GLP-1s & eating disorders: a complicated relationship

What happens when GLP-1s interact with eating disorders?

About 1 in 8 US adults are currently taking a GLP-1. They’ve been described by a lot of people as a miracle drug – they treat high blood sugar and diabetes, and have also shown promise as a treatment for addiction and metabolic conditions like PMOS, formerly known as PCOS. And a lot of Americans are taking it for one reason: weight loss. But for people with eating disorders, that weight loss could be dangerous. So even though GLP-1s are a miracle drug for many struggling with certain health conditions – what does it mean that they’re becoming incredibly available to everyone? And how do we reckon with their place in a culture that prioritizes thinness… sometimes to the point of real danger to someone’s health?

Brittany is joined by Dr. Allegra Broft, a psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in eating disorders, and Hannah Seo, an independent journalist who wrote about GLP-1s and eating disorders for The Guardian.

For more episodes about weight, body image, and culture, check out:
Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"
The strange politics of Pilates

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