The Land That Doesn’t Need Ozempic; Japan's Food Culture

[mountaineer]

The Land That Doesn’t Need Ozempic
By Johann Hari
May 9, 2024 7:00 AM EDT
TIME

In March 2023, the Japanese medical authorities announced that the new weight loss drug Wegovy—which was in staggering demand across the world, causing shortages everywhere—had been approved to treat obesity in their country. It sounded, at first glance, like great news for Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy. But industry outlet the Pharma Letter explained that this would not in fact turn out to be much of a boost. They predicted that these drugs would dominate the market in Japan, but that won’t mean much, for a simple reason: there is almost no obesity there. Some 42% of Americans are obese, compared with just 4.5% of Japanese people. Japan, it seems, is the land that doesn’t need Ozempic.

I wondered how this could be, and if the answer might offer me a way out of a dilemma that was obsessing me. Several months before, I had started taking Ozempic, and I was traveling all over the world to interview the leading experts on these drugs to research my new book, Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs. The more I discovered, the more torn I became. I had learned there are massive health benefits to reversing obesity with these drugs: for example, Novo Nordisk ran a trial that found weekly injections reduced the risk of heart attack or stroke by 20% for participants with a BMI over 27 and a history of cardiac events. But I also saw there are significant risks. I interviewed prestigious French scientists who worry the drugs could cause an increase in thyroid cancer, and eating disorders experts who worry it will cause a rise in this problem. Other experts fear it may cause depression or suicidal thoughts. These claims are all fiercely disputed and debated. I felt trapped between two risky choices—ongoing obesity, or drugs with lots of unknowns.  ...

I glimpsed part of the explanation when I went to the Tokyo College of Sushi & Washoku, to interview the president Masaru Watanabe, who I also spoke with on Zoom on another occasion. He had agreed to cook a meal for me with some of his trainees, and to explain the principles behind it. He told me: “The Japanese cuisine’s [core] feature is simplicity. For us, the simpler, the better.”  ...

In Japan, you are taught from a very early age to only eat until you feel you are 80% full. It takes time for your body to sense you’ve had enough, and if you hit a sense of fullness while you are still eating, then you’ve definitely had too much.   ...

Up until this point, I had seen aspects of Japan’s approach toward health that seemed totally admirable. But next, I saw something that left me with mixed feelings. In 2008, the Japanese government noticed that obesity was slightly rising. So they introduced the “Metabo Law,” which was designed to reduce the negative consequences of a large waistline. The law contained a simple rule. Once a year, every workplace and local government in Japan has to bring in a team of nurses and doctors to measure the waistline of adults between ages 40 and 74. If the measurements are above a certain level, the person is referred to counseling, and workplaces draw up health plans with employees to lose weight. Companies with fattening work forces can face fines. ...

https://time.com/6974579/japan-food-culture-low-obesity/

[mountaineer]

I wonder if there are more up-to-date figures available.

The average weight of people in the United States and North America as a whole is higher than any other region in the world.

In 2012, BMC Public Health reported the following average weights by region. The averages were calculated using data from 2005, and relied on combined statistics for men and women:

    North America: 177.9 pounds
    Oceania, including Australia: 163.4 pounds
    Europe: 156.1 pounds
    Latin America/Caribbean: 149.7 pounds
    Africa: 133.8 pounds
    Asia: 127.2 pounds

The world average for an adult’s weight is 136.7 pounds.  ...

https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/average-weight-for-men#weight-ranges

Our most recent trips to Europe were in 2017 and 2018, and we saw quite a few overweight locals in Germany, France and UK.

[GtHawk]

I wonder if there are more up-to-date figures available.https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/average-weight-for-men#weight-ranges

Our most recent trips to Europe were in 2017 and 2018, and we saw quite a few overweight locals in Germany, France and UK.

Yeah I keep seeing things like this story about North Americans being fatter than anywhere else, yes there are a lot of obese people in America and also 'normal weight, thin and anorexic. I don't have to travel to know that there a lot of obese people everywhere in almost every country if not every country. I remember them blaming American food for making Mexicans fat...so how do you explain all the lard asses waddling across our border?

[mountaineer]

There's been an all-out push by the drug regulators and media to get every adult and child on Ozempic, a drug which causes temporary weight loss and harms the majority of recipients. Here, two leading food safety activists expose the staggering corruption behind Ozepmic:

https://twitter.com/MidwesternDoc/status/1830688829344489522

[LMAO]

Becoming obese is simply not a sign of age like I’ve heard some people claim

I’m almost 60 years old and yet I’m muscular and lean. I take no medication for diabetes or blood pressure or cholesterol.  When I turned 50, I noticed that I was putting on a little bit more body fat so I simply adjusted my food intake. Burned it off.

Lots of lean protein, fruits, and vegetables. My weakness is a beer. But I don’t think Americans truly grasp how many calories they take in any given day

Americans eat crap. And they eat more crap. And they ask for even more crap

[mountaineer]

Watch: Singer Avery Breaks Down Revealing Ozempic Left Her With Deadly Bone-Thinning Disease
Paul Bois
28 Jan 20253
Breitbart

Avery, a singer with a substantial social media following, said in a recent video that Ozempic gave her a bone-thinning disease after taking the weight loss drug for one year.

Addressing her fans, a tearful Avery said she started taking Ozempic after being dropped by her record label “for being too fat,” believing she “needed Ozempic to be beautiful and successful.” Though the drug proved successful in helping Avery thin, tests have shown that she now has osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease that puts her at risk for severe and even fatal fractures.

“I’m kind of in shock right now because I wasn’t expecting this,” she said in her video. “Ozempic can cause bone density loss and I didn’t think that would happen to me because I was only on it for a year. But I have significant bone loss, I have osteoporosis and osteopenia.”

“That’s what happens if you use Ozempic for weight loss and you lose too much weight,” she continued.  ...

I guess Lizzo never had to deal with a record company like Avery's.

[GtHawk]

I wonder if there are more up-to-date figures available.https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/average-weight-for-men#weight-ranges

Our most recent trips to Europe were in 2017 and 2018, and we saw quite a few overweight locals in Germany, France and UK.

I watch a fair number of British shows and you cant make me believe the average weight isn’t higher, Germany gots lots a bigguns too.

[mountaineer]

Maybe they should try cutting out carbs and walking around the block before injecting dangerous drugs. Just sayin.

REPORT: Ozempic users are going BLIND as doctors sound the alarm on this potentially devastating side effect.
First, several studies have linked Ozempic shots to severe and sometimes permanent vision loss.
Now, researchers have uncovered nine damning new reports of patients who lost their sight after taking semaglutide or tirzepatide, the active ingredients in Ozempic and Mounjaro.    ...

https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1889769945090724255

[Smokin Joe]

So I should invest in seeing eye dog trainers and canes?

Eat less, move more, cut the carbs.