Joe Rogan and Bill Maher expose Ozempic as a fake solution to US obesity problem.

Bill Maher and Joe Rogan Slam⁣ Weight-Loss ⁣Craze

Bill Maher and Joe ⁣Rogan slammed the latest weight-loss craze⁢ to sweep a desperately obese nation as a vehicle for Wall Street profits over metabolic health.

“We have given up on the idea that ⁢obesity is something that‌ can​ be contained by‌ exercise and diet,” Maher said on Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “It’s now a disease.”

The Problem with ⁤Ozempic

The HBO comedian went on to highlight the public fixation on Ozempic, the name-brand Type 2 diabetes medication for semaglutide being prescribed off-label ⁣to help patients ​lose weight. According to ‌the Centers for‌ Disease Control (CDC), nearly ‍42 percent of American adults are ‍obese.

“I was‌ reading about⁣ Ozempic,” Maher said. “They have zero clue why it works.”

Maher didn’t name the story, but a piece from The New‍ York Times in August outlined how medical professionals do not have clear answers surrounding the apparent success of new weight ​loss drugs such as Ozempic.

“In fact, much about the ⁣drugs remains shrouded in ​mystery,” The Times reported. “Researchers discovered by ⁢accident that exposing the brain to a natural hormone at levels never seen in nature ‍elicited weight loss. They really​ don’t know why, or if the drugs⁣ may have long-term side effects.”

The Dark Side of Ozempic

Side effects listed on Ozempic’s website include nausea, stomach pain, and⁢ constipation. The Cut ‌ran a feature ‍last‌ fall on the dark side of Ozempic’s commercial success with the headline, “You Might Go Through Hell for You Post-Ozempic Body.”

Dr. Sudeep Singh,⁢ a medical director at a concierge medical practice in Miami, told the magazine about half his patients prescribed the medicine experience gastrointestinal side effects. Yet Ozempic remains “the most common medication that I get asked about.”

“Everybody knows. Everyone’s asking about it. My mom’s asking.‍ My⁤ neighbors are ⁣asking about ⁢it. The news is out,” Singh said.

The Profitable Mystery

The ‌drugs’ blockbuster success has driven profits so high that The ⁣New York Times wrote⁤ another story in August‌ about how it is “reshaping Denmark’s‍ economy.”

“They ​know that it⁣ works, just not why,” Maher⁣ said on Rogan’s program. “This would bother me ⁣… that if they’re‌ giving me something and they’re like ‘ok, this⁤ new miracle pill, just ‌take it. We’re working on the reason why it might do this to you, but until ⁣then, just f-ck ‍it.’”

Rogan​ responded⁣ by noting there is “no biological free lunch either” when‌ it⁤ comes to weight loss. The host ‌cited research from Dr. Peter Attia, ⁢the author of​ a book on aging published in March, that found popular weight-loss drugs eroded lean muscle mass.

“If you’re taking an injection ⁢that makes you less hungry, something’s going on that’s probably not good,” Rogan said.

A May report from The Wall Street Journal ‍noted patients who ⁤quit taking Ozempic often see their weight go back up.

“Patient testimonies have focused not only on the dramatic effect on their waistlines, but also on how⁣ quickly many seem to pack the pounds back on if they stop taking the injections,” the ⁣report read. “That ⁢may not be ideal for patients, but for Wall Street it is⁢ a feature rather⁤ than a bug.”

Obesity as a​ Disease

In ⁤other words, Ozempic is a lucrative and permanent treatment for a curable condition.

Maher went on to complain ​about ⁤the knee-jerk effort by‌ the corporate press to declare obesity a disease on its own rather than a symptom of a toxic diet.

“You ‍cannot find‍ an article on the front-page⁣ or⁢ in⁣ the op-ed page of the New York Times in the last couple years that has any other belief⁤ than this one,” Maher said, “that ⁤it is ⁣a disease, it is ⁣not within a person’s control.”

The reason for that lies in the American Medical Association’s (AMA) designation of⁢ obesity as a disease in 2013. Since⁣ then, journalists have ​been advised by groups such⁢ as‌ the Obesity Action⁤ Coalition to recharacterize obese people in stories as individuals ​with “excess weight” instead of⁣ “severely obese.”

Guidelines from the Obesity Action⁢ Coalition ‍encourage reporters to “not​ place an unnecessary​ or distorted emphasis on body weight.”

“Very often, media coverage of obesity is biased with an over-emphasis on ​individual responsibility, ignoring important societal, economic, biological, and environmental contributors of​ obesity,” the guidelines‍ read.

“Fifty years ago, we looked like completely ⁣different people,” Maher said. “In 50 years, did we evolve?”

Rogan blamed the ⁣obesity epidemic on ‍decades of ⁢diet⁣ changes engineered by the food industry to encourage the consumption of ultra-processed ​products with the help of government subsidies.

[READ:[READ:No Subsidies For Big‌ Food Is The Only ‘Based’ Position]

“The sugar​ industry paid off ⁤scientists to put the blame on saturated fat,” Rogan said, which “changed peoples’ eating.”

The Food ⁤and Drug ‌Administration‍ (FDA) proposed an update to the agency’s⁢ definition of “healthy,” which would promote‍ foods such​ as salmon with higher amounts ‍of saturated⁢ fat ‍over ultra-processed cereals. Major food manufacturers behind Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, ​and Lucky Charms have responded with litigation threats ‌to keep the “healthy” label on boxes.

“Food‍ companies,” Maher noted, “have labs where they go in and test⁢ how much fat, sugar, and salt we can put in this thing to make it as addictive as possible.”

Indeed, sugar, a primary ingredient in cereals advertised to children, was found in a 2007 study to be more rewarding than cocaine.