Does ‘Oatzempic’ Really Work? Dietitian Breaks Down Tiktok’s Latest Weight Loss Fad

It seems like it was just yesterday when social media influencers were claiming oatmeal was toxic and causing rising obesity rates. Now, influencers are downing an oat-and-lime juice concoction behind the bold claim that it’ll help you lose 40 pounds in two months. To make things more appealing, the drink is called “Oatzempic” as a play on the medication Ozempic, which may help people lose weight. So, does it really do what people are claiming?

The drink is a blended mix of one cup of water, a half-cup cup of raw rolled oats, and juice from half of a lime. It might sound unappealing, but this is loosely related to oatmeal juice (jugo de avena in Spanish), which is a drink that’s part of many Latin American cultures.

A typical recipe for jugo de avena includes oats, milk, sugar, lime juice, and maybe some cinnamon. The difference between the trend and the typical cultural drink is the fad diet language that’s associated with the former. People are claiming that they’re losing excess pounds every day by drinking this, but let’s delve into some of the claims.

The drink is high in fiber, which is something that many people do not get enough of. Fiber helps to promote regular bowel movements, which means that if you’re backed up (like ~16% of the world), you will lose the inherent mass of stool and water. This means that you’re holding onto less mass than you normally would, but your body is always processing and excreting waste, so it isn’t exactly permanent.

Others claim that after drinking this, they feel fuller for much longer, making them less likely to overeat throughout the day. This is likely, which is why eating fiber-rich foods is recommended so much for people looking to lose weight healthily. The average American eats a diet high in refined carbohydrates and sugars, which contain little to no fiber and stimulate a steep blood glucose response. This can make you feel hungry more often. Fiber helps to slow down this response, meaning your blood sugar levels are more stable throughout the day, and you feel more satisfied.

Some people are using this drink as a meal replacement and not eating a full meal until noon, which might feel doable because the fiber promotes fullness, but it isn’t sustainable or necessary. Calorie deficits are key for weight loss, but there only needs to be a slight one, not an entire meal’s worth. Although the drink is nutritious, it isn’t a meal.

Weight loss efforts should be sustainable, not drastic. You’re setting yourself up for regression if you try to cut your daily calories by such an extreme amount. Once the trend is over after two months, any weight you lost from the caloric restriction will likely come right back.

Bottom Line

The problem with Oatzempic and other weight loss “hacks” is that they call for weight loss quickly without caring for sustainability. It’s about losing weight by any means. Oftentimes, people don’t actually lose weight. They lose water or even muscle mass, which isn’t what you want.

Trends like this also take practicality out of the equation. It’s much more likely for someone to find a warm oatmeal recipe that they enjoy eating often and can make a meal out of in order to sustainably get in fiber and promote fullness and healthy habits that way rather than hop on a trend like this. Oatzempic overcomplicates health and fuels people’s drive more toward constantly searching for quick fixes that don’t actually help in the long term.