For many, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs like tirzepatide and semaglutide offered an ideal solution to diabetes and weight loss.<\/p>\n
One shot or a pill could help regulate blood sugar, curb appetite and promote weight loss without the need for complicated diet and exercise regimens.<\/p>\n
Today, one in eight Americans takes some form of GLP-1 medication, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.<\/p>\n
However, most weight-loss patients eventually quit the drugs, and then the weight comes back, just like it does after people quit their old-school diets.<\/p>\n
Two studies published this year (2026) hope to prevent that rebound, through a daily oral GLP-1 replacement or a bacterial supplement called Akkermansia muciniphila.<\/p>\n
Those who switched from an injected GLP-1 to a daily oral dose of orforglipron managed to maintain 74% to 79% of their weight loss after five to six weeks, the international team of researchers found.<\/p>\n
Those who took a placebo kept off 38% to 49% of the pounds lost under the injectable drug.<\/p>\n
The study, funded by orforglipron-maker Eli Lilly, was published in the journal Nature Medicine.<\/p>\n
Another trial tracked 80 adults who lost weight in an eight-week, low-calorie diet before returning to a regular, balanced diet supplemented with either an A. muciniphila supplement or a placebo.<\/p>\n
Those taking the supplement managed to keep off an additional six pounds (2.7kg) compared with those who took the placebo after six months.<\/p>\n
This study, funded by the supplement-maker Akkermansia Company, was also published in the May (2026) edition of Nature Medicine.<\/p>\n
While researchers in both studies suggested a need to follow people over a longer recovery period, their work suggests there is no easy way around long-term weight management practices, including improving diet and exercise. \u2013 By Karl Hille \/The Baltimore Sun\/Tribune News Service<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs like tirzepatide and semaglutide offered an ideal solution to diabetes and weight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[424,95051,103,61,60,371,4369,2114,1184],"class_list":["post-486723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-drugs","tag-glp-1-receptor-agonists","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-medication","tag-obesity","tag-weight-loss","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}