicking intermittent fasting. Plenty of people on low carb who want to speed up their weight loss skip meals, or don’t eat between waking up and about 1pm. That limits how much they eat and gets the body into ketosis a lot quicker. I’ve written about intermittent fasting over 50 and how skipping breakfast became one of my best hacks.
Every silver lining has a cloud
The catch with the jabs is that once you’re on them, you’re on them for life. The minute you stop, the cravings come back, you eat more, and the weight goes straight back on, sometimes with a vengeance. That’s not something they put in the brochure.
There’s also a list of side effects you’ll want to know about: nausea, vomiting, gut problems, constipation and fatigue, and in some cases muscle loss. Beyond that, pancreatitis, kidney problems and, more rarely, thyroid tumours have been linked to at least one of these drugs. Your doctor is the one to talk to about any of it.
Why I’d choose low carb
The jabs might mute your hunger for a while, but they’re no replacement for learning a way of eating you can keep up. In my honest opinion, a low carb diet and gentle exercise is a much better way forward, and it comes without the risks. Once you’re in the low carb groove, you can throw in some intermittent fasting to speed things along, without the jabs and without undigested food sitting in your stomach for days.
Going low carb builds resilience, muscle and confidence, all naturally. If you’re over 50 and wondering where to start, have a read of going low carb over 50 and a healthy low carb mindset, or see what you can eat on a low carb diet.
Grab the free Carb Guide, or watch my story and how I lost 23kg in four months.
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Not medical advice. I'm not a doctor, dietitian or nutritionist, just a bloke telling the story of what worked for me. Check with your doctor before changing your diet or medication.
