The Hidden Cost of Appetite Suppression: GLP-1 Considerations for Dancers
Written by Dr Megan Hellner of AthleatMD in collaboration with Project RED-D
GLP-1 medications have added a new layer of complexity to an already challenging landscape for athletes navigating body image, eating, and performance. Medications such as semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Zepbound/Mounjaro) are widely promoted as an easy way to lose weight and control appetite. In a culture that often equates a smaller body with health, discipline, or athletic success, the ability to suppress appetite and lose weight through medication can make body acceptance even more difficult. However, these medications have specific clinical indications for persons with weight-related medical complications, and are not intended for aesthetic weight loss or achieving a leaner body composition in otherwise healthy persons.
For dancers, this raises an important question: What happens when a medication designed to reduce appetite is used by an athlete who is already vulnerable to underfueling?
This question comes up frequently in our work with athletes. We often see dancers and other athletes who aren't intentionally trying to underfuel, but simply aren't eating enough to match the demands of their training. Adding a medication that further suppresses appetite can make low energy intake even harder to recognize.
Appetite Suppression and REDs
Dance is energetically demanding. Further, the aesthetic pressures surrounding dance can make dancers particularly vulnerable to low energy availability (LEA), a key driver of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). REDs affects every body system, in addition to its effect on mood and performance and a dancer does not have to look thin to experience REDs. REDs affects athletes of all body sizes.
GLP-1 medications work by reducing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness. For someone with an appropriate medical indication, this effect can be therapeutic but for a dancer who is already struggling to eat enough, it can make adequate fueling even more difficult.
On a GLP-1, you may eat smaller meals, skip snacks, feel less interested in food after rehearsals, or become full after only a few bites. Even if the foods you are eating are nutrient-dense, you may still not be consuming enough energy-dense foods to support training.
Your body needs energy (= Calories) to fuel movement, replenish glycogen (carbohydrate stores), build and repair muscle, maintain hormonal function, support bone health, and recover between training sessions. While the medication reduces appetite , it does not mean your body suddenly requires less nutrition.
This is something we pay close attention to in our work with athletes. When an athlete tells us they're “eating healthy” or “eating when they are hungry”, we look at what that actually means across a training day. Are there long gaps between meals? Are portions getting smaller? Have snacks disappeared? Is eating after training becoming difficult? Because GLP-1s affect appetite and satiety, hunger and fullness cues often don’t accurately align with an athlete’s energy requirements.
Weight Loss Does Not Equal Improved Performance
For dancers, the desire to lose weight is often tied to the belief that being lighter will make movement easier or improve performance. But lighter does not automatically mean stronger, healthier, or better performing.
GLP-1-associated weight loss includes varying degrees of loss of muscle mass. For dancers, preserving muscle and physical function is particularly important. Muscle provides strength, power, stability, force production, and protection against injury. When we work with an athlete who is losing weight, we are less concerned with the number on the scale than with what is happening to their health and performance. For example, are they still having regular periods without help from pills or patches? Are they free from bone stress injuries? Is performance, endurance and strength improving with training?
What About Eating Disorders?
Many dancers struggle or have struggled with an eating disorder, disordered eating, or significant body image distress. Appetite suppression, increased fullness, delayed gastric emptying, and gastrointestinal side effects can make consistent meals and snacks more difficult. For someone in eating disorder recovery, that can interfere with an important part of treatment: establishing regular eating patterns and moving away from restrictive behaviors.
Research on GLP-1 use in eating-disorder populations is still limited. Importantly, remember that weight loss should not be interpreted as ‘recovery’ if it occurs alongside increased restriction, inadequate energy intake, or worsening eating-disorder thoughts and behaviors.
In our practice, we look at the whole clinical picture and not weight alone. We pay attention to whether an athlete is fueling consistently, tolerating their training, recovering well, maintaining strength, and showing signs of healthy hormonal and bone function.
We also look at the psychological picture: Is food becoming more difficult? Is restriction increasing? Is the focus on weight and body shape becoming more intense?
For dancers, these are ultimately more important questions than what the scale says:
Are you fueling consistently? Are you recovering well? Are you maintaining strength and muscle? Are your bones and hormones healthy? And is your relationship with food and your body becoming more flexible or more rigid?
Overall, GLP 1s add to an already complex food and aesthetic culture within dance. While they can be beneficial for those with a specific clinical need, it is hard to see any benefit for dancers.
3 Key Takeaways for Dancers
1. Less appetite doesn’t mean less need for fuel. GLP-1s reduce hunger and increase fullness, but your body’s energy needs remain the same. Dancers still need adequate fuel to support training, recovery, hormones, muscle, and bone health.
2. Weight loss does not = improved performance. A smaller body is not necessarily a stronger or healthier body. Losing weight due to underfueling can include loss of muscle mass and may compromise strength, recovery, bone health, and performance.
3. Your health matters more than your dance aesthetic. If you are considering a GLP-1 for weight loss, particularly if you have a history of disordered eating, low energy availability, or REDs, please pause and talk with a qualified REDs informed healthcare professional. You do not need to shrink your body to be a better dancer.
Written by Dr Megan Hellner of AthleatMD in collaboration with Project RED-D