Tennis legend Serena Williams is all set to return to competition after a four-year absence. The news of her comeback has generated plenty of buzz. While appreciation has taken center stage, some analysts have also questioned her association with weight loss medication Zepbound.
Williams signed a multi-year partnership with Ro, which promotes weight-loss medications and features the former World No. 1 as an ambassador. Williams revealed that she used the GLP-1 medication Zepbound to shed weight post-pregnancy. GLP-1s claim to help maintain more stable blood sugar levels throughout the day when consumed and are FDA-approved.
Tennis insider Catherine Whitaker complimented Williams’ decision to return, but said the 23-time Grand Slam winner’s association with the weight-loss drug contradicts her body-positive messaging over the years.
“Serena represents a lot of important things to different people, and that’s a measure of her greatness,” she said on The Tennis podcast. “the most important thing that Serena has represented for me is body positivity. But when I saw her promoting the GLP-1 drug brand, which her husband sits on the board of during the super bowl this year, my heart broke a little bit. honestly I am not thrashing GLP-1 meds for a lot of people when prescribed and monitored, they help improve health, fitness, quality of life, but the marketing of them preys on women’s insecurities in a very sinister way. to see Serena Williams be a part of that, I find it very unsettling and quite sad and it seems like it seems that she’s positioning the weight loss medication as a big part of her story in coming back and I’m bracing for that to feel quite hard to take honestly.”
Serena Williams Talks About Her Experience with GLP-1 Medication Zepbound
Serena Williams has considerable experience dealing with body image issues and has also been vocal about her personal fitness journey. A few months ago, she opened up about her experience of using the medication and said it helped her lose 34 pounds after her second pregnancy:
“Some of my health stats are even better than they were when I was playing tennis professionally, if you can imagine that! Since being on GLP-1s, my lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease has decreased by 19% and what led to that change was the huge improvements of my lipid levels as a result of my weight loss,” she said in a video shared by ro.
She then listed her cholesterol levels, which showed a 30% improvement, and highlighted other internal benefits. Williams also said GLP-1 provided the energy she needed to keep up with the demands of being a mother, a player, and a successful entrepreneur.
Read more:
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