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Ask Johann Hari why he called his book about the new weight-loss drugs , and the British author and journalist offers an intriguing three-part answer. First, he says the weight seemed to fall off as if by “magic”, and so swiftly; Hari lost 19kg (42lb) in less than a year, dropping from 92kg to 73kg..

Instead of consuming 3,200 calories daily, he was having less than 1,500. It was, he says, “physically shocking” to lose so much weight so fast. The average weight loss for users is from 15 to 20 per cent of their body weight.



Second, he says, there was something disturbing in Ozempic’s power, as if, he explained, “you were witnessing a conjuror perform a trick and at the same time picking something from your pocket”. Third, he says, taking Ozempic was rather like finding the genie’s lamp in Aladdin, rubbing it to make a wish, but then finding what transpired wasn’t quite what you wished for – or wasn’t quite what you expected. How so? Because the magic – the benefits – come with risk.

Hari’s book is subtitled . Essentially, Ozempic works by stealing your appetite and hastening your satiety, so you don’t enjoy eating nearly as much as you did once. Could this loss of enjoyment in eating drive one of the unfavourable responses that have been associated with Ozempic – low mood or depression, he asks.

If people comfort-ate their way out of loneliness, disappointment or anxiety and they now derive no pleasure from eating, could they have lost a crutch,.

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