As stated in the white Jesus article: the truth needs no intro, outro or cultural reinforcement. You know it when you hear it, whether it's what you wanna hear or not. With that I give you this clever (and most importantly, true!) zinger:
Alone, humiliated & disrespected. And damaging any kids you may have.
Ooh-WEE, couldn't agree more random Tikky-Tok person. And if they "following" those Insta models, that's emotional infidelity & they're def doing more IRL. Can you say STDs? "Broke" can mean financially, morally or emotionally in my view but it's the "beige bedroom" bit that puts it over the top for me. 👏🏻 😂
Spoiler alert: This doesn't get better for you unless you leave forever.
My 1st semester in college I had a low-resolution printout of a very Black Jesus hanging up over my bed in the dorms. This was long before the word "woke" entered the common lexicon or the paranoid Republican image of colleges as bastions of "liberal brainwashing" existed. Tumblr and Twitter weren't even a gleam in their creators' eye and America wasn't divided along party lines--at least not to such an obnoxious degree. I don't really know WHY I thought it prudent to plaster this polarizing symbol over my head, eyes affixed on entering guests like a judgy 2-D peeping tom in a Toga.
But it started many a lively--and frustrating--discussion. The number of people who would stop what they were doing to point, laugh & tell me with self-assured certainty that "Jesus wasn't BLACK!" as if they'd just had a Biblical revelation of their own was surprisingly high, even for Bumfuck Nowheresville, USA. Not sure what I expected but I've always been a contrarian so I was up for the debate. Needless to say the pic did the heavy lifting when it came to weeding out bad potential friends.
Something like my Black dorm Jesus
Historical Jesus vs. Whitewashed Christ
It's not that I believe Jesus was a Black African man. But he most certainly wasn't Irish white either. And that's exactly how every church from Svalbard, Norway to Patagonia, South America portrays him on their stained glass windows, printouts, billboards & websites. White Jesus is utterly ubiquitous throughout this planet... inescapable. And nobody questions the historical/geographical accuracy of this depiction--or the racist intentions behind it. Perhaps white Jesus serves a dual purpose: Like those Nigerian romance scammers who leave the glaring grammatical errors in their messages on purpose--"If we make Jesus white it'll weed out the critical thinkers & leave behind only the lowest-hanging fruit who will be easy to manipulate & steal from." Kinda like how my Black Jesus weeded out the racists for me. 🤔
In any case, making a Middle Eastern Jew (what we'd refer to today as "Mizrahi," though that term wasn't coined until the founding of Israel so it didn't apply to Jesus at the time) pasty white w/ straight, sandy blonde hair & crystal blue eyes takes a psychological toll on other races over time. How could it not? The truth is that Jesus was aGalilean Semite & would've resembled a modern-day Arab or Middle Eastern (Mizrahi) Jew--the kind whose ancestors never left the Middle East & attained the silvery blonde hair and blue eyes that many Ashkenazi Jews have today (think Jerry Springer, Lisa Kudrow, Gene Wilder & Barbara Walters).
While we can't know with 100% certainty what he would've looked like, it's likely he had some combination of the following features: dark, coarse short hair (likely "woolly-textured" as described in the Bible); olive brown skin, a short/closely-cropped beard, wide-set nose, dark brown/black eyes & a broad face. How do we know? Because photos exist from 3rd Century Synagogues of Jewish men and we have skulls/other bones going back even further from that region as well. This gives a pretty good idea about his head shape/facial features. Long hair in men was hugely frowned upon in those days in that region--Paul of the Bible had not-nice things to say about it & wouldn't have likely said them if his savior had sported lengthy locks.
Expert recreations of historical Jesus' likely appearance (via the BBC)
Origins of the White Lie (and Why It Matters)
So where oh where did the popular image of Christ as a hippie-haired white dude with rosy cheeks come from? It was born & bred by the people who brought you colorism & refer to blonde, blue eyed people as "All-American" and consider women with those features to be the standard of beauty. The same folks who made a national holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus & made Mother Teresa a saint & rallied around Hitler to throw Jews in ovens & kept apartheid alive from 1948-1994 and...
...you get it.
It comes from Eurocentric WHITES, the most egregious historical revisionists to ever trod the planet. Specifically Byzantine-era Romans who sought to portray Christ as a younger version of Zeus. And that explains all the Biblical togas--Greeks & Romans LOVED a toga. That was just OG white Jesus though: an infinite number of variations on this theme have emerged over the years & more are born daily. Whites can't fathom a non-white god/savior because, like most white-privilege-y things, they (we) have never had to think about it. Not only a non-white savior, but one who was supposedly born/raised in an all-white country & was inexplicably NOT white. That's the BS they're feeding us with white JC.
"What does it matter whether Jesus was Black, white, purple or polka-dotted? He's the son of GOD!!!!1!!" the suddenly-colorblind whites inevitably ask (it's always "purple/polka dots" for some reason).
