- Kourtney Kardashian just launched an herbal supplement called GLP-1 Daily.
- GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are FDA-approved for diabetes and weight-loss.
- Wellness brands are scrambling to create links to Ozempic, which upended the $76 billion diet industry.
Kourtney Kardashian Barker's supplement brand, Lemme, is the latest to jump on the Ozempic craze.
The brand, which launched in September 2022, sells a line of gummy vitamins such as Lemme Chill and Lemme Focus, ostensibly designed to help you relax or lock in.
Their new daily supplement, Lemme GLP-1 Daily, is marketed as a weight management tool.
As the name suggests, this is positioned as an alternative to GLP-1 agonists, the popular new class of weight-loss drugs that now dominate the conversation around fat loss, transforming the $76 billion diet industry.
GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, contain active ingredients (such as semaglutide or tirzepatide) that mimic GLP-1, a hormone that tells your brain when you're full. Your gut naturally produces GLP-1 to help balance blood sugar and stop you from overeating, but for reasons doctors are still studying, people with obesity may have less than optimal levels.
These drugs were FDA-approved after years of clinical trials proving their efficacy and safety in humans.
Lemme GLP-1 Daily is not FDA-approved. Supplements fall outside of FDA regulation. Brands are responsible for ensuring their products are safe, and do not have to prove scientific benefit before selling their products.
This supplement, which is available as of Monday September 16, retails at $72 per month with a subscription. According to a press release, it contains herbal ingredients that may boost a person's natural GLP-1 hormone levels to reduce hunger and cravings, and support healthy weight management. The brand recommends trying the supplement for at least 3 to 6 months to see results.
However, while some of these ingredients have shown promise in mice, there is no credible published scientific evidence to show that these ingredients control weight in humans.
Here's what's it contains:
Research on the ingredients is limited — and funded by patent holders
The Lemme capsule contains Eriomin, a patented lemon extract made mainly of eriocitrin, which is one of the plant pigments that give lemons their color.
Although research on eriocitrin has found some potentially promising results, most studies have only been done on mice or rats. In 2022, the company that owns the patent of Eriomin funded a small clinical trial involving 45 people, concluding that those who took it over a 12-week period had lower blood glucose and higher GLP-1 than those who took a placebo. There have been no financially independent human trials of this extract.
The second patented ingredient in Kardashian's GLP-1 supplement Supresa is a saffron extract. There is limited evidence to suggest that saffron can help people lose weight. In one 2010 study, funded by Supresa patent holder Inoreal Ltd, 30 slightly overweight women were given a saffron supplement daily for eight weeks, and 30 others received a placebo. The saffron group snacked less and lost slightly more weight than the placebo group.
The final ingredient in the gummy comes from blood oranges. The patented version in the Lemme supplement is called Morosil, and it contains an extract called Moro. A 2022 study, funded by the patent holder BioNap, found that participants who took the ingredient daily had lower BMIs after six months than those on a placebo. But importantly, they were also asked to exercise three times a week and eat a limited number of calories per day depending on their basal metabolic rate.
Brands are jumping on the GLP-1 trend
Kardashian's product is one of many jumping on the GLP-1 hype as the list of health benefits the medication could deliver grows longer and longer.
Weight loss and calorie-tracking app Noom has been quietly prescribing GLP-1s since last year, and in December Weight Watchers launched its GLP-1 program, designed to support those on the medication.
Meanwhile, Nestle has gotten in on the action with a range of product drinks, powders, gummies, and chewable tablets aimed at people taking the weight loss drugs.
