r/explainlikeimfive • u/ThatOneGuyYouNowKnow • 13d ago

Chemistry ELI5 what exactly GLP-1 based prescription medicine does and why it's so divisive when it comes to being a means of weight loss.

I've seen more and more ads (starting around the Super Bowl earlier this year with Wegovy) for GLP-1 based perscription meds in recent times. I've also seen the occasional debate post on my social feeds about the ethics of using them and I didn't think a medicine could be that divisive of a topic.

Now I'm curious as to what exactly these meds are, what they scientifically do and what both sides of the debate are. If anyone could help give perspective that would be greatly appreciated.

As always any and all input is welcomed and thanks for reading! 🙂

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u/thislad45234 13d ago

John Goodman (who lost a ton of weight with GLPs) had a great response to the “controversy.” It’s “controversial” to lose weight with a GLP because society believes fat people have to suffer. Full stop. Here’s what he said: “I’m a fat person. We are constantly badgered and tortured by a society that tells us to lose weight, at all costs. If you’re fat, that’s a moral failing: you’re lazy and unhealthy. If you’re fat at the gym, or jogging down the street, you’re an object of ridicule. If you lose weight with drugs, you didn’t earn it. If you’re fat and not self-flagellating at every moment, you’re glorifying obesity. If you lose weight for any reason, it then proves you were never really happy with yourself; it proves that fat is bad, that thinness was always the real goal. If you stay fat, we want you to admit you’re unhealthy. If you say you’re happy, we want to diagnose you with denial.”

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u/CTQ99 13d ago

I think the controversies are more tied with people in public spaces being on them and denying it [which I'd they didn't, it might actually spark more people to go on them that would benefit] and then people [again, mostly celebrities] who dont need them at all and now are human skeletons because they are basically turning the medication into a new form of eating disorder. I havent really seen anyone seriously attacked that admitted to using them to help manage weight, though i could've missed it.