Yeah, I might ask you the same question. What DOES it matter? Why get so bent out of shape over Black Jesus while rushing to the defense of white & spotted Christ? (And Heaven help you if you refer to any deity, messiah, prophet or holy person as "she"). Easy. Because you're prejudiced & refuse to worship a God who is not made in your image, that's why. To that I say: Just think how the world's majority, who just happen to be non-white, must feel. Also: facts matter, always.
I think it's the submission of non-whites regardless of religion to this insidious form of spiritual abuse & psychological warfare that baffles me most. As long as historical accuracy is out the window, why not make Jesus, Mary, the disciples & all the other Biblical characters' look like the majority in your country/region, if only to make them more relatable? Might as well since the Anglos have no such qualms tinkering w/ their savior's appearance. A Melanesian, Japanese, Indian or Namibian Jesus is no more historically inaccurate than a Caucasian/Eurotrash-Jesus, so WHY has the whole world swallowed this colonialist "white" lie with no pushback? (We could debate the impact of Christianity itself on various indigenous groups & races but this is a blog, not a novel).
It seems that once again, Europeans are the only people with the audacity & narcissism to turn a beloved historical figure into a clone of themselves. A Middle Eastern Jewish man who preached to dehydrated shepherds in the desert sun & traveled on foot from Jerusalem to Demascus, Egypt & beyond is made to look whiter than the angels & cherubs in a Renaissance-era painting. That takes a lot of chutzpah, alright, but it should also make you question what else they are whitewashing or covering up. Not just in the Bible or regarding matters of race but in general: history, current events, medicine, politics, economics, tech advancements & more. To tamper with the most recognizable figure on Earth in such a blatant way is a big fucking deal that shouldn't be downplayed.
Black Jesus Comes Home
One of the most surprising "full circle" moments I've had happened a couple Christmases ago when I went to visit my octogenarian grandparents--both conservative evangelicals from a tiny Southern town--at their house. And what do I see perched on the mantle but a nativity scene--and not a single white wise man in sight. They were all varying shades of brown, one Black.
"Where'd you get THAT?!" I asked, pointing at the Black one.
"Your great-grandma painted those a very long time ago" she said proudly. (Said great-grandma was a full-blooded Seminole Indian artist who died in 1981 so I never met her). My mind flashed to all the Black Santas, Jesuses & wise men I'd ever seen in my life... a disappointingly short list. It dawned on me that I'd NEVER seen a non-white figure of this kind in anyone's home except a Black person's... even in this "woke" era of inclusivity & diversity. Was there something they weren't telling me about my family history? If Jesus & the other Biblical characters are depicted as white everywhere now, how much worse was it in my great-grandma's time? She didn't just pick these up at some bargain bin store either, she made a conscious decision to paint them that way in a time when she faced judgment for her own interracial marriage. And my grandma held onto them & displayed them prominently all these years later.
"Don't turn your back or you'll be missing a Black Nativity-man" I said with a wink. She smiled.
If my great-grandmother had the wisdom & insight to paint her wise men the correct color in a racist, backward place like this before the Internet Age, surely more people should be questioning (& rejecting) white Jesus in the current year. They should be questioning a lot of the things they take for granted as true. Maybe we'd be further along as a species & stop repeating the same avoidable pain cycles if they did. Just because your parents, religious leaders, coaches, teachers or favorite politician said it doesn't make it true. Even if your entire religion or culture said it, check for yourself. The truth is self-evident; propaganda, stereotypes & lies require constant repetition.
Wishing everyone a white Christmas sans the white Christ. 🎄 Just for fun, here are some paintings of the various white Jesuses (Jesii?) I've found 'round the www. I haven't lol'd this hard in a long time:
1959 oil painting Christ is sooo over your lame puns, Janice.
Standard white JC, likely painted during Michael Landon's "Highway to Heaven" era.
Drunken fratboy Jesus who turns boxed wine into pee & just farted on your cat.
Yeah, Modern Jesus sees your internet search history. I don't judge. That's my old man.
Peak white Jesus with ginger hair. Don't get no whiter'n that.
Hobo Honkey Jesus beggin' for change. For "food." Definitely not bath salts.
Rainbow-washed Jesus. It was inevitable. At least he's the right color?
Okay, whose sex-starved Christian auntie did this?!
