The 4 rules to protect your muscle, bones and brain health when using Ozempic and other weight loss injections | Dr Federica Amati

**Jonathan** (0:00)
Welcome to ZOE Science and Nutrition, where world leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.
I'd like to tell you about my good friend Liz. For as long as I can remember, she's struggled with her weight. She's tried all sorts of diets and supplements, but nothing has ever worked in the long run. She loses the weight, but it always comes right back. And she's suffered from a sense of guilt and failure. Her battle against her hunger and weight has seemed impossible to win. But finally, in early 2025, Liz had a breakthrough. She discovered Ozempic, and then later Mounjaro. And these drugs were a revelation. Although she had some difficult gut symptoms in the first few months, her hunger disappeared overnight. And the weight that had clung to her for decades melted away.
What had seemed like a failure of willpower had turned out to be a disease causing hunger. And it's been amazing to see. But although this felt like a victory, she does have some new worries. Now she can only eat small portions of food. She's worrying she won't get enough protein and that her muscles will waste away. Or that she will miss out on vital nutrients and get sick. This is a growing concern and something that far too few people are talking about.
Today we're tackling this head on. I'm joined by Dr. Federica Amati, Head Nutritionist at ZOE and Scientist at Imperial College London to explore the science and the reality behind GLP-1 medications. Her new book, The Appetite Reset, arrives at a moment when these treatments are increasingly popular yet still misunderstood. Federica has written a very practical book filled with specific nutrition advice on how to prepare for GLP-1s to reduce the risk of side effects, what to eat while you're on them, and what to eat if you plan to come off them. By the end of this episode, you'll understand how these drugs work, how you can adjust what you eat to avoid side effects, and what to eat to ensure you get all the nutrients and protein you need while you're on them.
Federica, thank you for joining me today.

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:11)
Jonathan, I'm really looking forward to today.

**Jonathan** (2:13)
You know the rules, yes, no, or a one-sentence answer if you have to.

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:18)
Yeah.

**Jonathan** (2:18)
Are you ready to go?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:19)
Ready to go.

**Jonathan** (2:20)
Is it true that you can eat what you like if you're on GLP-1 drugs like Mounjaro?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:25)
No.

**Jonathan** (2:26)
Can these drugs change your behavior beyond food?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:28)
Yes.

**Jonathan** (2:29)
Do Ozempic or Mounjaro work for everybody?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:32)
Not necessarily.

**Jonathan** (2:34)
Can taking GLP-1 drugs lead to muscle wasting?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:37)
Yes.

**Jonathan** (2:39)
Do people need to be on these drugs for life?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:41)
Not always.

**Jonathan** (2:42)
And finally, what one thing should everyone know before taking Ozempic or Mounjaro?

**Dr Federica Amati** (2:49)
These drugs help to reduce your appetite, but they don't help to improve a poor diet.

**Jonathan** (2:55)
These GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic have taken the world by storm. An astonishing one in ten Americans have already tried them. And because of their popularity, we get a lot of questions from people worried about what to eat during treatment, to get the best results and stay healthy, both for themselves and for loved ones. So I'm really delighted to have Zoe's head nutritionist, Dr. Federica Amati, with me today.
And you have now just written an entire book, The Appetite Reset, which covers these exact topics, because we've been having so many questions about them, and that book is available for pre-order now.

**Dr Federica Amati** (3:32)
That's right.

**Jonathan** (3:33)
So that's really exciting. Let's start with the basics, Federica.
What are GLP-1 drugs?

**Dr Federica Amati** (3:40)
So GLP-1 drugs are a group of medicines that basically act like a hormone that our gut produces. So they're the same sort of structure. So if you imagine we've sort of taken the shape of this hormone, copied it, and created a drug that acts in the same way on the receptor, but doesn't break down so quickly, the drugs have a much longer life in our body. So instead of being broken down within a couple of minutes, it persists for a week. So it's a much longer duration of effect.

**Jonathan** (4:08)
Why do these drugs cause us to lose weight?

**Dr Federica Amati** (4:10)
So these drugs literally switch on a system that already exists in us, but just makes it last longer. And they do this by reducing the speed at which your stomach empties, so the speed at which food travels down your gut. This means that your stomach is full of food for longer. And you know that feeling when you're like, oh, I don't really want to eat anymore. So that helps reduce food intake.