The fat burning punch used by cFamous people like Rebel Wilson, Sharon Osbourne, Stephen Fry and Elon Musk have helped thousands of people lose weight.
Several MPs have now admitted that they too have taken the weekly ‘groundbreaking’ injections.
Last week, Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick revealed he had been taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic for a “short period” in an attempt to lose weight.
The former immigration minister, who is running to succeed Rishi Sunak, lost 40lb in 12 months after realising he was “too heavy”.
However, he is not the only politician who has confirmed that he is involved with the diet injection.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick, pictured earlier this month, has revealed how he took the slimming drug Ozempic for a ‘short period’
The former Immigration Minister, pictured in July last year, lost 25kg in 12 months after realising he was ‘too heavy’
Injections of semaglutide, the genetic name for the shots Ozempic and Wegovy, mimic GLP-1, a hormone naturally produced in the body that slows the passage of food through the stomach, making people feel less hungry.
This changes appetite regulation in the brain, making people feel full even though they eat less, and they no longer crave sweet, fatty treats.
This causes people to eat less and lose weight.
Originally intended to treat type 2 diabetes, they have now become known among a number of celebrities as a weight loss aid.
However, there have been warnings of serious side effects from the drug, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Mr Jenrick, 42, said Ozempic had been “helpful” but he “didn’t really enjoy it” and had since “lost weight in the normal way by eating less… and doing some exercise”.
Speaking to Politico about his own use of Ozempic, the Conservative MP for Newark said: ‘To be honest, I was overweight.
‘I used Ozempic for a while. I didn’t really like it, but it did help.
Since then I have lost weight the normal way by eating less, eating healthier and doing some exercise – going to the gym, running.
‘I lost 27 kilos in 12 months.’
Semaglutide, as well as rival drugs liraglutide and tirzepatide, are being hailed as monumental breakthroughs in the fight against obesity
Boris Johnson, pictured in 2023, wrote in the Daily Mail about his rollercoaster ride at Ozempic
After the injections began to make him sick, Boris, pictured here in 2020, turned to “exercise and willpower.”
Boris Johnson, 60, also admitted using the drug to lose a few pounds.
The former Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip wrote in the Daily Mail about his rollercoaster ride on Ozempic, after it was recommended by a cabinet colleague.
“It’s a piece of cake,” the doctor said. All you have to do is inject a small dose of the clear Ozempic liquid into your abdomen once a week, and voila, no more raiding the fridge at 11:30 for cheddar and chorizo washed down with half a bottle of wine.
“For weeks I poked my stomach, and for weeks it worked. I pushed the puddings and second helpings down without any effort. I must have lost four or five pounds a week – maybe more,” he wrote.
But after he started feeling sick from the injections, he stopped having the shots and opted for “exercise and willpower.”
However, he added that he might return once diet pills are refined: “I look at my colleagues – slimmer but not hungrier – and I hope that if science can do it for them, maybe one day it can help me and everyone.”
Nadine Dorries before she decided to take part in the Ozempic race – her excess weight was mainly around her waist
Nadine Dorries, 67, former Conservative MP for mid-Bedfordshire, admitted she too jumped on the ‘Ozempic bandwagon’.
When she was still Minister of Culture two years ago, her doctor told her she was pre-diabetic and needed to lose “at least 12 pounds.”
But even after she went on a diet and crossed the “pre-diabetes” threshold, she was still told she needed to lose weight.
A blood test showed she had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a buildup of fat in the liver that is common in overweight and obese people and can lead to more serious damage later in life.
Dorries started doing yoga, pilates and more walking, but the scale still didn’t move.
Eventually, she started taking Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide, a drug that activates two receptors — GLP-1 (which Ozempic also targets) and another called GIP — that slow the rate at which food is digested and lowers blood sugar levels.
Like Ozempic, Mounjaro suppresses your appetite and makes you stop thinking about food. This makes you lose all interest in food and you eat much less than you normally would.
She wrote in the Daily Mail: ‘I had no appetite, but I didn’t miss food either. I just didn’t think about it in the way I do when dieting, where the ever-present feeling of hunger means you’re constantly wondering when and what you’ll be able to eat next.’
After three weeks on the drug, she passed out. She admitted that she had forgotten to eat for almost 24 hours.
But by the end of the first month, she had lost almost 4 kilos.
In July she wrote: ‘I will continue for another month (when I placed my second order, a doctor from the website called me to discuss everything) and then I will stop.
‘By the time I’m done I should weigh 9st, which would put my BMI at 23, which is within the healthy range. But I’m not going to continue. I have to get this, which requires a certain amount of self-discipline.’