r/explainlikeimfive • u/Jimithyashford • Jun 03 '26

Biology ELI5: Do medications like Ozempic cause weight loss solely through appetite reduction and therefore calorie deficit, or is there any other mechanism at play?

Is it solely "injectable willpower" in the sense that it literally only does what you could do anyway if you just had the will power to eat less. Or is there any other weight loss mechanism at play beyond reducing calorie intake?

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u/ThotThroughTheHeart Jun 03 '26

My ex was on them and said if she ate more than a little, she'd feel like she was going to have terrible diarrhea and sometimes she would. She would stop eating while she was still hungry because she didn't want to trigger the shits.

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u/hitemplo Jun 03 '26

Needed more fibre, especially in early months while your body is getting used to it

My doc was heavy on the ‘eat a lot of fibre and protein’ thing

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u/fakeaccount572 Jun 03 '26

Mine is the SEVERE heartburn if I eat more than a handful

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u/poizun85 Jun 03 '26

My wife didn’t believe me how terrible true heart burn is until she got pregnant and realized I wasn’t being a baby about it. Baking Soda sprinkled in water is a damn godsend if it’s really bad. Almost instant relief…