The GLP-1 Con: How The Obesity Industry Built a Billion-Dollar Market for a Problem They Created
They engineered metabolic dysfunction, profited from the damage, and now they’re selling you the “cure.” But what happens when the weight comes back—and your health is worse than before?
**As a holistic health practitioner and nutritionist, I work with clients who are on GLP-1 drugs. This isn’t just an opinion-it’s what I see happening in real time. The long-term metabolic consequences of these drugs are predictable, yet rarely discussed. I help my clients navigate these challenges, ensuring that their metabolism, muscle health, and long-term success aren’t compromised. My stance comes from both research and lived experience-and whether you’re on these drugs or considering them, it’s critical to have a real strategy beyond the prescription.
I sat in the audience at the Obesity Summit, a room filled with some of the most influential names in obesity research, public health, and pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ania Jastreboff, a highly decorated Yale professor and one of the biggest champions of GLP-1 drugs, stood alongside the director of an obesity management facility—who openly identified as having been “diseased” her entire life.
Their message was clear: Obesity is a disease, not a behavioral issue. Weight loss equals health. "Eat less, move more" doesn’t work. And yet, the solution they were promoting—GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy—functions by suppressing appetite and making people eat less.
No one in the room seemed to question it. No one asked why a doctor who had just stated that “eating less doesn’t work” was also promoting a drug that forces people to eat less—without addressing the root cause of metabolic dysfunction.
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No one asked why insulin resistance—arguably the root of the obesity epidemic—was barely mentioned. Instead, the media ran with headlines like: "The Physicians Really Are Healing Themselves, With Ozempic."
If you watched the Super Bowl, you might have noticed something: an onslaught of GLP-1 drug commercials, treating weight loss like the latest wellness trend. This isn’t just about medicine—it’s about cultural conditioning. When a drug becomes a Super Bowl-level advertisement, it’s not just a prescription—it’s a billion-dollar industry shaping public perception in real time. And no one seems to be asking why.
Dr. Ania Jastreboff first gained mainstream attention when she appeared on Oprah—who, notably, is also on GLP-1s. If anyone embodies the failures of the weight loss industry, it’s Oprah. She has tried every diet, trainer, and wellness guru, only to regain the weight time and time again. Now, she’s the latest high-profile user of GLP-1s, reinforcing the illusion that this time, it’s different. But it never is. When she inevitably regains the weight (like she always has), the narrative will blame her, not the fact that GLP-1s do nothing to fix the underlying metabolic dysfunction. This is exactly why she was the perfect figure to introduce Jastreboff to the public—because Oprah represents the ideal GLP-1 customer: hopeful, trusting, and destined to remain a lifetime subscriber.
Healing themselves? By starving their bodies of essential nutrients while leaving the real metabolic dysfunction untouched?
People rarely question doctors. But history tells us that blind trust in medicine has led us down dark roads before. Doctors once said DDT was safe. Smoking was widely endorsed by doctors, who even appeared in cigarette ads promoting specific brands as safe. Doctors were misled into believing OxyContin wasn’t addictive due to pharmaceutical companies falsely claiming it was safe, were still the ones who prescribed it to us. And I can’t help but see the same pattern here. Now, they’re saying GLP-1s are the answer to obesity.
We are not in a crisis because we lacked pharmaceuticals. We are in a crisis because Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Business—and now, Big Obesity created the conditions for it—and now, they’re selling us the fix.
Obesity was not an accident. It was built. And now, it’s a multi-trillion-dollar industry, deeply embedded in public policy, corporate interests, and cultural norms that promote overconsumption while vilifying real nutrition.
Big Pharma alone is valued at over $1.5 trillion, with companies like Novo Nordisk (Ozempic, Wegovy) and Eli Lilly (Mounjaro, Zepbound) cashing in on the GLP-1 boom. Big Food, which fuels the crisis in the first place, is even bigger, valued at over $7 trillion globally. Corporations like Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever have built their empires by engineering hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods that drive metabolic dysfunction—ensuring a steady pipeline of future GLP-1 users.
For decades, we were told that fat was bad, carbs were good, and calorie counting was the key to health. The 1980s and 90s ushered in low-fat everything, which only led to higher sugar consumption, skyrocketing insulin resistance, and an explosion in obesity. Food became more processed, less nutrient-dense, and engineered for addiction.
The result? America is overfed and undernourished. A person in an impoverished country is underfed and undernourished. They lack essential calories. A person in America is overfed and undernourished. They eat plenty, but they lack real nutrients. You can starve nutritionally while still consuming thousands of calories a day. That is our crisis.
