Sharon Cuneta says she's never been on Ozempic: 'I can't abuse my body that way'
Sharon Cuneta brushed off allegations that she has been using Ozempic, a medication primarily for diabetes that is also used off-label for weight loss.
In an interview with veteran broadcast journalist Karmina Constantino's podcast, KC After Hours on YouTube, Sharon discussed her weight loss and how some people said it "happened overnight."
"What is wrong with Ozempic? Absolutely nothing, right? Of course, you don't want to take the stash of somebody that really has problems with high blood sugar levels when it's becoming scarce," the "Megastar" said.
"I never went on Ozempic."
Sharon added that she tried "another medication" once but couldn't handle it.
"Anything that I couldn't do for my own willpower, and anything that made me feel artificially stopped—[my] brain [was] like floating. I could not," the 59-year-old actress said. "And like I said, I have a heart condition. My resting heart rate is like that of a jogger, presently jogging."
She continued, "I can't abuse my body that way."
Weight loss journey
Sharon also opened up about the years-long process behind her significant weight loss journey, which began in 2016. She shared that she "ruined" her metabolism by going on different crash diets.
Then there came a time when the Bituing Walang Ningning star lost hope and wanted to give up on losing weight but because of the nature of her profession, she had to "shape up or ship out."
"I also wanted to be healthy because [if] I want to see my grandchildren and be able to play with them," she said.
Nonetheless, Sharon told Karmina that her weight loss journey involved only cutting down on what she eats.
"But you know what I did? Kinonti-kunti ko. Although nung umpisa grabe talaga kasi when I put my mind to something, it's kind of hard to break me. I wasn't doing it for other people, I was doing it for myself... So dahan-dahan."
Sharon also candidly shared a significant step in her weight loss journey: undergoing an arm lift to remove excess skin. She explained that after considerable weight loss, she was left with "skin with absolutely no use."
In case you didn't know, Ozempic is a medicine injected into adults with Type 2 diabetes on a weekly basis. It was developed to improve blood sugar, along with diet and exercise, and reduce the risk of major cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.
In a previous interview with PhilSTAR L!fe, Dr. Eunice Tan, a practitioner of internal medicine and endocrinology, stated that while clinical trials have demonstrated Ozempic to be safe for treating obesity, its use is actually considered "off-label use."
"Without proper medical advice, this doesn’t work well without the discipline of exercise and cutting down on high-calorie intake," she said.
Ozempic has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the sole purpose of treating diabetes and is not intended for weight loss medication.
Tan also noted that Ozempic can cause some negative side effects in the body such as nausea, constipation, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
