Oprah Winfrey claims that taking a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic and Wegovy completely changed her view of “thin people.”
The media icon, 70, took to her podcast last week to share her experience with an undisclosed type of GLP-1 drug that she started taking in 2023.
A type 2 diabetes medication that can also help with weight loss, GLP-1 scripts include the well-known names Ozempic and Wegovy.
While discussing the use, safety and effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs with Dr. Ania Jastreboff on the Jan. 14 episode of “The Oprah Podcast,” the Harpo Productions founder said her way to think the way “thin” people approach food was all bad.
“One of the things I realized the very first time I took a GLP-1 was that all these years I thought that thin people – these people – had more willpower,” said Winfrey told Dr. Jastreboff, adding that she thought, “They ate better foods. They were able to stick with them longer. They never ate chips.
However, after starting a GLP-1, Winfrey came to believe that “willpower” was actually an absence of intrusive thoughts related to hunger, often referred to as “food noise.”
“And then I realized the very first time I took GLP-1 that they don’t even think about it,” the Oscar winner said of “thin people” and food.
“They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.”
This mindset “doesn’t work if you have obesity,” Winfrey added.
While discussing obesity being a disease, Winfrey also opened up about how her struggles with weight loss played out in the public eye and took a toll on her.
“Every week (I was) exploited by the tabloids,” she said, referring to the years she spent hosting her successful talk show. “Every time a comedian wanted to make fun of it or make a joke about it, they made a joke of it. And I accepted it because I thought I deserved it.
The media mogul also admitted she was reluctant to take a GLP-1 drug because she felt it was “the easy way out.” That changed after a weight loss special with experts and clinicians she taped in July 2023. The panel discussion left her with her “biggest aha moment” about the drug.
“I (before) knew about (weight loss) medication, but I felt like I had to prove that I had the will to do it. I don’t feel that way anymore,” she said.
“I realized that I had blamed myself for being overweight all these years and that I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower can control. Obesity is a disease. It’s not a question of will, it’s a question of brain.
She continued: “It’s a world that has forever shamed people for being overweight and all of us who have experienced it know that people treat you differently. That’s simply what they do.
“And I’m Oprah Winfrey and I know what that entails and I’m treated differently if I’m over 200 pounds or under 200 pounds.”
Winfrey added: “There’s a condescension. There is a stigma.
