Ozempic versus the virtuous food patrol – 02/16/2024 – Cozinha Bruta

It appeared in the New York Times and then translated into Sheet: “Ozempic has potential to treat alcoholism, heart disease and sleep apnea, researchers suggest.”

If what the researchers suggest proves to be true, it is a medicine capable of doing several good things – almost all of them resulting from the feeling of satiety that also leads to weight loss.

For those who spent the last year on Mars: Ozempic (trade name for semaglutide) is an injectable medicine developed for type 2 diabetes, but which has proven to be formidable in combating obesity.

The explosion in the off-label use of semaglutide was so huge that it boosted the growth of the economy in Denmark, where the Novo Nordisk laboratory is based.

And each report that highlights the benefits of the medicine provokes a torrent of critical comments. The press is accused of conveying veiled advertising and/or being a puppet of the pharmaceutical industry lobby.

I agree that some texts lean too much towards the flowery side of things, but I won’t dwell on the discussion. That’s why there is an ombudsman.

Another critical bias is social and health concerns. Under these guises, however, a moralistic crusade against easy weight loss is revealed.

In short: Ozempic and its substitutes are condemned for offering a shortcut that eliminates dietary re-education and engaging in physical activities.

In harsher words, uttered everywhere in comments on social media, it is said that the only legitimate way to fix a fat person is to force them to stop being greedy, gluttonous, self-indulgent, sedentary and lazy.

You have to close your mouth for pizzas and burgers. You must go to the gym every morning, as God only helps early risers.

We have already seen the same film with other revolutionary medicines – we are just at the beginning of the gestation of the social changes that the new generation of anti-obesity drugs will trigger.

Viagra and other death raisers, for example. When they first appeared, it was debated without irony whether it was even relevant for older men to be able to have an active sex life.

Before that, the contraceptive pill caused a lot more outcry because it concerned women’s sex lives. Do you want to avoid children? Close those legs, girl!

The case of Ozempic is a new outcrop of the ancient Christian moral patrol, which only gives value to achievements obtained on the path of virtue – with selflessness, renunciation, penance and enormous effort.

If the fat man loses weight without suffering, what will come next? The only thing left is for the poor to earn a decent living without dying from working so hard!

We are facing something that is still little known, but has already proven to be colossal. We need to avoid being dazzled, distrust propaganda and critically monitor each new study published.

The revolution of ex-fat people (and possibly the counter-revolution of ex-fat people, there are already a lot of them) requires a serious and sober debate. It cannot be contaminated by the frivolous moralism of a church door maid.

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