1st of all, my sincere & heartfelt condolences to all those who died directly or indirectly from kratom as well as their loved ones. May their memory be a blessing. In a humane & sane society with universal healthcare & science-based drug laws, these kinds of preventable tragedies would be much less common. Supplements of ALL kinds would be FDA-regulated and not overseen by the same people who profit directly from their sale (thanks, DSHEA). Mind-altering drugs like kratom & all opioids weaker than fentanyl would be regulated & available at designated locations for adult users to consume safely & privately. No fentanyl or tranq dope in the drug supply, no doctor-shopping, no pill mills, no prison or job loss for private non-violent drug use. No DC lobbyists needed to keep any drug legal. Just addiction being treated like the disorder it is instead of a moral failing. But we don't live in a sane or loving society, we live in America: where both drugs and drug education are tainted thanks to the 80+ year Drug War. Substances like kratom, Spice & bath salts--all powerful drugs with real health risks--are ironically the only "safe" option for consumers due to their legality, purity & affordability; they're also dangerously over-available due to the refusal of health regulators to do the work of regulating recreational substances in any capacity on moral grounds. Because in this prohibitionist society, drugs are either seen as a miracle or a threat, black-and-white.... Good or evil. There is no middle ground between 100% illegal & legal but totally unregulated, and neither black market profiteers nor our gov't leaders give a damn about the human cost of their actions (or inaction). It doesn't have to be this way. Let's take a quick trip down these two divergent yet equally dangerous paths, shall we? Path 1: Prohibition (Schedule 1):In this scenario, the drug in question is emergency scheduled for about 30-60 days & then chucked into CI permanently, where it's deemed to have no medicinal use and an unacceptable risk of addiction or death. All scientific research is halted & anyone caught in possession or with "distribution" amounts is fined or jailed, and anyone suspected of possession may have their home/property raided, their assets seized & their reputation destroyed. Testing positive at work can get you fired on the spot.
Of course prohibition only addresses the supply, not the demand. Legal vendors try to dump their supply ASAP & very quickly the black market (dealers, gangs, cartels, smugglers & other shady characters) pick up where they left off. This is when things get hairy. Because unlike legal or even grey-market vendors, black market dealers have NO incentive to maintain honest practices--they just want $$$. They're already breaking the law--what do they care if a customer dies, gets sick, a kid gets hold of their product, etc? Violence, police & government corruption, drug adulteration & straight-up poison make its way into the scene & it suddenly doesn't resemble the substance you knew & trusted for years. Prices are jacked up to triple/quadruple (or more) the old going rate to account for the risk inherent in handling illegal drugs and bingo-bango: kratom's the new Paraquat pot or China white. Path #2: Unscheduled & unregulated.Our current path with kratom, though it may not be for long. And methinks that's part of the plan: Let a critical mass of the public die until an outcry happens & the DEA/FDA have the public support to ban it. In this scenario a total lack of gov't oversight allows anyone to manufacture & sell any form or strength of a drug in any public setting to ANYONE. No federal age requirements, no standardized package warnings, no upper limits on dosage in products, no oversight at manufacturing facilities. Nobody knows for certain what the LD-50 is. This is just as insane as Path #1 and everyone knows it but we keep our mouths shut because, hey, at least it's legal! (for now). Deaths are inevitable due to a lack of harm reduction education in the public sphere (television, schools, billboards, online, etc). This path puts short-term kratom industry profits & convenience before public safety & fails to consider the big picture of keeping kratom legal in the long run, therefore it's just as bad as Path 1 because it ultimately leads to Path 1. (The 3rd path that the FDA's clamoring for is a CII or CIII designation so the whole plant is banned but its individual alkaloids can be studied & patented by pharma companies & sold back to us at ridiculous prices. This path is borne of pure greed: history has shown repeatedly that single-ingredient & synthetic versions of plants like the opium poppy (morphine, codeine), cannabis (Marinol, Nabilone) & coca (cocaine) are almost always more addictive/toxic than the whole plant, not to mention nobody wants doctors & insurance companies deciding who's worthy of accessing this medicine. They have no right to have that kind of monopoly on our health, especially when so many Americans can't even afford medical care or health insurance. They tried to ban CBD supplements around the time Epidiolex, at a repulsive $32,500 per year, was approved & the public pushback was too overwhelming. We can't let 'em do it with kratom. If they want to be taken seriously about important things like vaccines, the FDA needs to get off Big Pharma's dick & be objective).
And this brings us to the Florida kratom deaths at the center of this controversy. Twitter headlines loudly proclaim: "533 kratom deaths in Florida! Legal drug sold in gas stations touted as "safe" is killing our kids." I must admit, this even alarmed me as that's a LOT of deaths. Was there a tainted or ultra-potent batch going around? What's going ON?
Turns out, no. There isn't. It's just another case of overblown fear-mongering headlines telling half-truths to a public with the collective attention span of a gnat. Most folks don't even digest a whole tweet before scrolling onto the next digital dopamine hit, let alone read & comprehend a 2,000+-word article.
To The Tampa Bay Times's credit, they did break down the death stats & include the info we all want to know: that the vast, vast majority of these unfortunate souls were taking at least one other substance (96% of the 533 total) or had other contributing health conditions (19 of 46 kratom-only deaths) at the time of death. That's a lot more than the majority of kratom hitpieces disclose so hats off to the journalists on this story. It actually provides some useful data.
Here are the numbers, per the Tampa Bay Times:
White males w/ other opioids in their systems made up the vast majority of "kratom" deaths
At a glance, a couple things jump out at me: as stated, the overwhelming majority had other drugs (83% had opioids like fentanyl, heroin or Rx pain pills that DO cause respiratory depression) in their system when they died, which makes it impossible to tell what role kratom may have played. The huge preponderance of males raises questions: are males just that much more likely to use kratom to begin with, or is it more dangerous in males for reasons we don't yet understand? Or perhaps men are more likely to take risks like ingesting high doses or mixing kratom with other substances. These questions & others need further clarification.
