Ozempic, Wegovy inspire wave of GLP-1 supplements—but are they safe or effective?
As interest in diabetes and weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound surged in recent years, supplement manufacturers responded by launching a number of GLP-1-branded products including pills, powders, drops, and patches.
However, experts quoted in a July 29 PBS article warned that these supplements do not come close to matching the effectiveness of real GLP-1 agonists such as semaglutide (sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound). In addition, the supplements are not strictly regulated, meaning consumers cannot be sure of what they are actually buying.
“The FDA cannot require rigorous pre-screening for safety and certainly not for effectiveness because by law, these supplements cannot claim to be treating or curing or preventing disease,” Bryn Austin, professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in the article. “And yet any consumer seeing the kind of marketing and claims on packages would likely infer that many of them do have those effects.”
Part of the problem, Austin said, is that many individuals find the high price of most weight-loss prescription medications prohibitive, dislike the idea of self-injecting medication (how both Wegovy and Zepbound are administered), or struggle with unpleasant side effects—further fueling interest in unregulated alternatives.
Supplement makers have tried to capitalize on consumers’ interest by putting the phrase “GLP-1” in their product names, said Austin. She called that practice deceptive.
“Any consumer that sees that will think, ‘Oh, it must work like Ozempic,’” she said.
Read the PBS article: In the gray world of GLP-1 supplements online, health experts urge caution
