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- Al Roker, 70, says he won't judge people who use Ozempic and other medications for weight loss.
- "As long as it's safe and effective, good for you. I think everybody's journey is their journey," Roker told The Daily Mail.
- The "Today" host underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002 to help him lose weight.
Al Roker, 70, says he doesn't want to judge anyone who uses Ozempic for weight loss.
"Listen, it's unlike any other addiction or dependence. You can live without alcohol, you can live without cigarettes, whatever that drug of choice is... but you've got to eat, and so for some people, it's just difficult," the "Today" host told Daily Mail in an interview published on Saturday.
"If this is what works for them, I mean, who are we to say, 'Oh, don't do that.' As long as it's safe and effective, good for you. I think everybody's journey is their journey," Roker said.
Roker has been open about his struggles with binge eating and his dramatic weight loss journey through the years.
He underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002 — when he weighed 340 pounds — and managed to lose over 100 pounds in the months after the procedure.
Although his weight has fluctuated in the years since, Roker says one of the main ways he's learned to manage his relationship with food is through portion control.
However, he says he is "very loath" to give others advice since everyone has good and bad days.
"So I tend not to go down that road because it's tough, and everybody's got to face that, and they've got to figure out their path," he said. "And if that path is one of these drugs and that works for them, great. And if it helps you, if that's the thing that gets you over that point where you're able to be healthier and lead a more active lifestyle, that's great."
In May, Roker also defended Kelly Clarkson after she was criticized for losing weight with help from prescription medicine.
During an interview with Whoopi Goldberg on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," the "American Idol" winner shared that she lost "a lot" of weight since she started taking medication. Clarkson did not specify which medication she used but clarified that it wasn't Ozempic.
"There's too much judgment going on," Roker said on a May 14 episode of the "Today" show while discussing Clarkson. "People, as long as they're working with their doctors and being healthy about it, people ought to just back off and let them live their lives."
The Ozempic boom
In recent years, more and more celebrities — such as Elon Musk and Whoopi Goldberg — have spoken up about using GLP-1 medications in their weight loss journey.
Ozempic contains the active ingredient semaglutide, which the FDA approved in 2021 for weight management under the brand name Wegovy.
However, Ozempic — which was initially developed to treat diabetes — has become the byword for semaglutide and other similar drugs that cause weight loss, regardless of the brand a person is taking.
While these medications have been effective in helping people lose between 5% to 20% of their body weight during clinical trials, they might not necessarily help those who struggle with emotional eating.
For example, Brianna Paruolo, a licensed psychotherapist based in New York, previously told Business Insider that Ozempic works by regulating hunger signals but has little impact on the emotional side of eating.
"Emotional eating is a complex behavior that often has little to do with physical hunger cues. It's a coping mechanism for managing emotions, stress, or past trauma," Paruolo said.
"For individuals who use food as an emotional coping tool, simply reducing physical hunger (as Ozempic does) doesn't address the root cause of their eating behaviors," she added.
A representative for Roker did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.