Now, for the part that all kratom users are most concerned with: the 46 "kratom-only" deaths. While the article doesn't link to the autopsy or toxicology reports, they do state that 14 kratom-only OD victims had at least one other health condition listed on the autopsy as a contributing factor, which means kratom may have played a huge role or very little role--probably somewhere in between. But we don't know. And 5 of those 14 had heart disease--a serious condition on its own. Regardless, ALL of their illnesses were severe enough to be considered a "contributing factor" in their deaths & not just a separate but unrelated condition.
This leaves 32 Floridians in a decade who died exclusively of kratom toxicity/overdose with no other drugs in their system and no pre-existing health conditions listed as contributing factors. Compare that to 380 deaths per DAY from excessive alcohol use nationwide totaling a staggering 140,000 alcohol-related deaths per year in the U.S. (Source: CDC).
Still tragic but quite different from the headlines, yeah? (Actually that's an impressively low number of fatalities in a decade for a totally unregulated drug sold OTC in extremely high doses to kids & anyone w/ $5 in their pocket).
Same questions apply in those kratom decedents who DID have contributing diseases: what role specifically did kratom play in causing these deaths? How extensive was the disease, how heavy was the dose & how exactly did they expire? (The article states that kratom users who OD on the drug may die like stimulant users--from sudden cardiac death--or like opioid users, with swollen brains, fluid in the lungs & aspirated vomit. This sort of makes sense when you consider the differing effects of white/green-vein vs. red-vein strains. Also, plants harvested at different times of year can contain varying amounts of mitragynine, the active alkaloid in kratom. 7-hydroxymitragynine is the secondary alkaloid that binds to mu-receptors but strangely, neither it nor mitragynine content varied much between the 3 main vein colors in studies. It was a 3rd, seemingly inactive compound called speciophylline that varied wildly between the stimulating and sedating subtypes, raising more questions than answers). But it's impossible to tell if these variations in the kratom plant itself were responsible for the different ways these people expired or if it came down to personal physiology or other factors. We desperately need more research on kratom's pharmacology, LD-50 & mechanisms of action to answer these questions.
It would be helpful if toxicology & autopsy reports were available to the public or, better yet, linked in the Times article. I empathize with the families' desire for privacy, but that horse left the barn when they filed lawsuits against kratom companies & other parties or gave autopsy access to reporters. When in doubt, always cite & share your sources. Aside from the sensational headlines, that's the only place the Tampa Bay Times article falls short.
Again, the authors of the Times article did a great job laying out the various ways the victims succumbed & doing actual investigative journalism instead of writing some 2-paragraph nothingburger that leaves 10,000 unanswered questions. I also credit kratom advocates for holding irresponsible journalists/bloggers' feet to the fire over the years: they probably know we're not the crowd to mess with. Let this be proof that our voices DO matter & that coordinated, respectful pushback makes a difference.
Kratom Myths That Kill
Since you're already here, let's bust some dangerous myths, shall we? IT IS POSSIBLE TO DIE FROM KRATOM ALONE. Or oxygen alone, or water, or salt. Every substance no matter how "natural" or benign has a fatal overdose threshold/LD-50. Even cannabis. Just because kratom doesn't slow your breathing doesn't mean you can't overdose on it. It raises heart rate & blood pressure & can cause seizures even in people who've never had them. Other mechanisms aren't as clear, but sudden cardiovascular events have been involved in some "kratom-only" deaths (see: Tampa Bay Times article).
Understanding a drug's basic pharmacology is vital for safe use. Kratom is something of a dirty drug akin to tramadol or clozapine in that it acts on multiple neurotransmitter systems including the mu-opioid & adrenergic receptors, the latter of which are also activated by caffeine & phentermine. This makes it both an "upper" and a "downer" in a sense. It's also thought to act on the serotonin & dopamine systems, though more research is needed in this area. What IS mentioned in almost every kratom study is that it has a significant inhibitory effect on multiple enzymes that metabolize other drugs, which makes it potentially dangerous to combine with any substance that's also metabolized by these enzymes, as it can increase amounts of these drugs in the blood to dangerous levels.
Additionally, a handful of cases of Serotonin Syndrome have occurred which can be fatal in severe instances. See my recent article for a whole menagerie of kratom risks, myths & facts. Common myths are that it's not addictive or the withdrawals are less severe than other opioids (they're about on par with hydro/oxycodone or high-dose codeine withdrawals); that it's "natural" & thus safer than synthetic or semi-synthetic opiates/oids (it's not necessarily "safer" than equipotent drugs, it just comes w/ unique risks that don't include respiratory depression) & that its legal status has anything whatsoever to do with its relative safety or risk--it doesn't, as the legal status of cancerous tobacco & the also-cancerous, toxic-at-any-dose booze should attest to.
