Oprah Recounts the First Time She Took GLP-1 Medication

Nowadays, it’s more common than ever to hear news of celebrities trying out GLP-1 medications like Ozempic. But, television personality, actress, producer and author, Oprah Winfrey’s experience with the drug was revolutionary for the industry. Recently, Oprah shared her first experience of taking the viral weight-loss drug on her podcast. She sat down with endocrinologist and associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Ania Jastreboff, to discuss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Oprah Opens Up About GLP-1 Experience: “I thought that thin people had more willpower.”

Winfrey’s first time taking the GLP-1 defied her thoughts of those who do not struggle with obesity. She reassured fans during the chat that she too thought individuals who haven’t struggled with obesity “are only eating when they are hungry and stopping when they are full.” She relaxed, however, after learning that her body is not an outlier, but just going through what people in the comments are calling “a mental game changer” of learning the difference between hunger cues and stress cues.

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The pair explained that our obesogenic environment confuses our need to fuel our bodies with stress-eating. Winfrey admits that although she does not feast upon fast food, she craves a snack like the rest of us. “I do eat a lot of potato chips,” the star says. For most of her life, Winfrey’s stress-filled body craved the comfort of all salty delights, but her experience with GLP-1 medication changed her perspective on eating as a whole. The weight-loss medication—that Winfrey had originally called “the easy way out” in her podcast—taught her what it’s like to eat when your body is hungry, instead of stressed. It fundamentally changed the way she views eating, weight loss and GLP-1 medications.