{"id":867588,"date":"2026-08-25T07:10:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T07:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/867588\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T07:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T07:10:37","slug":"new-weight-loss-drug-may-burn-fat-without-muscle-loss-seen-in-glp-1-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/867588\/","title":{"rendered":"New weight loss drug may burn fat without muscle loss seen in GLP-1 drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

(NewsNation<\/a>) \u2014\u00a0Researchers at UC Berkeley<\/a> say they have identified a new compound that may help the body burn fat without the muscle loss often associated with popular weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.<\/p>\n

The compound, known as TOFA, has only been tested in mice so far, but researchers say the early findings could point to a new approach to treating obesity and diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What is Medicare’s GLP-1 Bridge program?\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

How does TOFA differ from Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound?<\/p>\n

Unlike GLP-1 medications, which primarily work by suppressing appetite, TOFA appears to boost the body’s metabolism, allowing it to burn more energy without reducing food intake.<\/p>\n

The compound also blocks two enzymes involved in the production of fat and cholesterol.<\/p>\n

In mouse studies<\/a>, animals treated with TOFA burned up to 18% more energy without eating less or exercising more.<\/p>\n

Why is muscle loss such a big concern for GLP-1 users?<\/p>\n

Muscle plays a critical role in regulating blood sugar and maintaining metabolism. When people lose muscle along with fat, they can become weaker and may find it more difficult to maintain weight loss over time.<\/p>\n

According to researchers at UC Davis,<\/a> people taking GLP-1 medications can lose significant amounts of lean muscle mass during rapid weight loss, with some studies estimating losses of about 20% of lean mass.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Compounded GLP-1 drugs creating concern among doctors and FDA\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Could TOFA replace GLP-1s?<\/p>\n

Researchers envision TOFA being used alongside GLP-1 medications rather than replacing them.<\/p>\n

In animal studies, combining TOFA with semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, or tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, produced greater weight-loss results than either treatment alone.<\/p>\n

Researchers caution that TOFA remains in the early stages of development and has not yet been tested in humans.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NewsNation.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(NewsNation) \u2014\u00a0Researchers at UC Berkeley say they have identified a new compound that may help the body burn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":867589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,217788,137,490,20352,10445,436470,555],"class_list":["post-867588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-burn-fat","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-muscle-loss","tag-researchers","tag-tofa","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867588","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=867588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}