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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shed light on his views on popular weight loss treatments.
Kennedy told CNBC (CMCSA-0.66%) Jim Cramer said Thursday that while GLP-1 drugs have their place in treatment, lifestyle changes should remain the primary approach to losing weight. This marks a more nuanced position on the part of the candidate, who had already criticized pharmaceutical solutions against obesity.
“The first line of response should be lifestyle. You have to eat well, making sure you don’t become obese. These GLP medications have their place,” Kennedy said.
GLP-1 drugs are a class of drugs that mimic a hormone that regulates appetite and blood sugar and have become highly sought after as treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies and clinical trials have shown that these drugs also have health benefits. beyond weight loss.
Popular brands in the market also include Wegovy (NVO-1.86%) and that of Eli Lilly (LLY+1.11%) Related by Zep. The growing demand for these treatments has made Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Kennedy has already spoken out more strongly against the growing use of these drugs. Instead, he has repeatedly championed healthy eating as a solution to the nation’s obesity epidemic.
“If we simply fed good food, three meals a day, to every man, woman and child in our country, we could solve the obesity and diabetes epidemic overnight,” Kennedy said. Fox News in October before the elections.
His remarks contrast with those of another Trump supporter – Elon Musk.
Muscle the richest person in the world and the co-head of President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), has doubled down on his support for expanding access to affordable GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic.
“Nothing would do more to improve the health, length and quality of life of Americans than making GLP inhibitors very inexpensive for the public. Nothing else is close yet,” Musk wrote in a statement Wednesday morning. job on X, the social networking site he owns.