Oprah remains a weight-loss icon as she foregrounds GLP-1 drugs

Businessinsider reports that Oprah Winfrey remains a dominant weight-loss figure and has put GLP-1 drugs at the center of her new book, Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like To Be Free, cowritten with Dr. Ania Jastreboff; the book traces her relationship with the medications beginning in 2023.

Experts in the piece say Winfrey's openness has helped normalize a shift from willpower-based approaches to a medical model for weight loss — Dr. Holly Wyatt is quoted as saying, "She's giving people permission to talk about it." The article recounts Winfrey's long influence on diet culture, from the 1988 "wagon of fat" moment and its boost to liquid-diet sales, to her 10% stake in WeightWatchers that coincided with a dramatic rise in the company's value and her departure in 2024 that sent shares down 25%. It also notes the rapid adoption of GLP-1s, with as many as one in eight Americans having tried the drugs.

Winfrey told readers she first used GLP-1s in 2023, attempted to quit through 2025 and said she regained 20 pounds; now 71, she is back on the medications, likening them to lifelong treatment such as for high blood pressure and saying she regrets not finding them sooner. The article says the convergence of the "Oprah Effect" and GLP-1s has put attention on a potential next generation of GLP-1s, including pills or versions with broader benefits for longevity and brain health.

Key Topics

Health, Oprah Winfrey, Wegovy, Ozempic, Weightwatchers, Ania Jastreboff