Therefore, it is not surprising that some people undergo weight loss surgery experience resurgence of a pre-existing eating disorder, or the development of a new disorder. “Vomiting frequently, not knowing what foods to upset your stomach, and feeling pressured to maintain weight after surgery—“you can create an eating disorder in a way,” says Du Briel. there”.
But semaglutide and tirzepatide promise to fulfill an even stranger dream: eliminating cravings yourself. While a drug like Mounjaro works on many fronts – including preventing the body from storing fat and “browning” existing fatty tissue – the feeling of being unattached from desire can seem mesmerizing. patients and doctors. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Weight Center, says people on the pill often say, “I forgot to eat.
If doctors really believe that obesity is the greater of the two evils, this approach makes sense. For example, when it comes to bariatric surgery, a review of the medical literature shows that on balance, it is associated with weight loss. all causes of death—or death from any cause*—* compared with patients with a high BMI without surgery (although such studies are very limited, as they often do not control for social factors, such as income or education). Many hope that one day semaglutide and tirzepatide will prove to be vital.
But eating disorders also kill people. In many contexts, prolonged starvation is seen as a farce. And longing—food, or anything else—is a great way to know you’re alive. Shira Rosenbluth, an eating disorder therapist who works with people, says: “It’s a myth that we see not eating as a positive thing. Anna Toonk agrees: “I realize that there are To be worse things than being fat, she told The Cut last fall. “The worst thing you can do is wanting to go barf all the time.”
Ultimately, the rapid proliferation of drugs like Mounjaro means that the drug is more than just a “normal” weight fixer (something it does). still don’t understand), but “normal” taste. What used to be an intuitive process, in which your body tells you what it needs, has become an imperative in diet culture: You tell your body what it can have. Now, medicine promises a radical reset: With the right drug, your body won’t crave for anything.
weight loss technology can’t stop completely—nor should. Everyone has the right to choose what they want to do with their body. But informed consent is built on information and we may not have enough. Mounjaro was rapidly followed by the FDA based on studies designed to observe weight loss in as little as 72 weeks, a fraction of the time that patients would actually take the drug. At a minimum, the patient should be informed that in the first years after a drug hits the marketthey are participants in an ongoing experiment.
As biomedical science continues to fight obesity, everyone must do more to combat anti-obesity bias—not technically, but as part of a broader vision of the technology. This is a theory that fat activists began talking about more than 50 years ago. As for semaglutide, tirzepatide, weight loss surgery and the like thereof, is neither a miracle nor a cure. There are always fat people and there will always be, whether they are “nonresponders” to treatment, people who refuse or languish on the waiting list. Notably, even people who lose significant weight after surgery or injections can still be overweight or obese, depending on where they started.
Perhaps most importantly, the American weight loss discourse must move away from the reflexive scientism that has allowed biomedicine to bring the entire human experience into its in-depth examination. Weight, like almost every aspect of embodiment, is not an exclusively biological phenomenon or an obvious medical “problem” to be solved. It is shaped by a multitude of factors, such as the distribution of power in society, individual psychology, and the most feared force: the desire to have more.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, call the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at (800) 931-2237.
