In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved tirzepatide—which patients inject under their skin weekly—to treat type 2 diabetes, because in clinical trials it cut hemoglobin A1c levels (a long-term measure of blood sugar) even more than taking insulin. The FDA has not yet approved tirzepatide for weight loss. But that may soon happen.
Roughly 40 percent of U.S. adults have obesity. Another 30 percent have overweight. Extra pounds raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, several cancers, and more. Here’s the latest on what’s driving weight gain and two new medications that may revolutionize its treatment.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest applauds the California state legislature for passing AB-1341, a bill that would ban the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and weight-loss supplements to minors in California.
What’s the best diet if you have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? Researchers assigned 33 people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes to eat a “Well-Formulated Keto Diet” or a “Mediterranean-Plus Diet” for 12 weeks each, in random order.
People lose little or no more weight on low-carb diets than on weight-loss diets with more carbs, according to a rigorous review of 61 clinical trials on 6,925 people. Only 14 of the trials tested very-lowcarb diets, but they yielded no better results.
What to do: Pick any weight-loss diet—low-carb or not—that’s healthy and cuts calories.
Are some weight-loss diets better than others?
Scientists randomly assigned 100 people with abdominal obesity (waists larger than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men) to eat their usual diet or either a high-quality or a low-quality diet with a 25-percent calorie cut.
“People who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The best study may upend that widely held belief.
“Drinking a lot of water has long been a staple of weight-loss programs, in part because doing so makes you feel fuller,” wrote the Washington Post in 2020. Does it?