Proposed Safety Regulations to #KeepKratomLegal
Example of potent kratom extract sold in stores & online
((The following are my opinions only so take them or leave them, just remember that failureof the industry & kratom advocates to act could very well result in a nationwide ban, if not now then sometime down the line. We're on borrowed time IMHO. The media + parents of deceased young people have historically been a very powerful combo, and the general public is always hungry for the next "demon drug" to project their anguish onto. If you agree please share this article!)).
To begin with, kratom products MUST carry standardized warnings about dosage & drug interactions on the label (if sold in a container) or at the point of sale (in kratom/kava bars, etc). Its effects on cytochrome enzymes that metabolize so many other substances makes it potentially deadly in this setting, as does its affinity for so many diverse neurotransmitter systems. Kratom advocates should be leading the charge for these changes if we want to avoid a nationwide ban.
And in what universe are we banning the sale of booze/weed/vapes to kids while selling them an opioid agonist over the counter? Kids too young to vote or buy explicit rap albums who could be prosecuted under "child porn" laws for sending racy selfies to each other in 3rd period can saunter into any truck stop or corner store & buy as much kratom as their hearts desire. The way the drug is marketed as a natural benign supplement & its legality do give the false appearance of total safety, especially to kids with developing brains who already feel invincible. In reality, many of these products are ultra-potent extracts or 'enhanced blends' with no health warnings on the package, plus teens are more likely to do risky things like combining kratom with other drugs, driving intoxicated, etc. Even in a best-case scenario, kratom is potentially addictive due to its opioid-binding effects & can cause nasty physical withdrawals. No child can truly consent to that kind of life-ruining decision. This can't be left up to states--children should not have legal access to recreational drugs, period. Some things are for adults & kratom is one of them. I'm all for parental responsibility but this one is on legislators. We need federal age requirements yesterday. Moving kratom products behind the counter like tobacco to prevent theft & send a message that these are actual drugs meant for adults wouldn't hurt either.
Finally, dosage clearly matters when it comes to kratom safety. I know some may take issue with this but I would strongly suggest banning the commercial sale of kratom extracts & putting upper limits on alkaloid content in enhanced leaf products. According to the Tampa Bay Times article, around half of the "kratom-only" decedents had upwards of 1,000 nanograms of mitragynine per ml of blood at autopsy, which is an absurd amount. It would be very, very hard to ingest that much plain leaf fast enough to keel over. These extracts have historically been responsible for many other kratom deaths due to adulteration & sheer potency as well. If individuals want to make their own extracts at home, fine. But no commercial extracts should be sold in businesses. Americans turn everything into its most ridiculously potent form, from liquid fire kratom shots to crack-like cannabis "dabs" & shatter to actual crack cocaine. We're never satisfied, always seeking stronger, harder, faster & bigger everything. As we see here, that level of gluttony is not always good. Our obesity epidemic, fentanyl crisis, housing crash & plenty of other societal plagues were caused by this same endless quest for MORE. And it's killing us.
So that's my recommendation as a lowly drug blogger and long-term kratom user: 1.) standardized dosage/interaction warning labels on all packages, 2.) federal minimum age requirements to purchase kratom (18 or 21), 2.5.) move kratom products behind the counter like tobacco (optional),3.)ban the commercial sale of kratom extracts & 4.)enact (liberal/reasonable) upper limits for mitragynine on any enhanced leaf sold in public establishments.
It's not perfect & will require cooperation between federal regulators, the AKA & kratom industry leaders but it will go a long way to put minds at ease & show that these entities care about consumers & not just kratom industry profits (or in the FDA's case, pharma profits). More importantly, it will prevent or delay the dreaded scheduling/outright ban our gov't has been pushing for since damn near antiquity. And MOST importantly, it will save lives--something we should all care about. If they all can't be adopted right away, do what you can. Something is better than nothing. Change takes time but these seem like doable changes that don't place an unreasonable burden on vendors or growers like, say, testing every batch of leaf for alkaloid content or requiring expensive government licenses to grow/sell kratom.
You can't very well claim that #kratomsaveslives when people are out here dying horrible deaths from it, and I say that as a long-term user & advocate who has watched many beloved legal substances get the banhammer in my lifetime. Victim-blaming is easy but it helps nothing & is a bad look. As stated in my previous article: common sense isn't so common. Not everyone is informed about harm reduction due to the abstinence-only drug "education" (read: propaganda) of the Drug War, & many other factors like age, stress & trauma, income & general mental health/IQ can all influence a person's choices & lead to deadly outcomes. It's on US to make kratom as safe as possible for everybody since our elected leaders refuse to lift a finger.
2023 has been a mixed bag of bad and worse: Illness, death, abandonment, money issues, bizarre unnecessary hoops to jump through to obtain basic medical care (I mean, wt actual hell?! Still wake up punching the air occasionally after that 2nd 'hoop' 🤢) & the usual family bullshit with absolutely no outside help or support, emotional or otherwise.
