Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro – the wonder drugs of weight loss—come with many health warnings, but their potential to blind an entire species to its junk food addiction is not amongst them. But that, argues Lucy Kenningham in this week’s cover story, is exactly where we need to apply some critical thinking when it comes to the quick fix of appetite suppressants.
As Lucy makes clear, the medical properties of these drugs are extraordinary. People on the weekly semaglutide jabs (mainly Ozempic and Wegovy) consume around a quarter fewer calories per day than previously. The weight falls off. No diet routine, no fasting, no exercise… just a weekly jab.
The side effects can be unpleasant, which accounts in part for the high drop-off within a year—somewhere between half and three-quarters of users. Over time, the old bad habits that led to the obesity in the first place return.
This has already led to what many patients describe as a sense of being trapped. As Lucy explains: “If the patient stops using the drug, they know the weight will return. This pattern – cyclical obesity – wreaks havoc on self-esteem.” Experts forecast an increase in mental health problems, up to and including lifetime care programmes.
And all the while, the underlying causes of the crisis in obesity – ultra-processed diets, aggressive fast food marketing and structural inequalities (the reality that it can be more expensive to eat healthily) – are left untreated.
It’s an alarming prospect. A nation hooked, as food campaigner Henry Dimbleby describes it, on the “Prozac of obesity”. A story for this new world of ours if ever there was one.
The situation in Gaza goes from abysmal to … well, let’s speak plainly, as Alastair Campbell does in this week’s diary: from abysmal to genocidal. Alastair details the thinking behind his decision to describe the actions of Israel’s armed forces as a genocide. It’s obviously not something anyone says lightly, and his argument is presented clearly and forensically. And it’s made with an enormous amount of sorrow.
His appeal – as was mine two weeks ago in my piece headlined Meanwhile, in Gaza (and thank you, by the way, for the overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging messages you continue to send, dear readers) – is for Europe’s leaders to speak up for human rights and international law. The lack of comment in recent weeks from the UK government in the face of this ongoing atrocity shames us all.
Speaking of Gaza, one of the most stomach-wrenching sights of the past week was watching Benjamin Netanyahu hand Donald Trump an envelope containing the former’s nomination of the latter for the Nobel Peace Prize. If you want a sense of just how inappropriate that moment was—on every conceivable level – then turn to Jonn Elledge’s Nerd’s Eye View; Jonn’s erudite and entertaining deep dive into one of the topics du jour. And if you think something like the Nobel Peace Prize is all about the kudos, number 7 will be something of an eye-opener!
Anthony Bourdain’s been dead eight years, but he knew his shit, as Katherine Cooper makes clear in her terrific article about the re-release of the restaurant-trade exposé that made his name, Kitchen Confidential.
Regarding Trump’s first election, Bourdain commented: “It’s Bond villain-type shit. I’m pessimistic to the extreme. People have no idea how bad it already is, and how bad it’s going to get.”
The reissue of Kitchen Confidential comes with a new foreword by another chronicler of a passed age, Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting. The two men stand for something admirable – a common humanity and truth-telling. As Katherine concludes, it’s an ingredient in very short supply these days.
When Simon Barnes, one of the greatest, most talented writers of his generation, emails in to say he’d like to re-read the entirety of Shakespeare and report back on what it all adds up to, you say yes please. The resulting article is here. It is magnificently enjoyable.
