Research
Energy balance
Skeletal muscle loss during pharmacologically induced weight loss is clinically significant because excessive SMM loss reduces resting energy expenditure (REE), making weight maintenance more difficult.
To maintain weight loss, preserving muscle is critical because muscle burns calories at rest. If you lose too much muscle, your metabolism slows down, making it harder to stay lean. Ensure your weight loss plan includes adequate protein and resistance training to protect muscle mass.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Those with higher SMM loss are likely to have greater reductions in the already established lower REE post- weight loss [46], making it difficult to remain in energy and thus weight balance.
Why this rating
Supported by meta-analysis data cited in the review linking FFM retention to better metabolic outcomes.
Source
Understanding Impact of Anti‐Obesity Medications on Skeletal Muscle Mass Change Is Confounded by Measurement Methods
Arden McMath et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2025
DOI 10.1111/obr.70041
narrative_reviewCited 2×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Current anti-obesity medication (AOM) studies frequently misrepresent skeletal muscle mass (SMM) loss by using DXA or BIA to estimate fat-free mass (FFM) or lean mass, which includes bone and non-skeletal tissues, thereby confounding the assessment of clinically significant muscle loss.Good
- Dietary protein intake and resistance exercise can attenuate fat-free mass and skeletal muscle loss during caloric restriction, but may not completely abrogate it.Good
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