The supplement industry has a long, complicated history with the world of weight loss products. Previously the era of OzempicMany of the trendiest diet aids were supplements, not prescription drugs: green tea extract, caffeine pills, ephedra. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, more than 15 percent of adult Americans have tried a weight-loss supplement. Now the supplement industry is riding the GLP-1 boom. They can’t sell Ozempic, but they’re scrambling to do it anyway, creating entire companies built around the existing demand for this blockbuster drug, or something like it.
Two different types of supplements are capitalizing on the popularity of GLP-1 agonist drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide, which mimic a natural appetite-suppressing, blood sugar-regulating hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1. (Ozempic is one of the best-known brand names for semaglutide.) First, there has been an increase in efforts to market supplements as complementary to GLP-1 medications. The online storefronts of major supplement retailers like the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC now offer separate sections dedicated to selling products that can be taken with prescription medications. “GLP-1 Side Effects? Get Support for Your Journey,” the GNC website The Vitamin Shoppe offers actual GLP-1 drugs through a partnership to launch a telehealth company, as well as more traditional supplements that it markets as “nutritional support,” including probiotics, fiber, and multivitamins.
Brian Tanzer, director of scientific and regulatory affairs for Vitamin Shoppe, says the company offers products that can help offset the nutritional gaps that can occur when people taking GLP-1 drugs consume fewer calories. “Current data shows that a significant percentage of the population is not meeting their daily needs for several nutrients, and this can be exacerbated by a dramatic reduction in calorie intake due to the use of GLP-1 drugs,” he says.
Food and supplement giant Nestlé is also getting in on the act. In addition to launching an upcoming line of foods specifically targeted at people taking GLP-1 drugs, the company also launched a website, GLP-1nutrition.com , selling a variety of supplements to “supplement your GLP-1 journey.” “We are the first major food company to get into this space,” Nestlé’s external communications director Dana Stambaugh told WIRED via email. Meanwhile, meal delivery services have also begun recruiting GLP-1 patients. Daily Harvest is offering a “GLP-1 Support” bundle of meals designed to appeal to people taking these medications; a smaller service called BistroMD sells comparable rate.
Although GLP-1 drugs are remarkably effective, they often also negatively impact the effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs. cause side effects such as gastrointestinal upset and muscle loss. Side effects can be so severe that people stop taking the medication. A recent study by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association found that more than half of the people surveyed who had been prescribed these drugs in the past ten years stopped taking them within three months.
Obesity specialist Alexandra Sowa recently launched a line of supplements aimed at people taking GLP-1 medications. “I just pulled together everything I could find on the market to meet the needs of my patients,” she says. “Nothing was specifically made for the GLP-1 user.” Sowa, who still runs her Manhattan practice, says the goal is to keep patients comfortable with the medication 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 able to tolerate sweet foods the way they once did.
The other type of Ozempic-like supplement that’s emerging is positioned not as a companion to pharmaceutical offerings, but as an alternative. These products often have “GLP-1” in their names, which lets potential customers familiar with the prescription drugs know that they’re offering something in the same universe. A brand called Supergut touts prebiotics as “nature’s Ozempic” in its marketing, claiming that its products “naturally activate your body’s hunger-suppressing GLP-1 hormone.” Supplement brand Pendulum offers a “GLP-1 Probiotic,” which it also claims helps increase GLP-1 production “naturally.” Other lines, like Codeage, offer blends like the “GLP Advantage+,” which contains L-taurine, decaffeinated green tea leaf extract, boron, prebiotics, and a variety of other ingredients, including berberinean antibiotic-like ingredient popular with TikTok wellness influencers who tout its appetite-suppressing properties. When asked if Codeage intended the product as an alternative to GLP-1 drugs for people who don’t want to take prescription medications, co-founder Auggie Quancard said it was “designed for people who are interested in supporting their metabolic health.” (Codeage also offers a product that the company says is meant to be taken in conjunction with GLP-1 drugs.)