As weight loss injections such as Ozempic and Wegovy gain popularity, many people are asking an important question: do these treatments lead to muscle loss alongside fat loss? While these injections can be effective for shedding pounds, it’s essential to understand how they impact muscle mass and overall health. In this blog, we’ll explore the relationship between weight loss injections and muscle loss, and what you can do to preserve muscle while on your weight loss journey.
Understanding Muscle Tone
Muscle tone is the residual tension present in a muscle at rest, representing the passive partial contraction of the muscle even when it is relaxed. Engaging in physical activity, especially resistance training, is crucial for maintaining muscle tone. This type of exercise stimulates muscle protein synthesis and helps in increasing or preserving muscle mass. Conversely, muscle loss can delay recovery from illness, impair wound healing, reduce resting metabolic rate, cause physical disability, lower quality of life, and increase healthcare costs.
Defining Metabolic Health
Metabolic health refers to the body’s efficiency in generating and processing energy, encompassing factors like cardiovascular risk, blood sugar regulation, blood pressure, and waist circumference. Worryingly, a study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed a low prevalence of metabolic health among American adults, posing significant public health concerns. Muscle tone, maintained through regular physical activity, plays a pivotal role in regulating insulin sensitivity and overall metabolic health. This is achieved through short-term benefits from each training session and long-term adaptations that enhance body composition.
Skeletal Muscle: The Powerhouse of Metabolism
Skeletal muscle, the largest metabolic tissue in the human body, is essential for glucose metabolism during both exercise and rest. It functions as an endocrine and paracrine organ, with muscle-derived proteins, known as myokines, facilitating communication between muscles and other organs such as the liver, pancreas, skeletal system, adipose tissue, and cardiovascular system. During exercise, muscles utilise stored glycogen and circulating plasma glucose, enhancing glucose metabolism through insulin-dependent mechanisms and optimising insulin response and glucose oxidation. Routine exercise increases muscle tone, oxidative capacity, and mitochondrial biogenesis, further boosting glucose uptake. Additionally, muscles act as reservoirs of amino acids, releasing them as needed to support energy and protein metabolism throughout the body.
The Impact of Exercise on Older Adults
An observational study found that among individuals over 65 years old with a normal body mass index, lower muscle mass was a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Regular exercise and improved muscle tone can significantly enhance metabolic health and reduce the risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Nutrients Supporting Muscle Tone and Healthy Body Composition
Collagen Peptides – Collagen is the primary structural component of connective tissues, accounting for about 30% of the body’s total protein. It supports muscle flexibility and adaptation, providing structure, support, and strength. A study showed that collagen peptide supplementation, combined with resistance training, improved body composition by increasing lean body mass more effectively than resistance training alone.
Creatine – Stored primarily in skeletal muscle, creatine is vital for muscular contractions. Both muscle strength and creatine levels decline with age. Supplementation has been shown to increase intramuscular creatine concentrations, enhance high-intensity exercise capacity, and boost lean body mass. (See Creatine Monohydrate in Pippa Loves)
Leucine – This essential amino acid is highly anabolic. I’ve seen a huge difference in my own and clients muscle gain when we’ve supplemented with leucine (See Amino Acids supplement in Pippa Loves). Effective muscle stimulation and protein synthesis require adequate protein intake, with the International Society of Sports Nutrition recommending 1.4 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For those engaged in resistance training, higher protein intake may be necessary to maximise lean body mass retention. Leucine supplementation has been found to benefit body weight and lean body mass, particularly in older adults.
In addition to a balanced diet rich in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, essential amino acids, and essential fatty acids, other nutrients supporting muscle tone and healthy body composition include butyrate, Vitamin D (consider taking PCH D3 Vegan Complex), and nutrients found in my PCH Meta-Boost.
Considerations for Weight Loss Injections
Weight loss injections, like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), mimic the GLP-1 hormone to help regulate blood sugar, reduce food intake, and slow gastric emptying. While these medications can aid in weight loss, they often come with gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, and may lead to acute kidney injury in severe cases. Additionally, GLP-1 RAs can result in a loss of lean body mass, which can negatively impact muscle tone, body composition, and metabolic health.
Holistic Approaches to Health
Though medications can be useful for weight loss, they may carry significant side effects. A regular exercise regimen, coupled with a healthy diet and appropriate nutritional supplements, can support body composition and metabolic health more effectively, minimising potential adverse effects. Prioritising natural approaches to health can help maintain muscle tone, optimise metabolic function, and promote overall well-being.
If you’re looking for personalised guidance, our weight loss programmes are designed to support both fat reduction and muscle preservation. Visit our website here for more details about what we offer.
For more guidance on losing weight, take a look at my book Eat Right, Lose Weight, which helps you discover your Metabolic Type and teaches you how to eat for how your body is built.
If you’re gaining weight no matter what you try, feeling bloated, exhausted, craving sugar or stuck in patterns that used to work before perimenopause, join my FREE masterclass to finally understand why your usual methods aren’t working — and what truly does for lasting, sustainable weight loss.
