It seems the article is now behind a paywall (can only get a reddit link w/ a screenshot atm [0]) but there was a study that showed body composition after 25% weight loss in terms of fat mass and fat-free mass (and the portion of fat-free mass that was skeletal muscle mass) after traditional several interventions, and also compared the breakdown of weight lost in terms of FM and FFM for several GLP-1 medications:
- diet alone
- diet + extra protein
- diet + exercise
- retatrutide
- tirzepatide
- semaglutide
tldr is that, despite some muscle loss, muscle as a percentage of body composition is higher (~50% FFM at start, whereas weight lost with GLP-1 meds ranged from 25%-39% of muscle). It also seems like the muscles will likely function better with less insulin resistance:
> Intentional weight loss causes a greater relative decrease in body fat than FFM or SMM, so the ratio of FFM/SMM to fat mass increases. Accordingly, physical function and mobility improve after weight loss despite the decrease in FFM/SMM, even in older adults with decreased FFM and SMM at baseline. In addition, weight loss improves the “quality” of remaining muscle by decreasing intramyocellular and intermuscular triglycerides and increasing muscle insulin sensitivity
How will the person have less insulin resistance when GLP-1 medications stimulate the release of insulin?
It seems to me we're curbing eating by flooding with insulin, when one of the big damaging effects of overeating is insulin floods. (Or perhaps I'm misreading, perhaps insulin floods are only bad b/c they cause insulin resistance which causes more overeating?)
You aren’t being flooded with insulin with the GLP-1 meds. You have food in your body, but my insulin levels, on average, are possibly lower than yours (if I’m in need or a GLP-1 med) despite eating the same amount.
A GLP-1 med stimulates the release of insulin slowly over a sustained period of time, not just as a massive spike when I eat.
Everyone (that isn’t diabetic) has a massive insulin spike when they eat something that spikes their glucose. GLP-1 meds don’t make that better in any way.
- diet alone
- diet + extra protein
- diet + exercise
- retatrutide
- tirzepatide
- semaglutide
tldr is that, despite some muscle loss, muscle as a percentage of body composition is higher (~50% FFM at start, whereas weight lost with GLP-1 meds ranged from 25%-39% of muscle). It also seems like the muscles will likely function better with less insulin resistance:
> Intentional weight loss causes a greater relative decrease in body fat than FFM or SMM, so the ratio of FFM/SMM to fat mass increases. Accordingly, physical function and mobility improve after weight loss despite the decrease in FFM/SMM, even in older adults with decreased FFM and SMM at baseline. In addition, weight loss improves the “quality” of remaining muscle by decreasing intramyocellular and intermuscular triglycerides and increasing muscle insulin sensitivity
https://www.reddit.com/r/tirzepatidecompound/comments/1dtzr2...