Jump to: What is osteoporosis? | What is Mounjaro? | Why consider taking Mounjaro if you have osteoporosis? | Take home message
While you can take Mounjaro (tirzepatide) if you have osteoporosis, you must lose weight slowly (around 0.5-1lb per week), eat a higher-protein diet based on whole foods, and include some weight-bearing exercises in your routine.
Osteoporosis is a condition of lower bone density where the body’s ability to regenerate bone becomes compromised.
Rapid weight loss and living an unhealthy lifestyle can increase the risk of developing osteoporosis, so there are concerns around the use of weight-loss injections and bone health.
However, randomised controlled trials have shown that bone health can be maintained while on weight-loss injections if we exercise and eat enough protein.
If you’re currently living with osteoporosis and start taking Mounjaro, it’s recommended you:
- Lose weight slowly at a rate of around 0.5-1lb per week
- Eat a higher protein diet which includes quality protein like meat, fish, seafood, tofu, or protein powders at each meal (breakfast and dinner are particularly important)
- Exercise 2-3 times a week, with a focus on weight-bearing exercise
- Supplement vitamin D
- Consume calcium-rich foods like dairy, or consider a calcium supplement alongside vitamin D if you don’t eat dairy
What is osteoporosis?
Think of your bones as a complex living framework constantly renewing itself.
Osteoporosis occurs when this renewal process becomes unbalanced, leading to decreased bone density and a more fragile skeleton.
It’s particularly common in older adults, especially women after menopause, though it can affect anyone at any age.
Living with osteoporosis often means experiencing changes that can affect daily life, including:
- Height loss over time
- A stooped posture or curved spine
- Back pain, particularly after activity
- Increased risk of fractures
- Changes in mobility and confidence
Women face unique challenges with osteoporosis, particularly after age 50. The decline in oestrogen during menopause significantly affects bone health, making understanding and managing the condition especially important for women’s health.
The relationship between weight and bone health
The relationship between obesity and bone health is complex. Imagine your skeleton as a living structure that responds to the demands we place on it.
When we walk, run, or carry weight, our bones adapt and strengthen in response to these forces.
This relationship works through several connected mechanisms:
First, there’s the physical impact. Every kilogram of body weight creates forces that can help maintain bone strength, much like weight training strengthens muscles.
However, recent research shows this relationship isn’t as simple as ‘more weight equals stronger bones.’
There’s the hormonal connection. Our fat tissue isn’t just passive storage – it’s an active part of our body that produces hormones affecting bone health.
These hormones, including leptin and oestrogen, play crucial roles in maintaining bone strength.
Additionally, research shows that people living with obesity may be more at risk of vitamin D deficiency as enlarged fat tissues can absorb excess vitamin D from the blood, leading to lower vitamin D blood levels.
Vitamin D has a crucial role to play in bone health and lowering our risk of osteoporosis.
So, while the mechanical load of obesity may contribute to stronger bones, the adverse impact the condition has on our hormone balance means that, over time, carrying excess body fat may increase our risk of osteoporosis and poor bone health.
What is Mounjaro?
Mounjaro is a dual-action weight-loss injection. It supports weight loss by mimicking two hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, that communicate with the brain’s appetite control centre, the hypothalamus, to lower hunger and food-seeking behaviour.
The drug in Mounjaro is tirzepatide.
By lowering hunger and our desire to eat, Mounjaro helps us eat fewer calories to achieve a calorie deficit.
A calorie deficit occurs when we consume fewer calories than our body needs to fuel its essential functions, such as digestion, blood flow, and brain function.
By creating a calorie deficit, our bodies will ‘burn’ the excess fat stored for energy, and we’ll lose weight.
Mounjaro also slows down the rate at which we digest food so that our stomach and gut send signals to the brain to signal the feeling of fullness.
So, Mounjaro supports weight loss by making us feel less hungry through two mechanisms:
- Communicating with the brain’s appetite control centre
- Slowing the rate that food is digested
Randomised controlled trials have shown that Mounjaro leads to an average weight loss of around 26% after one year.
Why consider taking Mounjaro if you have osteoporosis?
Losing weight if you have osteoporosis can be challenging as we need to ensure the condition doesn’t worsen, or ideally, we can improve the condition through the right approach to nutrition and exercise.
While there’s a potential risk of worsening bone health during weight loss, there are some practical strategies we can put in place to ensure bone health improves or is maintained during weight loss, with or without weight-loss injections.
If you’re considering Mounjaro while managing osteoporosis, here are our top tips:
- Tell your doctor you’re taking Mounjaro and going on a weight loss journey
- Take a vitamin D supplement
- Consume dairy products for sufficient calcium intake, or consider calcium supplementation
- Exercise 2-3 times a week with a focus on weight-bearing exercises
- A protein-rich diet based on whole foods. Include meat, fish, seafood, dairy, or tofu in every meal and ensure it takes up 25-30% of your plate.
- Gradual weight loss targeting 0.5-1lb per week
Maintaining these healthy habits during weight loss will ensure we maintain bone health, and it may even improve over time as our hormonal balance improves with weight loss.
Take home message
While it’s safe to take Mounjaro and lose weight if you have osteoporosis, we have to be mindful about not losing weight too quickly and ensure we introduce healthy habits to manage the condition.
It’s worth telling your doctor if you start taking Mounjaro to lose weight so they can ensure you get more regular checks on your bone health.
Second Nature’s medication programmes
Second Nature has two medication-supported programmes: a Wegovy weight-loss programme and a Mounjaro weight-loss programme.
Why should you choose Second Nature over other medication providers if you’ve decided to try Mounjaro or Wegovy (assuming you’re eligible)?
For peace of mind.
Second Nature has worked with the NHS for over 6 years, providing weight-loss programmes across the UK.
While our Wegovy and Mounjaro weight-loss programmes are private and not currently used by the NHS, we’ve built the programmes focusing on scientific evidence, patient safety, and data security.
We hope that our 6+ years of working with the NHS and building a track record of effective weight-loss results will give you peace of mind to give us a try.
