The supplements industry has a long and complicated history with the world of weight loss products. Before the Ozempic era, many of the trendiest dietary supplements were supplements, not prescription drugs: green tea extract, caffeine pills, ephedra. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, more than 15 percent of American adults have tried a weight-loss supplement. Now, the supplement industry is piggybacking on the GLP-1 boom. They can’t sell Ozempic, but they’re cashing in on the boom anyway, creating entire businesses based on existing demand for this blockbuster drug — or something like it.
Two different types of supplements are taking advantage of the popularity of GLP-1 agonist drugs, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, which mimic a natural hormone that suppresses appetite and regulates blood sugar called glucagon-like peptide-1. (Ozempic is one of the best-known brands of semaglutide.) First, there are increasing efforts to market supplements as complementary Online storefronts of major supplement retailers like the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC now offer separate sections dedicated to selling products to take alongside prescription drugs. “GLP-1 Side Effects? Get Support for Your Journey,” the GNC article says. website Proclaim. The Vitamin Shoppe offers actual GLP-1 medications through a partnership to launch a telehealth company, as well as more traditional supplements it markets as “nutritional support,” including probiotics, fiber, and multivitamins.
Brian Tanzer, director of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Vitamin Shoppe, says the company offers products that will offset nutritional deficiencies that can arise when people taking GLP-1 medications cut calories. “Current data shows that a significant percentage of the population is not meeting their daily needs for several nutrients, and this can be exacerbated by a drastic reduction in calorie intake due to the use of GLP-1 medications,” he says.
Food and supplement giant Nestlé is also getting in on the action. In addition to launching an upcoming line of foods specifically aimed at people taking GLP-1 medications, the company has also launched a website, GLP-1nutrition.com, selling a variety of supplements to “complement your GLP-1 experience.” “We are the first major food company to enter this space,” Nestlé’s head of external communications, Dana Stambaugh, told WIRED via email. Meanwhile, meal delivery services have also begun courting GLP-1 patients. Daily Harvest offers a “GLP-1 support” bunch of meals designed to appeal to people taking these medications; a smaller service called BistroMD sells Similar rate.
While GLP-1 drugs are extraordinarily effective, they also often cause side effects such as gastrointestinal upset and muscle loss. The side effects can be severe enough to cause people to stop taking the drugs. A recent study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association found that more than half of people surveyed who had been prescribed these drugs in the last decade stopped taking them within three months.
Obesity physician Alexandra Sowa recently launched a line of supplements aimed at people taking GLP-1 medications. “I was putting together everything I could find on the market to meet the needs of my patients,” she says. “There’s nothing that’s been done just for GLP-1 users.” Sowa, who still runs her practice in Manhattan, says the goal is to keep patients comfortable with the medications by helping them ease side effects. Her system sells three powdered supplements — electrolytes, protein and fiber — that can be purchased together or separately; they were designed to appeal to the taste buds of people taking GLP-1 medications, who might not tolerate sweet products the way they once did.
The other type of Ozempic-related supplement that’s booming right now isn’t positioned as an adjunct to pharmaceutical offerings, but rather as an alternative. These products often have “GLP-1” in their name, signaling to potential customers who are familiar with prescription drugs that they offer something in the same universe. A brand called Supergut touts prebiotics as “nature’s Ozempic” in its marketing, claiming its products “activate your body’s hunger-soothing hormone GLP-1 naturally.” Supplement brand Pendulum offers a “GLP-1 probiotic,” which it also claims helps boost GLP-1 production “naturally.” Other lines, like Codeage, offer blends like “GLP Advantage+,” which contains L-taurine, decaffeinated green tea leaf extract, boron, prebiotics, and a variety of other ingredients, including berberine, an antibiotic-like ingredient popular with wellness influencers on TikTok who tout its appetite-suppressing properties. Asked if Codeage intended the product to be an alternative to GLP-1 drugs for people who don’t want to take prescription medications, co-founder Auggie Quancard said it was “designed for people interested in supporting their metabolic health.” (Codeage also offers a product that the company says should be taken alongside GLP-1 drugs.)
