Episode
#300 - Who Should Take GLP-1s? The Science of Obesity, Appetite & Weight Loss | Dr. Robert Kushner & Mike Haney
- Podcast
- LEVELS – A Whole New Level
- Published
- Jun 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4459
- Processing state
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Summary
What are GLP-1 drugs actually doing in the body, who are they for, and why might some people want to think twice before treating them like a six-month shortcut? For years, obesity treatment focused largely on behavior: eat less, move more, stay motivated. Yet many people lost weight only to regain it. According to obesity medicine pioneer Dr. Robert Kushner, that wasn’t a failure of willpower. It was a failure to fully understand the biology driving weight regulation. In this episode of A Whole New Level, Mike Haney sits down with Kushner, one of the leading figures in obesity medicine and a lead investigator on the landmark STEP trials, to discuss how GLP-1 medications are changing the field. He explains why these drugs may be the first treatments capable of helping patients “fight biology with biology,” why appetite regulation appears to work differently in different people, and why many patients describe a dramatic reduction in food noise after starting treatment. But this conversation goes beyond how the drugs work. Kushner also addresses one of the biggest questions facing obesity medicine today: who should actually take these medications? He explains why obesity specialists evaluate far more than a number on the scale, why someone hoping to lose a modest amount of weight may want to think carefully before pursuing treatment, and why successful long-term health still requires changes that no medication can provide. They also discuss obesity as a disease, the promise and limitations of telehealth prescribing, and why maintaining weight loss often requires something deeper than motivation: a shift in identity. Free course: Improve your metabolic health Get our free email course on how glucose, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and measurement can help you build habits tha…