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Magic Pill

The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs

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Magic Pill

Written by: Johann Hari
Narrated by: Johann Hari
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About this listen

 The bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus offers a revelatory look at the new drugs transforming weight loss as we know it—from his personal experience on Ozempic to our ability to heal our society’s dysfunctional relationship with food, weight, and our bodies.

In January 2023, Johann Hari started to inject himself once a week with Ozempic, one of the new drugs that produces significant weight loss. He wasn’t alone—some predictions suggest that in a few years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking these drugs. While around 80 percent of diets fail, someone taking one of the new drugs will lose up to a quarter of their body weight in six months. To the drugs’ defenders, here is a moment of liberation from a condition that massively increases your chances of diabetes, cancer, and an early death. 

Still, Hari was wildly conflicted. Can these drugs really be as good as they sound? Are they a magic solution—or a magic trick? Finding the answer to this high-stakes question led him on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo, and to interview the leading experts in the world on these questions. He found that along with the drug’s massive benefits come twelve significant potential risks. 

He also found that these drugs radically challenge what we think we know about shame, willpower, and healing. What do they reveal about the nature of obesity itself? What psychological issues begin to emerge when our eating patterns are suddenly disrupted? Are the drugs a liberation or a further symptom of our deeply dysfunctional relationship with food? 

These drugs are about to change our world, for better and for worse. Everybody needs to understand how they work—scientifically, emotionally, and culturally. MAGIC PILL is an essential guide to the revolution that has already begun, and which one leading expert argues will be as transformative as the invention of the smartphone.


* This audiobook edition contains a downloadable PDF with additional resources and endnotes. Diets, Nutrition & Healthy Eating Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Social Sciences Nutrition
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This book is really captivating and informative. Johann Hari did an amazing job at documenting the situation about Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, from different perspectives (scientific, cultural, environmental, psychological, etc). It had me reflecting on my relationship to food and why I eat the way I eat. I still haven’t made my decision about whether I want to continue taking Ozempic or not, but the content of this book will definitely help me to continue my reflection. Now I want to read all of Johann’s books! Thank you 🙏 for your hard work and for changing lives for the better, by opening up our eyes and broadening our perspectives.

Best book I have never read!

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Incredibly insightful, thought provoking, educational and informative. This book is fueled by compassion and is not divisive in any way. Bravo, Johann

A must read if you struggle with obesity!

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This book provides an in depth breakdown of the pros and cons of the current and past weight loss drugs and the overall effects of obesity and what we can do to manage it now and prevent it in the future. Highly recommend!

A must read!

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Outstanding and highly recommend this book if you’ve struggled with weight loss, but more so if you are thinking of taking Ozempic.
The knowledge, insight, and history around weight loss that he shares unbelievable.
Taking Ozempic himself he gives you the good, the bad and the ugly, which really made this book so informative.
I loved it so much that I’ll be listening to it again as there is so much amazing information and education to learn.
Highly recommend this book.

Eye opening and informative - highly recommend

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