Which Weight Loss Medication is Right for Me?

Not every medication works the same in everyone. Although we can base our estimates on statistics, each medication targets a different mechanism to make it easier to lose weight.

Not every medication works the same in everyone. Although we can base our estimates on statistics, each medication targets a different mechanism to make it easier to lose weight.

It’s important to remember that our individual relationships with food can make a big difference. Everyone has a unique psychology when it comes to their relationship with food and eating, and this is an important factor in choosing the right medication!

This idea is based off the work started from The Obesity Society Journal.

There are 4 groups:

1) Emotional eaters

Do you find yourself eating more in times of stress, or due to particular depression or anxiety related triggers? Do you binge on foods for comfort?

2) Hungry Brain:

When you are allowed to eat alone at your own pace, do you find yourself craving snacks throughout the day? Intermittently eating, or feeling unable to stop grazing?

3) Hungry Gut:

You’ve just gone to a buffet with your friends, but you find yourself feeling true hunger. It just feels like your gut empties faster than everyone else!

4) Slow burn:

Have you found yourself losing weight on keto/IF diets, or even higher protein/fat based diets, almost as if your metabolism preferred these meals?

Each of these groups has a different mechanism that is correlated with a particular medication. By selecting a medication that is best for your psychology, this study showed almost twice as much weight loss as by randomly selecting a medication that had a higher advertised percentage of weight loss across the board!

Dr. Eva Shelton, M.D.

Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital

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