Oprah's Weight Loss Dilemma: The Ozempic

Oprah Winfrey has been candid this week about her ongoing use of GLP-1 medications like those containing semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, for weight management. In recent interviews promoting her new book Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like to be Free, co-authored with Yale professor Dr. Ania M. Jastreboff, she shared that she started these weekly injections in 2023 and views them as a lifelong tool, much like blood pressure medicine. Oprah told People magazine she feels no shame in relying on them, explaining that after stopping for six months to test her willpower, she regained 20 pounds despite strict dieting and exercise. She now believes obesity influences overeating through genetics and hormones, freeing her from self-blame after decades of public scrutiny and jokes about her weight.

Social media buzzed with debate over her comments on The View, where she said obesity causes overeating rather than the reverse, a view some experts clarify starts with overeating leading to obesity, which then complicates appetite control via elevated hunger hormones. Still, Oprah emphasizes these drugs help by reducing hunger and slowing stomach emptying, as noted by Harvard Health.

Meanwhile, regulators issued fresh guidance on GLP-1s this week. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency updated advice for prescribers and patients on semaglutide products like Ozempic and Wegovy, highlighting a small risk of severe acute pancreatitis. They noted about 1.6 million adults in England, Wales, and Scotland used these for weight loss between early 2024 and early 2025, per University College London research. In Canada, generic semaglutide became possible after Novo Nordisk's data exclusivity expired on January 4, promising more affordable options soon.

Long-term data reinforces their efficacy. The STEP 5 trial showed once-weekly semaglutide yielding 15.2 percent sustained weight loss at 104 weeks, with mild gastrointestinal side effects like nausea most common. Tirzepatide, a dual agonist, outperformed in the SURMOUNT trials with up to 25 percent loss over 88 weeks. Experts like Dr. Caroline Apovian from Harvard stress indefinite use for best results, alongside diet and exercise, while new oral versions and pipeline drugs like amycretin aim to improve access.

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The landscape of weight loss treatment in America is shifting dramatically as glucagon-like peptide-one receptor agonists, or GLP-1s, continue to dominate conversations about obesity management. According to a Pew Research Center report from January 2026, thirteen states now cover GLP-1s for obesity treatment under Medicaid, though this represents progress tempered by significant setbacks. California, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina stopped covering these medications as of January first, citing rising costs that have strained state budgets. The medications, which include popular drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, have seen explosive growth, with Novo Nordisk reporting thirty-one point one billion dollars in combined revenue from these three drugs in 2024, nearly triple the eleven point nine billion from 2022.

Public awareness of these medications continues to surge. According to Pew Research data from early 2025, about fifty-three percent of Americans say they hear or read about Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar drugs extremely or very often. Yet Americans remain divided on appropriate use. While fifty-three percent of those familiar with these medications see them as good options for people with obesity or weight-related health conditions, only twelve percent view them as appropriate for people who simply want to lose weight without existing health issues.

Oprah Winfrey has been particularly vocal about her GLP-1 journey, recently speaking with CBS about her experience with these medications. In an interview from January 12, 2026, the seventy-one-year-old media mogul described how the medication eliminated what she calls "food noise" within hours of her first dose. She expressed deep regret that she did not discover this treatment option in 2013, speaking emotionally about the wasted years of shame and sadness surrounding her weight struggles. Winfrey now views obesity as a disease rather than a personal failure, a perspective shift that has transformed her relationship with these medications. After taking herself off the drug for a year to prove she could manage without it, she gained twenty pounds and has since recommitted to the treatment, recognizing that like her blood pressure medication, these drugs represent a long-term management tool she needs to maintain her health.

The first week of 2026 has highlighted the complex reality of weight loss medication access in America. While newer treatments continue to emerge and awareness spreads, insurance coverage remains inconsistent and often declining. The tension between rising demand, limited access through public programs, and growing pharmaceutical revenues underscores the ongoing challenges in making these transformative treatments available to all Americans who need them.

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Oprah Winfrey shared striking insights this week on her experience with Ozempic, a popular drug known as semaglutide for type two diabetes and weight management. On the Today Show on January 21, 2026, the media icon revealed she gained 20 pounds after stopping the medication for nearly a year. She wanted to prove she could maintain her weight through discipline alone, including hiking regularly and exercising up to two hours a day, six days a week. But the weight returned quickly, leading her to resume the injections. Oprah compared it to lifelong blood pressure medicine, saying she has proven to herself that she needs it. A new BMJ study mentioned in the discussion found that people quitting GLP-one drugs like Ozempic regain about four kilograms every month and can recover all lost weight within two years.

