Weight loss, fat-busters and Keto diets alike are fads that are inescapable in modern culture. Saturated on social media, magazines and even in the social circles you interact with, the incessant drive for weight loss plagues us globally.
The latest craze infiltrating mainstream culture from celebrities and elites alike is the usage, and often abuse, of the drug Semaglutide, commonly known as Ozempic. The drug itself is mainly used to increase the insulin levels of those with type 2 diabetes, but has become an on-the-market, unjustifiably available, weight loss injection. This is because it causes food to remain in the stomach and gut for longer, giving the illusion of fullness.
Type 2 diabetics, within the UK especially, are experiencing a national shortage of the drug as many do not have the disposable income to stockpile the drug for the months to come. However, those with pockets of income and a desire to lose weight quickly have no issue being able to fork out hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for it. Type 2 diabetes is a life threatening condition and when the craving to lose weight results in a shortage of often essential medicine that keeps people alive, is when the line for vanity is greater than that of vitality.
Diabetes UK responded to the shortage stating that: “The global shortage in supply is partly due to a surge in off-label prescriptions of the drug semaglutide being issued for weight loss.”
The medication has been renamed and rebranded in various forms, notably as Wegovy, used by weight loss clinics in the NHS. Through this route the drug is recommended to be used for a maximum of 2 years, however weight gain rapidly comes back once it is no longer used.
The obsession to obtain more of this drug can fester into a form of hoarding which online pharmacies readily exploit. I personally delved deeper and found that online distributors like Daily Chemist offer an injection for £149.99, with the most screening being to submit an ID photo or full body shot in order to visually determine weight, rather pointless in the digital age of photo editing.
Extremist diets alike are cropping up all over the internet, advertising a never ending stream to satisfy the desire to drop weight. The carnivore diet in particular, first graced my screen through TikTok creators like Carnivore India, eating large chunks of raw meat. The diet consists of removing all plant based items, and therefore only consuming fish, meats and eggs (dairy in very small amounts). Although providing some benefits such as weight loss and reducing gut inflammation, there is not enough nutritional research into the diet to be able to judge the long term health effects. Although, removing an entire food group doesn't seem too wise of an idea.
Mental health and weight loss come tied together as a duo. Within contemporary culture, the negative cognitive bias surrounding the festering urge to maintain what is deemed ‘slim’, ‘skinny’ or ‘thin’ is inscribed into our thinking patterns.
From the naughtie’s 'heroin chic’ aesthetic where the body was the accessory to fitness programmes and media coverage, and let's not forget that cotton ball scene in Scream Queens, creates a primal drive to obtain, what we perceive to be, desirable and essential to fit with society.
Preying on people's fragile mental health with the inadvertent stream of weight loss advertising it just propels the sale of these sometimes bogus, sometimes dangerous, products. These are products targeted at making people to be pushed into the realms of danger and psychological distress rather than techniques and methods healthily targeted to help those in genuine need.
Weight loss fads are not going away overnight but protecting your own mental health from compulsively consuming weight loss material, or buying into these fads, is essential. Methods of weight loss can be effective if used correctly, such as a calorie deficit. However, there is a fine line between a compulsive need, and a change to a ‘healthier’ lifestyle. Chasing a societally-driven value of what the human body needs to look like, will not create a healthier mindset, life or experience.
Edited by Faith Suronku-Lindsay