{"id":55804,"date":"2025-08-09T16:55:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T16:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55804\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T16:55:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T16:55:18","slug":"do-the-products-influencers-are-selling-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55804\/","title":{"rendered":"Do the Products Influencers Are Selling Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAllie Hargens first started trying to lose weight when she was in the sixth grade, going on the grapefruit diet, a fad diet that entails eating grapefruit at every meal. Since then, she\u2019s cycled through all sorts of eating and exercise plans. But no matter what she\u2019s done, Hargens, 34, says she\u2019s struggled to lose that \u201clast stubborn 15 pounds\u201d \u2014 until she came across a product marketed as \u201cGLP-1 patches,\u201d playing off the current popularity of medications like Ozempic<\/a>. The patches \u2014 which are marked as supplements, not medication \u2014 purport to aid in weight management appetite control; users are instructed to wear them continuously, changing them out every eight hours. Hargens ordered a pack and after a few weeks of using them, she noticed she was eating less and spending less time thinking about food. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to rummage in the pantry even though I\u2019m not actually hungry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn recent years, a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists have become wildly popular for patients seeking to lose weight. Though the medication was originally developed as a diabetes drug, it\u2019s been shown to be effective for a myriad of conditions, like polycystic ovarian syndrome <\/a>and migraines<\/a>. One study found that four percent of Americans are taking GLP-1s<\/a>, which reflects a 600 percent increase in the last five years. Though GLP-1s\u00a0 \u2014 which come in the form of a shot \u2014 seem to be a miracle drug for weight loss, they can come with a steep price tag, costing consumers $1,000 or more. According to both sellers and buyers on TikTok<\/a>, people don\u2019t have to foot that bill \u2013 instead, they can buy a pack of GLP-1 patches for around $13 a month and reap similar benefits. Though many people using the patches swear by their efficacy, experts question the supposed science behind the viral supplements and point toward a potential placebo effect.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe most popular brand of GLP-1 patches comes from Kind Patches, which also sells \u2018Menopause Patches\u2019 to balance hormones and \u2018Love Patches\u2019 patches to enhance mood and intimacy, among other offerings. Ingredients in Kind\u2019s GLP-1 Patches include berberine, pomegranate, and L-glutamine extract, all of which have been shown to aid in the production of GLP-1, a naturally occurring hormone that regulates appetite. However, the doses of the ingredients in the patches aren\u2019t anywhere near the amount that would be needed to have an effect on someone\u2019s GLP-1 production, says Dr. Alyssa Dominguez, an endocrinologist at the University of Southern California\u2019s Keck School of Medicine. \u201cThe doses are super off compared to anything that was in research studies, like they were giving people 8,000 times the dose of what is in the patch,\u201d she says. The concept behind the patches is not backed by science, according to Dr. Dominguez, though given their price point, she can understand why people would want to give them a try. \u201cI would recommend not spending any money on these because I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to do anything meaningful,\u201d she says. (The primary ingredient in the GLP-1 shots is semaglutide, an ingredient that is not present in the patches.)<\/p>\n

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\n\tWhen reached for comment, a representative for Kind Patches said that though they stood behind their product, they may not be universally effective. \u201cWhile we\u2019d love to guarantee that our patches work for everyone, it\u2019s important to note that individual responses to any supplement or product, including our patches, can vary based on a person\u2019s unique physiology, lifestyle, and specific sleep-related issues,\u201d they said. Experts remain skeptical. \u201cMy suspicion would be that any benefit that somebody got from this would be much more likely due to a placebo effect than actual increased production of GLP-1,\u201d says Dr. Dominguez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tStudies have shown that many Americans distrust<\/a> the pharmaceutical industry, and the wellness industry is only growing<\/a>. Part of the allure of the patches, according to Dr. Diana Isaacs, an endocrine pharmacist at the Cleveland Clinic, is rooted in this suspicion of the pharmaceutical industry. \u201cA lot of people believe supplements are more natural, so they\u2019re healthier,\u201d Dr. Isaacs says.<\/p>\n

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\n\tBut across TikTok, users swear they\u2019ve lost weight and gained control over their cravings thanks to the patches \u2014 though many of the people claiming this are also selling the patches, too. Stephanie Morales, a 40-year-old who lives in Wisconsin, had previously taken a GLP-1 shot for weight loss and experienced success, but her prescription was expensive and she worried about being dependent on the medication. \u201cI\u2019m nervous with shots and stuff like that. I wanted to do something more natural,\u201d she says. In July, Morales bought a pack of patches through an influencer\u2019s TikTok Shop and found that, when wearing them, she wasn\u2019t eating as much as usual. \u201cI didn\u2019t really want to keep snacking like I used to,\u201d she says. \u201cIt feels like you have control of your life.\u201d Before, Morales was on a constant seesaw of overeating and then starving herself. Now, she says, her eating habits have leveled out, which she credits to the patches.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to using the patches herself, Morales, like many of the people making content about the efficacy of the patches, is now selling them through TikTok Shop. \u201cI sell hundreds a day,\u201d she says, estimating that she makes between $200 and $300 every day on commission. In July alone she says she made $5,000. Another seller on TikTok Shop, who requested to remain anonymous, says she recently made $70,000 in one month off selling the weight-management patches. Hargens, who also sells the patches in addition to using them herself, says she doesn\u2019t worry about a conflict of interest. \u201cI shared the patches because I liked them,\u201d she says. Morales says that sometimes people accuse her of only promoting products, including the patches, to make money. \u201cBut I only promote products that have worked for me,\u201d she says. \u201cThere will always be negative comments and opinions, but you just have to work through it.\u201d In the comments of TikTok videos, users share their own experiences with the patches, testifying that they\u2019re eating less and losing weight. (Dr. Isaac remains unconvinced. \u201cThere\u2019s no data to support these,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a complete waste of money. Someone\u2019s trying to make a quick buck off this.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tMelissa Lagano, who is 45 and lives in Connecticut, didn\u2019t struggle with weight management until after she had two children. For a while, she did Weight Watchers, but the program\u2019s focus on tracking calories left Lagano with a disordered view of food. \u201cI became really restrictive and just obsessed with every bite I took,\u201d she says. She eventually started taking Tirzepatide, one of the GLP-1 agonist shots. While using the medication, she lost 20 pounds, but she didn\u2019t want to be on medication forever. Lagano stopped taking Tirzepatide and turned to the GLP-1 patches to maintain her weight. \u201cMy weight has stayed steady,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s in my head or if it really is something that\u2019s helping, but I\u2019m not going to stop wearing them.\u201d Hargens, the 34-year-old who\u2019s long struggled with her weight, is similarly unbothered by the concept of her experience with the patches being chalked up to the placebo effect. \u201cI don\u2019t see that as a bad thing, even if it\u2019s just in your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allie Hargens first started trying to lose weight when she was in the sixth grade, going on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,32066,995,490,7716,101],"class_list":{"0":"post-55804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-influencer-marketing","12":"tag-influencers","13":"tag-medication","14":"tag-ozempic","15":"tag-tiktok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}