Incredible new drug-free weight loss pill could help shed pounds by preventing over-eating
A DRUG-FREE fat pill could help weight loss by preventing over-eating.
Scientists are trialling a capsule that tricks the body into thinking it is full.
It works in a similar way to fat jabs but is totally natural — containing vegetable and fruit ingredients — making it cheaper, potentially side effect-free and available without a prescription.
Early trials on 60 people found eight in ten ate less food after taking the twice-daily pills, cutting 13 per cent of calories from a single meal.
Developer Enterika has now won a £50,000 government grant to scale up tests to 150 patients in the summer.
Dr Madusha Peiris, a neuroscientist at Queen Mary University in London and the pill’s chief inventor, said: “We developed a way of hijacking the system that all humans have to sense nutrients and make us feel full.
READ MORE ON WEIGHT LOSS
“It is based on 10 years of research that struck gold and found certain nutrients are really good at entering the brain to regulate our appetite.
“So far nobody has had any side effects and we suspect that is because these are nutrients that are in your diet anyway, which is very different to a drug.
“No other company is taking this nutrient-based approach.”
Dr Peiris has patented the pills’ secret recipe, which includes fatty acids found in broccoli, coconut and perilla oil.
Most read in Health
She must now carry out larger trials to prove they are safe to take long-term and actually lead to weight loss.
The potential market is huge as two thirds of Brits are overweight and half of those — around 30 per cent of the population — are obese.
Excess flab is one of the NHS’s biggest challenges as it is driving up rates of type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and cancers.
Dr Peiris said obesity makes the gut become desensitised and release smaller amounts of fullness hormones, so people keep eating more.
She claims her pill tricks the body into pumping out more of the hormones, known as GLP-1, from natural reserves — whereas drugs like Ozempic are synthetic and copy them.
Everything you need to know about fat jabs
What you should know about Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda and Mounjaro
Weight loss jabs are a hot media topic at the moment, with hundreds of success stories sharing how they helped them shed the pounds.
In March 2023, the NHS announced it would make Wegovy, a drug made by Danish firm Novo Nordisk, available on prescription to thousands of obese Brits.
It contains the drug semaglutide, which is said to have helped reality star Kim Kardashian and Twitter boss Elon Musk lose weight.
Wegovy, which helped a third of people reduce their weight by 20 per cent in trials, is now available from pharmacies like Boots.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less calories and therefore lose weight.
To do this, an ingredient found in the fat-busting drug, known as Semaglutide, mimics the role of a natural hormone, called GLP-1.
GLP-1 is part of the signalling pathway that tells your body you have eaten, and prepares it to use the energy that comes from your food.
London GP and founder of , Dr Zoe Watson, said: “Your body naturally produces an appetite regulating hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1.
“These jabs work by regulating your appetite, which can lead to eating fewer calories and losing weight.”
Aren’t they diabetes drugs?
Semaglutide, the active drug in Wegovy, was originally sold under the name Ozempic specifically for diabetes patients.
But they started noticing it helped suppress their appetites, stopping them eating as much and helping them shed the pounds.
So Novo Nordisk developed Wegovy, which contains the same chemical but at higher doses specifically to aid weight loss.
Wegovy is not prescribed for diabetes patients.
Can I get them?
Wegovy is offered on prescription to obese adults given specialist weight loss treatment.
The NHS currently also offers a similar drug called Saxenda, or liraglutide.
Both are only available on Tier 3 and Tier 4 weight management services, which means you have to be referred to weight management clinics led by experts.
GPs can’t prescribe them on their own either, Dr Watson said.
The jabs have to be taken as part of an overall programme to help with lifestyle changes and psychological support to get the best effect from the medication prescribed.
But despite being approved for use, supply of Wegovy on the NHS has been postponed indefinitely because of a surge in worldwide demand.
Supply was also halved in the US because of the skyrocketing demand.
Are there any risks?
Like all medicines, the jabs do not come without side effects.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: “One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.”
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, thyroid tumours, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
What other options are there?
Mounjaro (brand name for tirzepatide) also came onto the market in early 2024.
Like Wegovy, tirzepatide stems from a drug originally designed to treat diabetes.
The weekly injection helped overweight people drop more than two stone in 18 months.
It is available with to order with a prescription online from pharmacies including Superdrug and LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor.
It works in a similar way to Wegovy and Saxenda, but is more effective.
Dr Mitra Dutt from says: “Based on clinical trials, 96 per cent of people were able to lose more than five per cent of their body fat using Mounjaro. In similar trials, 84 per cent of people lost more than five per cent of their body weight on Wegovy, and 60 per cent on Saxenda.
“Mounjaro works by activating two hormonal receptors (GIP and GLP-1), which enhance insulin production, improve insulin sensitivity, and work to decrease food intake."