You really find out what you're made of when dealing with hard times alone. So much phoniness, judgment & hate in the world, all because people choose to "kick the dog" & take their misery out on random subordinates instead of standing up to those actually making their lives suck: slave-driving bosses, worthless abusive spouses, parents, politicians or others above them in the social hierarchy. And here I am, just minding my business & trying to do right/be kind to people whenever possible. Why does that always seem to blow up in my face? 🤔
So 2024 will be all about matching energy: no more naive, wide-eyed kindness unless that's the vibe you're coming with. Call it my new year's resolution, whatevs. Empathy & kindness are fine but they must be tempered with a realistic appraisal of situations & peoples' character or you're bound to get your heart stomped. And stomped hearts are SO last season.
Here's hoping next year brings some relief & a change of fortunes for me & anyone else who struggled in 2023. Of course "years" are a totally arbitrary, man-made measurement of time but still: it's a good excuse to shake off this stale old energy & usher in some dope new vibes. 🥀 >>>🌹
With so much polarizing chatter about the new "miracle/demon" diabetes drugs being prescribed for rapid weight loss, it can be hard to know what--and who--to believe.
From arsenic & tapeworms in the 1800s to the more refined slimming solutions of today, Americans have a love-hate relationship with weight loss medications. We love the idea of a magic thinness potion but often end up hating the real-world results, which have included some of the most deadly products in our nation's history: Meridia, Xenical, dinitrophenol (DNP), ephedra & Fen-Phen among them. (Others, like Rimonabant, were so likely to cause suicide in trials that they never made it to market in the U.S.) So why should the GLP-1 agonists be any different? And in a rare move, pharma companies are actually discouraging their use by non-diabetics due to shortages. And they do come with potentially serious and occasionally deadly side effects. But so does untreated obesity which is at pandemic levels in the U.S.. What to do?
1st things 1st: these medications are NOT for people wanting to lose 10-20 lbs of vanity weight or get back down to their "fighting weight" in time for bikini season. There's not a single Kardashian or Real Housewife of anywhere who should be taking them, nor should 85% of Hollywood celebrities. Their intended use is treating diabetes; if they're used for non-diabetic weight loss, they should be reserved for people with a BMI in the obese category (i.e. 30.0 or higher) who have not had sustained success losing weight with other methods.
It is ALWAYS preferable to lose weight the "natural" way--i.e. with healthy lifestyle changes like diet (calorie restriction) and exercise (mostly cardio + some strength training) than by using medications or surgeries, as these interventions come with serious risks and still require said lifestyle changes to work in the long term. But because we live in obesogenic environments, it can be very hard bordering on unrealistic for some people to maintain a healthy weight for the duration of their lives without help.
Enter Ozempic & the other GLP-1 agonists: Mounjaro, Saxenda, Byetta, Trulicity, Rybelsus, etc. (I refer to Ozempic the most in this article because it's the most widely prescribed for weight loss currently but most of the advice applies to all of the meds since they belong to the same class).
How & Why GLP-1 Agonists Work
Beneficial effects of GLP-1 meds on various body systems
Insulin resistance is one of the most common & insidious health problems in the Western world. It is both a cause & a result of over-indulging in calorie-dense, nutrient-poor processed foods. In this state, the pancreas has to pump out much more insulin because the body's cells are not registering normal amounts. Eventually the pancreas tuckers out & you develop Type II diabetes, but insulin resistance wreaks havoc long before then (up to 10+ years before diabetes develops), causing impaired fullness signals & increased cravings for junk food like simple carbs, sweets, "comfort foods," & fried meats that drive people to eat both the wrong type & amount of food.
Over time, nerve damage in the nose & taste buds caused by elevated blood sugar (pre-diabetes or full-blown Type II diabetes) can impair the ability to fully smell & taste the more subtle flavors of your food, rendering anything that's not completely overloaded with salt, sugar, saturated/trans fat & other unhealthy additives as flavorless as cardboard. This vicious cycle makes weight loss very difficult in the long term.
And diabetes notwithstanding, insulin resistance is a health risk unto itself, increasing the risk for a host of diseasesranging from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to cancer to Alzheimer's disease. One doctor (Mike Hansen, featured in the video below) went so far as to state that any disease that's not purely genetic (i.e. cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia) or contagious (influenza, COVID) can be caused or made worse by being insulin resistant. The dementia link is so strong some have suggested referring to Alzheimer's Disease as "Type III diabetes" as its pathology is so deeply intertwined withType II diabetes, metabolic syndrome & related conditions. 🫥
Unlike stimulants & other weight loss drugs, GLP-1 agonists attack the problem at the source, delaying gastric emptying to reduce hunger & cravings that become disturbed due to insulin resistance in obese people. They mimic a hormone called glucagon-like peptide, telling the pancreas to release more insulin after a meal which helps control blood sugar in diabetics. Weight loss is merely a side effect of these drugs. Not only does your appetite decrease dramatically, it becomes almost impossible to eat large & often even normal portions, at least for a time. The result is fast & dramatic weight loss. Sounds great, right?