Big Food doesn’t just profit off this—they engineer it. And here’s the trick: Once they engineered the crisis, they absolved themselves of responsibility.
Instead of blaming ultra-processed foods, sugar addiction, and metabolic dysfunction, they rewrote the narrative—obesity became a disease that “happens” to you.
You aren’t overweight because of what you eat—your body is just broken.
Diet isn’t the problem—your genetics are.
Food addiction? No such thing. The issue is willpower.
By shifting the focus away from the biochemical impact of ultra-processed foods, they ensured that the solution would never be fixing the food supply—it would be medication.
Now, instead of holding the $7 trillion food industry accountable, society is turning to pharmaceuticals to mask the damage caused by ultra-processed foods. Hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods hijack our brain’s reward systems like drugs, keeping people hooked on sugar and unable to control cravings. GLP-1 drugs don’t fix this. They just turn down hunger temporarily. The GLP-1 boom isn’t just about weight loss—it’s about creating dependence. These drugs don’t correct metabolic dysfunction; they mask symptoms while driving muscle loss, bone density decline, and long-term metabolic damage.
66% of users stop within a year, mostly due to cost and side effects.
100% of those who have come off the drug have regained the weight back.
GLP-1s don’t just cause fat loss—they cause muscle and bone density loss, too. And that’s the real problem. Losing muscle lowers metabolism, making it even easier to regain fat once the drug is stopped. Bone loss increases the risk of osteoporosis and frailty, meaning users aren’t just lighter—they’re physically weaker and more vulnerable to long-term health issues. When the weight comes back, it’s not muscle—it’s fat. The body ends up in a worse metabolic state than before.
The long-term safety data? It doesn’t exist—because these drugs were never studied for lifelong use.
This isn’t medicine—it’s a subscription model for a condition that was engineered in the first place. When people come off the drugs, the cravings, the addiction, and the metabolic dysfunction are still there.
Obesity is a multi-trillion-dollar industry. And like any good business, it needs repeat customers. Destroy metabolic function with low-fat, high-carb, calorie-restricted diets. Push a drug that suppresses appetite—but doesn’t fix the root problem. When people regain weight (which they will), tell them they need the drug for life.
This isn’t healthcare—it’s customer retention.
The pharmaceutical industry has played this game before. Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin as "safe." When addiction rates soared, they created and sold Narcan. Statins became the gold standard for heart disease, even though the real driver of heart disease isn't high cholesterol—it's insulin resistance. Insulin became the go-to treatment for Type 2 diabetes, a condition caused by excess insulin in the first place. Excess insulin doesn’t just lead to diabetes—it drives fat storage, making weight gain inevitable. And now, we have a drug for obesity.
If this made you rethink what you’ve been told, share it. Let’s wake more people up.
The Obesity Industry created the problem. Now, they’re selling you the “solution”—one that doesn’t actually work. If you want real results, you have to stop looking for answers in the same system that profits off your dysfunction. If you want to be healthy in a world where sickness is the norm, you have to be willing to be an outlier.
The real solution isn’t in a pill—it’s in how you fuel and train your body to function the way it was designed to. Fixing insulin resistance means lowering insulin demand. That starts with eating high-protein, nutrient-dense meals that keep blood sugar stable and hunger naturally regulated—without the need for a drug to suppress appetite. Breaking free from glucose dependence means giving your body time to burn fat—not snacking constantly or chasing energy crashes with sugar and caffeine. If you get shaky, hungry, or irritable before four hours, that’s not normal hunger—it’s glucose dependency. Strength training is non-negotiable. Muscle is metabolic currency—it keeps your metabolism high, your bones strong, and your ability to burn fat intact. GLP-1 drugs strip muscle away, making fat regain inevitable. Lifting heavy stops that cycle. And stress? If your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight, cortisol is keeping blood sugar elevated, making fat loss impossible. Learning to regulate stress—through breathwork, movement, and proper sleep—is as critical as what you eat. There’s no shortcut, no hack, and no pharmaceutical replacement. These aren’t quick-fix hacks. This is how the body actually works..
GLP-1 drugs aren’t a cure. They’re a subscription model for a problem that can be fixed with real food, real knowledge, and real metabolic health. So the real question is: Will you break free from the cycle, or will you keep funding the industries that profit from keeping you sick?
And that’s the truth they don’t want you to hear.