A one-two punch of two drugs may help people lose weight without losing muscle — and it works better than either drug alone.

When people took both drugs together, they lost more weight and kept more of their muscle than when they took just one of them. That’s notable because many weight-loss treatments, even effective ones, can chip away at muscle along with fat. This combo seemed to do something different — shedding pounds while keeping the muscle intact, which could matter a lot for long-term health and metabolism. The study was small and short-term, so we don’t yet know how lasting these effects are, or if side effects might pop up over time. But for now, it’s a really interesting hint that targeting two pathways at once might be smarter than going it alone.