Side Effects & Risks
Example of deadly counterfeit "Ozempic" pens (right)
As with everything in the medical world, there are no free lunches. If you fail to actually change your eating habits while enjoying this vacation from overeating, you're likely to gain all the weight back (and then some) when you quit the medication. More on this later. Non-diabetics are advised against taking GLP-1 agonists indefinitely due to the side effects & health risks, which can include pancreatitis, kidney injury, ileus resulting in death, gallstones & even serious diseases likethyroid cancer &pancreatic cancer. More common are hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), nausea, vomiting & diarrhea.
And back to that "you'll gain the weight back when you stop thing": unfortunately that's not just some loony blogger's opinion--it's been shown in study after study that weight loss patients who stopped Ozempic, Mounjaro & similar drugs gained all or most of the weight back a vast majority of the time. Some gained even more weight, putting them at a higher weight than their baseline. This is a typical effect of all weight loss drugs, and it makes it harder to lose weight in the future due to the Set Point Theory. Basically this theory states that the body fights to hold onto its all-time highest weight, hence why it's so important to avoid yo-yo dieting & trendy weight loss "hacks" that result in rapid weight loss in the first place. The rule of thumb with dieting is: the faster you lose it, the faster and more viciously it tends to come back.
And THEN there are the counterfeit versions of these medications floating around that are not FDA approved. Not only have these formulations NOT been proven safe or effective in humans, they're often mixed in compounding pharmacies, which have been shown time and again to operate in absolutely filthy conditions. Some contain ingredients apparently sourced from Alibaba & made in Chinese research chemical labs (!) where bath salts & Spice are produced. As a final wtf, because these meds are injected rather than swallowed, any impurities go directly into the bloodstream with no first-pass metabolism to filter them out, increasing their overall toxicity.
Dr. Mike Hansen lays down the scary facts about "off-brand" GLP-1 meds
Translation: This is bad, real bad. Injectable meds from compounding pharmacies were responsible for the biggest fungal meningitis outbreak in U.S. history in 2012, resulting in over 100 deaths across multiple states & sickening over 700.
Why on Earth would anyone knowingly put this toxic sludge in their bodies under the guise of improving their health? Because it's affordable & produces results: name-brand versions are around 400% more expensive & not covered by most insurance carriers for weight loss in the absence of diabetes. But the "results" may not be what you bargained for: Americans have already dropped dead from counterfeit Ozempic pens thought to contain INSULIN instead of semaglutide. #Murica
Maintaining Your Progress After Ozempic
Wise words.
What can you do to avoid this depressing fate? #1: Do NOT use the cheaper "peptides" or compounding pharmacy off-brand concoctions fraudulently labeling themselves as "Ozempic" "Mounjaro" or any other branded GLP-1 agonist no matter what your doctor, alternative medicine guru or Herbalife-slinging bestie down the street tells you. Semaglutide SODIUM or ACETATE, or semaglutide combined with B12 have NEVER been proven safe/effective in humans, which means what you're buying is a dirty knockoff from unknown sources that lacks FDA approval. It might contain the stated ingredients; it might contain cyanide & piss. Even if the ingredients are correct, it could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria, fungi, heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic) or other killers if it was produced anywhere other than an FDA regulated drug manufacturing facility. This does NOT include compounding pharmacies which have no real government oversight. They may be fine for buying cough syrups & the like but not costly injectables for which there's a massive demand & customer desire for cost-cutting options. There's no antidote to the ways these contaminated drugs kill you. It's a slow & painful death. Just don't.
Using the time you're on the (FDA-approved) medication to change the eating habits that caused you to gain weight in the 1st place is a great way to ensure that your progress sticks in the long run. If you merely eat LESS of the same crap (fast food, fried food, sweet drinks & other high-calorie/low-nutrient junk) while on the meds, you're guaranteed to gain it all back post-treatment when your appetite returns, maybe a little extra due to rebound hunger. You've got to use the medication to break your addiction to the processed foods that cause insulin resistance in the first place! And make no mistake: it IS an addiction. Viewing it any other way is denial. You've been warned.
We all know you can't just get rid of bad habits without replacing them with better ones, so here are some things to work on while taking the meds. I advise not waiting until your last few months on the medication to try and cram all this hard work in or you're destined to fail:
1.) Reacclimate your taste buds to an unprocessed, balanced diet packed with healthy foods. Complex carbs(whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds), lean protein sources, healthy fats (mono- and poly-unsaturated) & high-fiber foods (fruits/veggies) plus plenty of ice cold water. The rule of thumb is, if it has a commercial it's not real food. Flaming Hot Cheetos & Oreos, I'm looking at you.
2.) Pay attention to how your food is prepared: avoid frying & stick to sauteeing, boiling, broiling, baking & other low-grease methods, as oils contribute massive amounts of hidden calories & unhealthy fats to your meals--the kind of fat that clogs arteries & causes heart attack & stroke over time. Add lots of yummy herbs/spices to make it tasty. Dried herb mixes = generally okay; rich sauces & dressings = use in extreme moderation.
