This weight loss hack is all smoke and mirrors.
People looking to lose pounds quickly have become a new cheap craze, and doctors are sounding the alarm. Dubbed the ‘Ozempic gas station’, influencers are now using ZYN nicotine pouches to help suppress their appetite and lose weight, saying the cheap one that costs about $5 at a convenience store is a great deal. better than the popular weight loss drug semaglutide, which can cost thousands of dollars.
But this habit, experts say, is a terrible idea.
There are risks of becoming addicted to nicotine and the long-term toxicity associated with it. There are no studies in this area, but I think it’s likely that the risks outweigh the benefits, Dr. Anthony Pick, an endocrinologist at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.
Despite the health risks, ZYN, a nicotine pouch designed to help people quit smoking, is being touted as a quick and easy way to shed unwanted pounds.
This has even led some to nickname the bags O-Zyn-pic, according to Snaxshot, which collected comments on social media from people who lost weight with the bags.
Yes, I’m addicted. Like the other thing they don’t tell you is that you’ll lose so much weight just by replacing Zyn with some hunger, said one social media user, @thiccyfowler, in a video that has over 67,000 likes to date.
The avid golfer on social media added: #golftips I wish I knew before I developed a harmful Zyn addiction, lose 30 pounds in a month, swing faster now that your colon it doesn’t hold you back. Zyn took me from 7hdcp to 5hdcp in three weeks. Absolute mind bending results. (“Hdcp” refers to a golf handicap, which is a rating for the difficulty of each hole. One is the hardest and 18 is the easiest.)
In a statement provided to The Post, ZYN noted that their product is “designed and marketed to existing adult smokers and nicotine users age 21 and older as a better alternative to continuous smoking “. The statement also noted that ZYN has been sold in the US for about a decade now.
Pick said nicotine can suppress appetite, but cautioned that taking nicotine for weight loss is not recommended.
Nicotine is known to suppress appetite and has other potential metabolic effects, he explained.
However, using a highly addictive substance for this purpose, without safety or clinical efficacy studies, is likely to be a very bad idea. The main role of non-tobacco nicotine products is to be able to move patients addicted to cigarettes to a safer alternative. Avoiding nicotine in any form is ideal, he added.
The American Heart Association has also warned against the dangers of nicotine, noting that the substance can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to the heart and narrowing of the arteries. In addition, nicotine can contribute to a possible heart attack by strengthening the artery walls.
Pick mentioned that there have been preclinical studies on rats treated with nicotine and GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, which found that the combination was synergistic and could increase metabolic rate and thereby reverse obesity.
This is part of the holy grail of weight management and may be part of nicotine withdrawal, Pick explained. Despite acknowledging the potential for weight loss, Pick says that doesn’t mean people should pick up the habit.
Not only is using ZYN patches for weight loss potentially dangerous, but people can regain their weight after they stop taking them.
Weight gain occurs with quitting, so that’s another argument for avoiding tobacco and other forms of nicotine, Pick said, adding that quitting smoking is often extremely challenging since nicotine is known to be one of the substances more dependent around.
All studies and clinical experience have shown that there is a tendency to regain weight from pharmacotherapy [or using drugs to treat weight loss]and after weight loss surgery, he also shared.
Pick said the main goal of weight loss therapy is to improve health outcomes and numbers on a scale.
Pick pointed out that people who want to lose weight without drug intervention will need to maintain a negative calorie balance which means they eat less and move more plus prioritize sleep, reduce stress and may need to use behavior change tools (like tracking their meals).
Studies show a steady decrease in weight [in the range of] 3% with lifestyle alone and up to 6% with intensive lifestyle change efforts, he added.
He added that there are rare cases that have exceeded the 6% weight loss and can then keep the weight off.
He added that people who lose weight with medication need to support their bodies in other ways during the process.
With weight loss [using] agents such as semaglutide or tirzepatide or surgery, the goal is to have adequate protein intake and strength exercise to try to compensate for the irreversible loss of lean mass that occurs, he explained.
Pick said people who want to lose weight in a healthy way can see a doctor who can also evaluate them for other health issues, such as prediabetes, sleep apnea or asthma.
In short, if you’re thinking about taking nicotine for weight loss, you might want to take it in butt.
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Image Source : nypost.com