Why weight comes back after stopping a weight-loss drug
Post-semaglutide weight regain in females with obesity: Associations with gut microbiota, bile acid metabolism, and central nervous system.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A drug called semaglutide helps people lose weight by making them feel less hungry. But when they stop taking it, their body seems to fight back by making them hungrier again.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 526 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A drug called semaglutide helps people lose weight by making them feel less hungry. But when they stop taking it, their body seems to fight back by making them hungrier again.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 526 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Publication
Authors
Wang N, Guo H, Song L, Wang J, Hu S, Wang M, Zhang D, Jing Y, Zhang Y, Wang M, Wang T, Sun B
Related Content
Claims (6)
Even after people stopped taking semaglutide, some of the good effects on fat breakdown in the liver and fat tissue stayed around, likely because certain cellular signals that help burn fat stayed active and others that store fat stayed quiet.
When women with obesity stopped taking a weight-loss drug called semaglutide after 36 weeks, most of them quickly gained back weight and felt hungrier than before.
When women with obesity stopped taking semaglutide, their gut bacteria changed in a way that’s linked to lower levels of a helpful bile acid and reduced activity in a brain region that helps control appetite.
When people stopped taking semaglutide, their brain started signaling hunger more strongly and fullness less strongly, making them feel hungrier again.
When people stop taking semaglutide, they often gain weight back and feel hungrier — and this might be because their gut bacteria and metabolism go back to how they were before, which could be telling their brain to eat more.