Since early January my husband and I have been engaged in an activity that may soon seem as quaint as using an heirloom copper pan to make marmalade. It involves weighing out vitamin-rich foods to precise measurements. In our kitchen sugar is a no-no. Weekly “treat meal” aside, our diet involves much forgoing: wine, cream, charcuterie, most cheese, bread and butter… even a humble afternoon cuppa is frowned upon.
I’m enjoying the sense of purpose of our abstinence, but there are moments of bleakness, such as when I contemplate yet another plate of pulses or a burger minus the bun. Not least because all around others are embracing a quicker (if more expensive) fix by way of the “jabbing” drugs Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic. And the weight loss, albeit at a cost of £150 to £350 a month, has been remarkable.
Telling the story of these drugs and their ground-shaking societal impact, The Hunger Game: The Rise and Rise of Weight Loss Drugs went out on Radio 4 last Monday to Friday at 1:45pm, just as listeners were digesting the day’s news — and their lunches. Its engaging presenter was Professor Giles Yeo, whose research at the University of Cambridge focuses on the genetics of obesity and how the brain controls food intake.
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If, like me, you listen to a lot of radio and podcasts (or feel entrenched in a Sisyphean battle of the bulge) then the sympathetic, energetic Yeo, with his accent that bestrides Britain, Singapore and the US, will be a familiar figure. I most recently heard him on Reset Your Health with Jamie Oliver, but he is a past contributor to the Zoe Science and Nutrition podcast, The Diary of a CEO and Just One Thing with Michael Mosley.
“I see obesity as a disease — now it can be treated”, says Professor Yeo
ALAMY
Yeo is the go-to gut-brain guy, but there’s nothing loftily academic in his everyman broadcasting style. He has no truck with those who would stigmatise the overweight. “I want to be crystal clear: I see obesity as a disease, specifically a brain-based condition that is heavily influenced by genetics and not simply a matter of lifestyle and personal choice. And now it is a disease that can be treated,” he says.
He loves food as well as researching its impact. An overbaked device here involved snippets of him enthusiastically ordering “a double cheeseburger” with “a side of fries”, or “a large soda”. When the talk turned to the Danes (Novo Nordisk is the Danish maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, while Mounjaro is manufactured by the US firm Eli Lilly and Company), he was quick to point out that they were an often “chisel-jawed” lot, “unlike me”.
The first episode also introduced listeners to Harry, Yeo’s 24-year-old son, who gained weight quickly after leaving home for university. Last January he started on a weight-loss medication and has since shed almost three stone.
This show packed a lot into its five short episodes. Through interviews with “lab rats”, medics, science journalists and users, the pharmaceutical arms race to develop, market and distribute weight-loss drugs was revealed. At its wackiest, this has involved scientists researching potential treatments for type 2 diabetes by studying the pancreas of anglerfish and the gila monster, a venomous desert lizard that can survive on almost nothing.
But the series also probed ethical issues concerning potential misuse and access. Addressing the 2025 Labour Party conference, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, spoke of inequalities. “Half the House of Commons tea room talk about the impact [weight loss jabs have] had. What about the millions who can’t afford them?” he said. This feels like a topic that Yeo (whose research has sometimes been funded by drug companies) will need to return to, and soon.
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Episode four was fascinating for its revelation that scientists still do not know how these drugs work on the brain, but emerging anecdotally is the suggestion that they might be slowing other appetites too, such as for alcohol, nicotine, drugs and even sex.
In the final episode Henry Dimbleby, a co-founder of the restaurant chain Leon, who led the 2020 National Food Strategy, spoke of the impact the medications have had on high-end dining with restaurants shrinking portions and offering healthier choices to reflect wealthy customers’ honed appetites. Reverberations are being felt through the food industry.
Now the focus of the drug companies is on developing pills and should an affordable, mass-market weight-loss pill be released its impact could be seismic.
Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic have transformed lives, but the evidence is that for the overwhelming majority the weight — and the “food noise” — only stays off while the injections continue, which makes this a costly drugs habit. For now, my salad days stretch on.
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