Study: Long-Term Success of Weight Loss Drugs Depends on Exercise
An important, new study (by the University of Copenhagen, published in The Lancet) of people who used and then quit a weight loss drug revealed that those who exercised while using the drugs kept off far more weight after quitting the medication than people who didn’t work out. Those who had taken the drug without exercise regained 70% or more of the weight they’d lost—and most of the regained pounds were fat, not muscle. But people who exercised while taking the drug (about two hours of vigorous exercise weekly) maintained considerably more of their weight loss after they stopped the drug. Many remained at least 10 percent lighter than at the study’s start, and at least some of the weight they’d regained was muscle. The researchers concluded that this makes a very strong case for “the importance of adding exercise to a regimen that includes any GLP-1 medication.” This is important, since studies show that roughly half of users quit the drugs within a year because of their cost, side effects, etc.
Access this study on weight loss.
