Oprah Winfrey is on a book tour promoting her new book, "Enough: Your Weight and What It’s Like to Be Free." In 2023, she reportedly had one of her famous "aha" moments, this time realizing that her road to personal freedom involved GLP-1 agonist drugs. She stopped seeing obesity as a personal failure and began viewing GLP-1s as a way to "quiet the noise" that comes with constantly wanting to eat. In her telling, she was suddenly free.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe Oprah’s "aha moments" are real, and I also see the great value of GLP-1 drugs, especially in a society where nearly 70% of the population is either overweight or obese.
I also like the way these drugs work, decreasing hunger signals in the brain and delaying gastric emptying, which have added benefits that may include reducing the desire for alcohol, improving insulin efficiency and decreasing inflammation in the body. They lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels, and improve cardiac function, which is one of the reasons so many cardiologists are taking them.
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But they are also false gods. They are powerful tools for physicians and their patients, but they do not take the place of treating your body like a temple and honoring it by exercising more, sleeping better, and eating healthier foods. The place to start is not with GLP-1 drugs, they are not medical miracles all by themselves.
They are also part of a larger problem where people rush to shots and pills for solutions without fully examining the underlying cause. Of course, as a practicing internist, it is important to me that I help you get your weight down by whatever safe means necessary, because of the strong association between obesity and the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, and several kinds of cancer, including breast, colon, liver, and pancreatic cancer.
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GLP-1 drugs are not miracle workers, they are simply effective tools in a trained doctor’s arsenal to fight obesity.
Worshiping them can lead to dependence that is difficult to break, and when they are stopped, patients (including Oprah) often find themselves regaining the weight.
Holding these drugs out as the only effective solution also opens the door for charlatans to use them to proselytize many into taking ripoffs and cheap alternatives sold through online pharmacies that may be medically dangerous.
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It is a more fundamental approach to look at the food we eat and to embrace the MAHA — "Make America Healthy Again" — movement’s emphasis on whole foods, with a declared war on ultra-processed food.
God didn’t put us on the planet to pollute our bodies with chemical dyes or synthetic flavors or sweeteners that draw us into a world of unhealthy addiction.
Replacing an addiction to unhealthy foods with a dependence on GLP-1 drugs is not the only viable long-term solution.
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Keep in mind that losing weight can also be associated with your faith, seeing your body as sacred, aligning spiritual discipline with healthy eating and exercise, and seeking comfort in God rather than in food.
In fact, there are many prayers throughout the Bible that may help us down the road to treating obesity. Here is one of my favorites:
"Your Word says my body is Your temple, and I am responsible for stewarding this gift. I choose today to make right choices regarding the foods I eat. I will not eat more than my body needs, and I will not fill my mouth with foods that are unhealthy, such as excessive sugar and carbohydrates. I refuse to live a life of gluttony and instead clothe myself in self-control and healthy living so I may serve You well."
Can the hunger "noise" that Oprah speaks of be quieted by the GLP-1 weight loss drugs? The answer is yes. These drugs are miracles of modern science. But the way to a thinner future can also be found through a healing hymn, prayer and spiritual healing that may provide the path to a more permanent solution than any injection alone.
