Don’t take your questions to the Internet, but to a true health care practitioner.
Some social media users find it just too tempting to try the latest online weight loss trend – and we’re talking about the one touted as “Oatzempic.” Forget spending thousands on real Ozempic and related medical visits, the influencers say. Just mix up some oats, water, and lime juice. Drink it regularly, and you’ll lose “up to 40 pounds in as little as two months!”
Too good to be true? Yes, and it’s not at all good for your health. Lisa Valente, a registered dietitian and nutrition editor at Healthline, tells CBS News there is “no merit” in comparing blended oat drinks to prescription weight loss drugs. She says of the homemade tonic, “It… seems like a dangerous trend that promotes disordered eating and isn’t nutritionally sound or based in science.”
Sure, a restrictive diet centered on just three ingredients in liquid form is likely to cause you to lose weight in the short term, as drinking “Oatzempic” significantly restricts calorie intake while making you feel full. However, regaining that weight is all but guaranteed, and it could put users in a yo-yo dieting cycle that can make it harder to sustain healthier methods of weight loss.
Need more to deter you? You may lose lean muscle, experience hair loss, and be irritable and unable to regulate body temperature properly. Endocrinologist Avantika Waring completes the list of health consequences to include constipation, dehydration, dizziness, and menstrual irregularities.
Please beware of the glut of false and misleading information regarding weight loss alternatives on social media. Don’t take your questions to the Internet, but to a true health care practitioner.