This personal story aligns with warnings from experts this week. Doctor Andre Teixeira, a bariatric surgeon, told Scripps News that without lifestyle changes, most people regain 67 percent of their weight within two years after stopping these drugs. The medications slow digestion and reduce cravings, but effects fade 30 to 90 days after discontinuation, often worsening prior metabolic issues. Gina Leinninger, a physiology professor at Michigan State University, called them forever drugs in an MSUToday article, noting the body fights to defend higher weights once gained, making sustained loss challenging even with diet and exercise.

Meanwhile, legal concerns mount over Ozempic side effects. Lawsuit Information Center reported on January 17, 2026, that Novo Nordisk faces potential mass torts in New Jersey for claims of gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, and NAION, a vision loss condition. The GLP-one multidistrict litigation now includes over 3,000 cases, with predictions of high value for severe NAION injuries. Gastric emptying studies are key to proving these claims, as symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and bloating can persist without cure.

These developments highlight Ozempic's dual role as a powerful weight loss tool and a medication demanding long-term commitment amid emerging risks.

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Oprah Winfrey has been candid this week about her experiences with GLP-1 medications like Ozempic for weight loss. According to RadarOnline on January 16, she dropped about 50 pounds two and a half years ago after starting the drug but gained back 20 pounds when she stopped taking it after six months. She shared on The View and her podcast that she once blamed herself for her weight, feeling shame from constant food noise in her head, but now views obesity as a disease beyond personal control, much like addiction. Oprah explained that thin people simply do not think about food constantly, and the medication silenced that urge for her, even reducing her desire for alcohol like tequila.

RadarOnline reports Oprah calling it a lifetime commitment, similar to blood pressure medicine, as stopping leads to regain despite diet and exercise. She told CBS News she is now down to 155 pounds from a default of 211, feeling in the best shape of her life at 71 through the drugs combined with daily hiking and resistance training. Oklahoma Magazine notes she has no shame in using GLP-1s, covers costs for friends, and stresses overeating does not cause obesity but the reverse, freeing her from self-blame.

Experts echo this. Michigan State University Today featured physiologist Gina Leinninger this week, who calls GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy game-changers for obesity, mimicking hormones to curb hunger since the brain defends higher weights. She warns they are forever drugs, with effects reversing quickly upon stopping, and urges reserving them for those who need them amid shortages and high costs up to one thousand dollars monthly. Stony Brook Medicine on January 15 detailed how these injections or pills delay stomach emptying, leading to 15 percent average weight loss with semaglutide when paired with lifestyle changes, though side effects like nausea can be managed by eating smaller protein-rich meals slowly.

A Los Angeles Times analysis on January 15 highlighted broader impacts, noting widespread use could save U.S. airlines over five hundred million dollars yearly in fuel from lighter passengers. Business Insider affirmed Oprah's influence persists, validating medical over willpower approaches.

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Health Canada approved the first glucagon-like peptide one daily pill, Rybelsus, on Monday for adults with type two diabetes who face high risks of heart disease. This semaglutide pill, made by the same company behind injectable Ozempic and Wegovy, aims to improve blood sugar levels alongside diet and exercise while cutting chances of heart attacks, strokes, or death from cardiovascular events. Company trials with over nine thousand six hundred fifty patients showed it lowered those risks compared to a placebo. Unlike prior GLP one drugs in Canada, all injectables until now, this offers a convenient oral option, though experts note it may need higher doses since stomach acids break down some of the peptide, making injections potentially more effective for weight loss.

Recent studies highlight challenges with these medications. A review in the British Medical Journal, published this week, analyzed sixty-three trials involving more than nine thousand people and found users regain weight at about zero point four kilograms per month after stopping GLP one drugs, with heart benefits vanishing too. In the United States, the food and drug administration approved an oral Wegovy pill last month, now available for around one hundred forty-nine United States dollars monthly through places like Amazon Pharmacy.

Oprah Winfrey, seventy-one, shared candid thoughts on GLP one medications this week during appearances on CBS Sunday Morning and The View. She called them a vital tool for managing obesity, a disease she now views without shame or self-blame. Winfrey said the constant food noise in her mind vanished hours after her first dose, freeing her from obsession despite still enjoying food. She regrets not discovering them in two thousand thirteen, lamenting wasted years of sadness, and admitted gaining twenty pounds in a year after stopping to test her willpower, proving to her it is a lifelong need like blood pressure medicine. Promoting her new book with doctor Ania Jastreboff, she stressed obesity causes overeating, not the reverse, and urged ending blame, even covering costs for friends who cannot afford it.

Analysts at Jefferies noted on January twelfth that widespread use of weight loss drugs like Ozempic could save major United States airlines up to five hundred eighty million dollars in fuel this year, as lighter passengers cut jet fuel needs by up to one point five percent. In Canada, semaglutide patents expired this month, paving the way for cheaper generics to boost access.

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