Can Victoza Help You Lose Weight?
Key takeaways:
Victoza (liraglutide) is an injectable medication that’s FDA approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Even though Victoza isn’t FDA approved for weight loss, it has been shown to help people lose weight. Another liraglutide product (Saxenda) is FDA approved for weight loss in certain groups of people.
The FDA approved dose of Saxenda (3 mg) has been shown to cause greater weight loss than the FDA approved doses of Victoza (1.2 mg and 1.8 mg).
Obesity (excess body fat) has become more common in the U.S. In 1999, about 31% of U.S. adults had obesity. By 2020, this number increased to 42%. Obesity raises your risk for chronic conditions like high blood pressure (hypertension) and heart disease.
Weight loss is recommended for anyone who has obesity. For some people, medications will be part of their weight-loss plan. Victoza (liraglutide) is a medication that’s known to cause weight loss, but it’s not FDA approved for this reason. It’s FDA approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.
In 2020, the FDA approved another liraglutide product to help with weight loss in certain groups of people. This liraglutide product is called Saxenda. But if Victoza and Saxenda both contain liraglutide, can Victoza help you lose weight too?
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What’s Victoza?
Victoza is an injectable medication that’s FDA approved to lower blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes who are ages 10 and up. It’s also approved to lower the risk of cardiovascular events (like heart attack, stroke) in people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease (like coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease).
Victoza is given once a day. It comes as an injector pen and is injected subcutaneously (underneath the skin). Each pen contains 18 mg of liraglutide.
It can be given as a dose of 0.6 mg, 1.2 mg, or 1.8 mg. The starting dose of Victoza is usually 0.6 mg, but this isn’t considered an effective dose to treat diabetes. After a week, the dose will likely be increased to 1.2 mg. After another week, your healthcare provider may raise the dose to 1.8 mg.
What’s the difference between Victoza and diabetes pills?
Victoza is an injection given underneath the skin. But there are other diabetes medications that can be taken orally. Like Victoza and Saxenda, some of these diabetes pills may help people lose weight. But others may lead to weight gain.
Is Victoza a type of insulin?
No. Victoza mimics a hormone in the body called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). One of Victoza’s actions is to stimulate the body to produce more insulin after you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps control your blood sugar. But Victoza itself does not contain insulin.
Is Victoza FDA approved for weight loss?
Victoza isn’t approved for weight loss.
But a different liraglutide product, Saxenda, was FDA approved in 2014 to help certain groups of people lose weight. This includes:
Adults with obesity
Adults with overweight with at least one weight-related condition (like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or Type 2 diabetes)
Kids, ages 12 and up, who weigh at least 60 kg (132 lb) — this approval was granted in 2020
Saxenda is meant to be used in combination with diet and exercise.
How does Victoza work for weight loss and diabetes?
Liraglutide is a GLP-1 agonist. It works by mimicking the effects of GLP-1, a type of incretin hormone.
Your gut makes incretin hormones like GLP-1 after you eat. GLP-1 sends signals to your pancreas to release insulin. By mimicking GLP-1, liraglutide increases the amount of insulin that’s released. This helps keep your blood sugar under control.
GLP-1 also increases the amount of time it takes for food to travel through your digestive tract. And it blocks a hormone (glucagon) that causes your liver to release sugar. These actions help lower your appetite, and can lead to weight loss.
How effective is Victoza for weight loss
Victoza has been shown to help people who have diabetes lose weight. This is important because weight loss can improve Type 2 diabetes and help you avoid other complications, like heart problems.
But Victoza can also help people who don’t have diabetes lose weight. Let’s take a look.
Victoza for weight loss in people who have diabetes
One study of over 700 people with Type 2 diabetes found that Victoza 1.8 mg and 1.2 mg doses led to weight loss. People using Victoza 1.8 mg lost about 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) and those using Victoza 1.2 mg lost about 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs).
Another study compared liraglutide 3 mg and liraglutide 1.8 mg to placebo (a pill with nothing in it). The researchers found that both doses helped people who had Type 2 diabetes lose more weight than placebo did. But liraglutide 3 mg caused more weight loss than the 1.8 mg dose. People taking liraglutide 3 mg lost an average of 6.4 kg (14 lbs). People taking liraglutide 1.8 mg lost about 5 kg (11 lbs). Liraglutide 3 mg helped a significant amount of people lose more than 10% of their initial body weight.
Victoza for weight loss in people who don’t have diabetes
A study comparing four doses of liraglutide (1.2 mg, 1.8 mg. 2.4 mg, and 3 mg) found that each dose led to more weight loss than placebo. But only liraglutide 3 mg led to greater than a 5% reduction in body weight in significantly more people than placebo. The study also compared liraglutide to another weight loss medication called orlistat (Alli). Only liraglutide 2.4 mg and liraglutide 3 mg cause significantly more weight loss than orlistat.
Most studies of liraglutide in people without diabetes focus on the 3 mg dose (the dose of Saxenda). Victoza isn’t FDA approved at this dose. And remember, Victoza isn’t specifically FDA approved for weight loss. But Saxenda is.
In a study of over 3,500 people, liraglutide 3 mg led to an average weight loss of 8.4 kg (18.5 lbs). This was much higher than the average weight loss of 2.8 kg (6 lbs) with placebo. It’s important to note that people in this study were encouraged to exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet during the study.
What are the side effects of Victoza?
As with any medication, Victoza can cause unwanted side effects. Some of these side effects may improve over time as your body gets used to the medication.
Common side effects include:
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea or constipation
Headache
Lowered appetite
Upset stomach
Injection site reactions
In rare cases, Victoza can lead to serious side effects that require immediate medical attention. One serious side effect is the risk of causing thyroid C-cell tumors. While these types of tumors have only been seen in animal studies, you should still avoid Victoza (and Saxenda) if you have a personal or family history of thyroid cancer. Victoza and Saxenda have a boxed warning for this risk, which is the FDA’s strictest warning for a medication.
Other serious side effects include:
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
Gallbladder problems (including gallstones and inflammation)
Kidney problems
Serious allergic reactions (including anaphylaxis)
The bottom line
Victoza is a GLP-1 agonist that's FDA approved to treat Type 2 diabetes. It’s an injection that’s given underneath the skin daily. In studies, it’s been shown to help with weight loss in people with and without diabetes. But it’s not specifically FDA approved for this reason.
Another medication (Saxenda) with the same active ingredient as Victoza (liraglutide) is FDA approved for weight loss. Saxenda is approved at a higher dose (3 mg) than Victoza (1.2 and 1.8 mg). The 3 mg dose has been shown to be more effective than lower doses at helping people lose weight.
Why trust our experts?
References
Astrup, A., et al. (2009). Effects of liraglutide in the treatment of obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The Lancet.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Adult obesity facts.
Collins, L., et al. (2022). Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. StatPearls.
Davies, M. J., et al. (2015). Efficacy of liraglutide for weight loss among patients with type 2 diabetes. Journal of the American Medical Association.
Deane, A. M., et al. (2010). Endogenous glucagon-like peptide-1 slows gastric emptying in healthy subjects, attenuating postprandial glycemia. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Novo Nordisk. (2022). Saxenda [package insert].
Novo Nordisk. (2022). Victoza [package insert].
Pi-Sunyer, X., et al. (2015). A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management. The New England Journal of Medicine.
Tomaselli, G. F., et al. (2013). 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults. Circulation.
U. S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). FDA approves weight management drug for patients aged 12 and older.
Wilding, J. P. H. (2014). The importance of weight management in type 2 diabetes mellitus. International Journal of Clinical Practice.
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