Supplement Industry has a long, complicated history with the world of weight-loss products. Before Ozempic, many of the trendiest weight-loss aids were supplements, not prescription drugs: green tea extract, caffeine pills, ephedrine. According to the US National Institutes of Health, over 15 percent American adults have tried a weight-loss supplement. Now the supplement industry is leaning into the GLP-1 boom. They can’t sell Ozempic — but they’re hitting it with a ponderous hitter anyway, building entire businesses around the existing demand for this blockbuster or something like it.
The popularity of GLP-1 agonist drugs is growing with two different types of supplements, semaglutide and tirzepatide, which mimic a natural appetite-suppressing, blood-sugar-regulating hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1. (Ozempic is one of the most common trade names for semaglutide.) First, there is an escalate in efforts to market supplements as complementary to GLP-1 medications. Online stores of major supplement retailers such as Vitamin Shoppe and GNC now offer separate sections dedicated to selling products to be taken in conjunction with prescription medications. “GLP-1 Side Effects? Get Support on Your Journey,” GNC website announces. The Vitamin Shoppe is offering real GLP-1 medications through a partnership to launch a telemedicine company, as well as more established supplements that it sells as “nutritional support,” including probiotics, fiber and multivitamins.
Brian Tanzer, director of scientific and regulatory affairs at Vitamin Shoppe, says the company offers products that can compensate for nutritional deficiencies that can occur when people taking GLP-1 medications restrict calories. “Current data shows that a significant percentage of the population does not meet their daily requirements for several nutrients, and this may be exacerbated by the drastic reduction in caloric intake due to GLP-1 medications,” he says.
Food and supplement giant Nestlé is also getting in on the act. In addition to launching a modern line of foods designed specifically for people taking GLP-1 medications, the company also launched a website called GLP-1nutrition.com, selling a variety of supplements that will “complete your GLP-1 journey.” “We’re the first major food company to enter this space,” Dana Stambaugh, Nestlé’s head of external communications, told WIRED in an email. Meanwhile, meal delivery services have also begun courting GLP-1 patients. Daily Harvest offers “GLP-1 support” package meals designed to suit people taking these medications; a smaller service called BistroMD offers similar prices.
Although GLP-1 drugs are extremely effective, they also often cause side effects, such as gastrointestinal discomfort and loss of muscle mass. The side effects can be severe enough that people stop taking the drugs. A recent study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association found that more than half of people surveyed who were prescribed these medications in the past decade stopped taking them within three months.
Obesity physician Alexandra Sowa recently launched a line of supplements aimed at people taking GLP-1 medications. “I put together what I could find on the market to meet my patients’ needs,” she says. “Nothing was created just for GLP-1 users.” Sowa, who still runs her practice in Manhattan, says the goal is to make her patients feel more comfortable taking their medications by helping to alleviate side effects. Her system sells three powdered supplements (electrolytes, protein, and fiber) that can be purchased together or separately; they’re designed to appeal to the taste buds of people taking GLP-1 medications who may not be as tolerant of sweet foods as they once were.
Another type of supplement related to Ozempic that’s gaining popularity these days isn’t positioned as a pharmaceutical aid, but as an alternative. These products often have “GLP-1” in their name, signaling to potential customers familiar with prescription drugs that they’re offering something from the same universe. A brand called Supergut touts its prebiotics as “natural Ozempic” in its marketing and claims its products “naturally trigger the body’s hunger-suppressing hormone GLP-1.” Supplement brand Pendulum offers a “GLP-1 probiotic,” which it claims also helps “naturally” boost GLP-1 production. Other lines, like Codeage, offer blends like “GLP Advantage+,” which includes L-taurine, decaffeinated green tea leaf extract, boron, prebiotics, and a variety of other ingredients, including berberine, an antibiotic ingredient popular with TikTok wellness influencers who tout its appetite-suppressing properties. When asked if Codeage intended to create the product as an alternative to GLP-1 drugs for people who don’t want to take prescription drugs, co-founder Auggie Quancard said it was “designed for people interested in supporting their metabolic health.” (Codeage also offers a product that the company says is intended to be taken in conjunction with GLP-1 drugs.)