A new study has found that a common weight-loss drug called semaglutide may cause more muscle loss in older adults and women. But eating more protein could help reduce this problem.
The research was shared at a major medical meeting in San Francisco in 2025. Semaglutide is a drug used by many people to lose weight. It works by copying a natural hormone in the body called GLP-1. This hormone makes people feel full and slows down how fast food moves through the stomach. As a result, people eat less and lose weight.
However, losing weight is not just about losing fat. Many people also lose muscle during weight loss. This is not good, because muscles are very important for our health.
Muscles help us move, support our bones, and keep our blood sugar levels steady. Losing too much muscle can make people feel weak, lower their bone strength, and make it harder for the body to stay healthy.
The study looked at 40 adults with obesity. For three months, 23 of them took semaglutide, while 17 followed a healthy lifestyle and diet program called Healthy Habits for Life. The researchers wanted to see how much muscle people lost while losing weight.
The results showed that people who took semaglutide lost more weight overall. But in both groups, about 40% of the weight they lost came from muscle, not fat. This means that muscle loss is a common side effect of weight loss, no matter which method is used.
The researchers also found that certain people lost more muscle than others. In the semaglutide group, women and older adults lost more muscle. People who ate less protein also lost more muscle. On top of that, those who lost more muscle did not see as much improvement in their blood sugar levels.
This is important because semaglutide is often used by people with type 2 diabetes to help manage their blood sugar. If losing muscle makes it harder to control blood sugar, this could reduce the benefits of the drug.
Dr. Melanie Haines, the lead researcher from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said that eating more protein might help protect muscle while using the drug. This could help people enjoy the good parts of weight loss, like better blood sugar, without the downside of losing too much muscle.
She also said that more research is needed. Future studies should look at ways to help people lose fat but keep their muscles while using drugs like semaglutide. This is especially important for women and older adults, who seem to have a higher risk of muscle loss.
If you care about weight management, please read studies about diets that could boost your gut health and weight loss, and 10 small changes you can make today to prevent weight gain.
For more health information, please see recent studies about low-carb keto diet could manage obesity effectively and results showing popular weight loss diet linked to heart disease and cancer.
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