Serena Williams weight loss injection Fears to cause heart failure, regulations give update on the contents

Legendary tennis player Serena Williams, 43, made headlines Thursday after an appearance on The Today Show, where she revealed that she is currently taking a GLP-1 medication through the health company Ro, in which her husband, Alexis Ohanian, is an investor.

Williams received mixed responses from the public. One Reddit user wrote they had an issue “that a world class athlete is essentially touting weight loss meds.” Meanwhile, others supported Williams’ transparency about what’s working for her health. “A happy surprise today. Glad she is speaking up about the challenges she has faced and continuing to change the world for people,” a TikTok user wrote in their video caption.

In an interview with People, Williams shared that she lost more than 31 pounds with the help of a GLP-1. Regardless of the public’s personal views on Williams’ choice, her experience raises an important question. Although many people associate GLP-1s with major weight-loss transformations, can meds like Ozempic be used for small amounts of weight loss? We spoke to experts to find out.

In the People interview, Williams shared that before taking a GLP-1, nothing was working for her weight loss. “I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,” she said. “It was crazy because I’d never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at.”

In an interview with Elle, Williams specified she’s on Zepbound. Other weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) are also popular options. In order to maximize the benefits and reduce the risk of common side effects, Williams shared that she made sure to fully understand Zepbound before using it.

“I did a lot of research on it. I was like, ‘is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?’ I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it,” Williams told People. Through her research, Williams decided a GLP-1 would be a good fit for her. “I lost over 31 pounds using my GLP-1 and I was really excited about that weight loss.”

Since her weight loss, Williams say, “I just can do more. I’m more active. My joints don’t hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy and it’s great. I just feel pretty good about it.”