GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide-1, a natural hormone your gut produces in response to food. This hormone signals your brain that you’re full, slows down how fast your stomach empties, and boosts insulin production — all of which are incredibly useful for people struggling with obesity or type 2 diabetes. Scientists figured out how to mimic this hormone in medication form, creating drugs that extend these effects for an entire week at a time. That’s where Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro come in.

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Ozempic and Wegovy are two brands containing the same active ingredient: semaglutide. Ozempic was originally approved for managing type 2 diabetes, but people quickly noticed it came with a “side effect” — weight loss. This led to the launch of Wegovy, which contains a higher dose of semaglutide. Then came Mounjaro, a different beast altogether. It contains tirzepatide, which not only mimics GLP-1 but also another hormone called GIP. This dual-action approach appears to make it even more powerful for both blood sugar regulation and weight loss.

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While they all come in a simple once-weekly injection, the dosing schedules differ slightly. Semaglutide typically starts at a low dose — around 0.25 mg per week — and slowly ramps up to avoid overwhelming your system with nausea and digestive discomfort, a common side effect early on. For weight loss purposes, Wegovy may reach as high as 2.4 mg per week. Mounjaro begins similarly low at 2.5 mg per week and gradually increases, with the highest dose reaching 15 mg per week.

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Results? They can be dramatic. In clinical trials, patients taking Wegovy lost, on average, around 15% of their total body weight over about 68 weeks. Mounjaro has pushed those numbers even higher, with some patients losing over 22% of their body weight within roughly a year and a half of use. These numbers don’t just represent pounds lost — they can mean reversal of fatty liver disease, improved blood pressure, better sleep, and in some cases, remission of type 2 diabetes.