You’ve no doubt heard about the revolutionary medications to treat overweight and obesity: semaglutide and tirzepatide. But what are they, how do they work and which is right for your personal weight loss goal? Here’s what you need to know!
Similarities Between Semaglutide and Tirzepatide
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in the well-known brands Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelus. It is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drug that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an adjunct to lifestyle changes for weight management in adults who are clinically obese or overweight. Tirzepatide is also a GLP-1 drug that’s FDA-approved. It is the active ingredient in the popular brands Mounjaro and Zepbound. However, unlike semaglutide, it’s also a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor co-agonist, which means it’s in a class of medications that includes both GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonists.
But before we delve into why this difference is important, let’s look more closely at the GLP-1 hormone. This hormone is released by the gut after eating. It’s a 30–31 amino acid peptide derived from the proglucagon peptide. GLP-1 helps with insulin release, glucagon suppression, gastric emptying and satiety. As Mayo Clinic states its effect in plain language, GLP-1 also slows the movement of food from the stomach into the small intestine. As a result, you feel full faster and longer, so you eat less.
Moreover, GLP-1 aids in lowering your body’s set point (the weight your body fights to maintain) by impacting areas in the brain to help increase your energy expenditure.
Semaglutide for Weight Loss
Semaglutide’s single-action mechanism solely activates the GLP-1 receptor to regulate insulin and appetite. As our blog post – “The Benefits of Medical Appetite Control” – covers, one role of GLP-1 is to prompt the body to produce more insulin, which reduces blood sugar (glucose). For that reason, health care providers have used semaglutide for more than 15 years to treat type 2 diabetes – so while it’s relatively new as a weight loss medication, semaglutide is an established medication that has proven its effectiveness.
Tirzepatide for Weight Loss
As mentioned earlier, tirzepatide has an advantage over semaglutide in that it is a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor co-agonist. GLP-1 and GIP are both incretin hormones, which are hormones that are released after eating. Tirzepatide works by mimicking their effects, offering a broader span of metabolic benefits and appetite control than semaglutide alone. GIP induces weight loss by stimulating satiety in the hypothalamus – the area of the brain that produces hormones that control hunger. This also includes telling the pancreas to release insulin after eating and signaling the liver to lower the amount of glucose it’s making. These effects help lower blood glucose.
Tirzepatide’s benefits for weight loss in adults are as follows:
- Enhanced appetite suppression
- Insulin regulation
- Increased metabolism
Which of These Popular Weight Loss Drugs is Right for You?
Considering the advantages of tirzepatide over the earlier-generation drug semaglutide, you may wonder why there’s even a choice! However, each person is different. What is effective or appropriate for one individual may not be right for you. The only way to know is to schedule an appointment with a doctor who specializes in medical weight loss.
If you are reading this, we assume you’re looking for a doctor who can successfully guide you on your weight loss journey. William E. Newsome, M.D., is Medical Director and co-owner of Solutions Weight Loss. From the very start, Dr. Newsome conducts your in-depth initial consultation, and will evaluate and prescribe for you the best treatment to achieve your goal. He brings his own personal weight loss experiences, and a lifelong dedication to health and fitness.
Solutions Weight Loss internal results prove our medically supervised program is effective at driving long-term improvements to metabolic health and weight loss, with an average of 21% weight loss at 12 months; 19.1% at 18 months, and 18.9% at 24 months. Our members have also decreased their waist circumference by 7 inches, on average. These results are superior to the weight loss seen in clinical trials for GLP-1 medications. Regardless of which medication they take, our members have demonstrated significant and sustained results!
You may have heard about shortages of the brand-name medications mentioned in this article. Due to high demand, pharmaceutical companies sometimes are unable to provide the supply needed. This situation will never be a concern when you choose Solutions Weight Loss! Moreover, the brand-name medication is very expensive. However, semaglutide and tirzepatide are generic ingredients. We prescribe and dispense both, offering high-quality compounded GLP-1 medications at an affordable price. This gives you the following major advantages:
- Not having to ask for an expensive prescription that your health insurance most likely won’t cover. During a 30-minute consultation, Dr. Newsome will determine which medication is most clinically appropriate for your individual situation.
- Upon determining the best medication for you, the prescription will be filled and you will leave with it that same day. Shortages of any brand-name medication will never impact your medical weight loss program.
- We understand that people have busy schedules that may not allow them to visit our office on a weekly basis. That’s why we can dispense up to 12 weeks of your weight loss medication at a time. We smooth the path to make your weight loss journey as easy as possible to follow!
The Take-Home Message About Semaglutide and Tirzepatide
There’s a lot to learn about these breakthrough GLP-1 drugs, but many articles are written in language that’s difficult for those without a degree in medicine to decipher. We hope we’ve been able to explain the similarities, differences and benefits of each in a way that gives you the information you need to take that all-important first step in achieving your weight loss goal!
See what makes Solutions Weight Loss the #1 weight loss clinic in Florida! Schedule your consultation with Dr. Newsome here, or call 407-413-5503, and experience the benefits of today’s metabolic approach to sustainable weight loss! Don’t wait another day to start living your best life!
