Generally, we don’t think of taking a medication if we don’t have a disease, and belly fat is so common it’s hard to consider it a disease. However, excess abdominal fat is a sign that you’re producing too much insulin, and years of insulin overproduction can wear out your beta cells and bring on diabetes. If taking a medication could help you lose belly fat and prevent diabetes, it’s worth considering.
The American Diabetes Association recently approved the diabetes drug metformin to treat hyperinsulinemia even in people without diabetes. Metformin works by reducing sugar production by the liver, which lessens the body’s need for insulin. It’s like an “internal” low carb diet. In addition to preventing diabetes, metformin promotes weight loss and reduces belly fat. It also improves menstrual function and increases fertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
Several other diabetes medications similarly lower insulin levels by reducing the amount of sugar in the system. A type of drug called SGLT-2 inhibitors (Farxiga, Jardiance, Invokana) help the kidneys excrete sugar. Another medication called GLP-1 analogs (Bydurian, Victoza, Trulicity, Ozempic) reduce sugar production by the liver and slow digestion of carbohydrates. All of these medications promote weight loss and reduce belly fat.
Losing weight by taking a GLP-1 analog selectively removes fat from the abdomen–it shrinks the waistline more than losing the same amount of weight cutting calories. Most of the GLP-1 analogs require an injection, though some only once a week. An exception is sumaglutide, which can now be taken as a once-daily pill (Rybelsus).
Another pill acarbose inhibits the enzyme that breaks down starch to sugar. When taken with a meal, acarbose slows the digestion of starch, which lowers its glycemic load.
Wegovy for Weight Loss: A “Game Changer”
GLP-1 analogs are especially effective for losing weight. In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, subjects who gave themselves a once-weekly injection of the GLP-analog sumaglutide lost a remarkable average of 34 pounds in a year and 4 months. (You read it right: one injection a week, 34 pounds.) Medical news sites are describing this as a “game changer” for the treatment of obesity.
Sumaglutide is the pharmaceutical name for Ozempic, which was approved by the FDA for treating type 2 diabetes in 2018. The dosage in the weight loss study was twice that used to treat diabetes. In June 2021 the FDA approved the double dose for weight loss in folks with or without diabetes. It will soon be available under the pharmaceutical name Wegovy.
If you want to get rid of belly fat, these drugs are worth considering. All work by reducing the glycemic load of the carbohydrates you eat. But remember, hyperinsulinemia is a double whammy. None of them address the other half of the whammy–insulin resistance. Here’s how you do that: The muscle-belly connection.