3.) Get used to counting calories (not carbs, fat or anything else unless you're diabetic) & knowing how many you should be eating per day. A TDEE calculator can figure that out for you. And count ALL your calories--don't overlook things like sweet drinks, cooking oils, sauces/dressings & other sneaky sources.
4.) ALWAYS be sipping water. This both reduces cravings & keeps you hydrated, which prevents UTI & improves mood/cognition among other vital functions. Add some ice + a twist of lemon, lime or orange if it's too "plain" by itself.
5.) Learn to identify your "triggers" & avoid them when possible: If binge-watching your fave Netflix series or hanging out in certain places (the state fair, the mall, etc) makes you crave Auntie Anne's pretzels or funnel cake, AVOID THOSE PLACES. When triggering situations are unavoidable, fill up on healthier options before attending. And get real comfortable saying 'no' to people who pressure you to "just try" a bite of this or that at get-togethers. It's not rude to turn down food, alcohol or anything else, but it IS rude to not take no for an answer.
A healthy relationship with food is about eating to live, not living to eat. Eating should not be an orgasmic experience that you plan your life around nor the centerpiece of social gatherings, and you should never feel tired or uncomfortably full after a meal. If you do, you're eating too much & likely the wrong things. Food is merely fuel that gives you energy to do the activities you want to do in life. If it's stealing your energy & joy, it's time to put it back in its place. 💚
Remember: Weight loss is 85% diet and 15% exercise, if that. You can't outrun the giant portions & ridiculously gluttonous junk in the typical American diet, so don't delude yourself into thinking that a gym membership will sustain your progress or allow you to eat more. Cardio exercise is vital for heart & lung fitness but it's unlikely to cause you to drop weight. Strength training can help build muscle which increases your metabolism so you burn fat at rest, but unless you do it at bodybuilder levels it's unlikely to have noticeable effects on your physique. Sorry.
Sleep is as important as exercise, if not more so. Poor sleep can cause impaired satiety (fullness) signals by reducing leptin & increasing ghrelin--2 chemicals vital for appetite regulation. If you suspect insomnia or another sleep disorder, have a sleep study done and get it treated as you'll never get a handle on your weight until it's managed (and obesity dramatically worsens sleep apnea, often to dangerous levels & causing another one of those "vicious cycles"). Aim for 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night and remember: you can't "catch up" on lost sleep the next day or on weekends. It has to be consecutive uninterrupted sleep to achieve the deep NREM state that restores brain & immune function. Again, sorry. I don't make the rules.
And I can't write an article about weight management without mentioning mental illness. People with untreated depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders & other mental health conditions are generally much more likely to be obese than mentally well people, so strive to make mental health a top priority. And the relationship is bi-directional: obesity also appears to CAUSE or worsen mental health conditionslike depression, eating disorders, anxiety & substance abuse. This association is stronger in females for unknown reasons. To further complicate the issue, some psychiatric medications can cause weight gain such as anti-psychotics & some older mood stabilizers. Talk to your prescriber if this is a concern for you. Dose adjustments or med changes can help greatly but never attempt this on your own.
ADHD is often overlooked when discussing mental illnesses but its connection to addiction & obesity is particularly strong. Patients with untreated ADHD have a tendency to see things as all-or-nothing ventures, getting extremely motivated in the beginning and then losing interest after a single slip-up or when dramatic results are not forthcoming. Working for delayed rewards is extremely hard for these folks (of which I am one) due to low dopamine--the brain's reward chemical. We need gratification NOW and that's not how weight management works--it's a lifelong marathon, not a 50 yard dash. Gradual, sometimes painfully slow but sustainable changes win the weight loss race. Read that again, ADHD'ers. And then read this. Got it? And when you're ready, this.
While it may seem unrelated, stress is directly linked to weight gain--particularly in women. If you notice yourself eating mindlessly when worried or under acute stress, you can thank cortisol--the body's stress hormone (one of several). If this is you, swap your stress snacks with something low- or no-calorie like baby carrots or celery sticks (mmm, cronchy!) but more importantly: make an effort to reduce your daily stress levels. Self-care is not just bubble baths & spa days, it's creating a life you don't need to escape from. Practice saying 'no' to over-committing to non-essential (i.e. unpaid) tasks; cut toxic people out of your life & put yourself first. Look around: are you pulling more weight than your peers, partner, family members or co-workers? If you are, it's time to ask yourself why you expect more from yourself than others, whether you're being taken advantage of and how you can lighten your load. Busy-ness is not a virtue & it could be sabotaging your weight loss efforts or even shortening your life.
On a final note: a lot of people use the "I don't have time to meal prep or buy groceries" excuse but when you examine their daily lives, it's ALWAYS a choice. Life is about priorities. You do have the time but you're not currently devoting it to your diet. The good news is that can change. (See above: "drop unpaid/unnecessary tasks & make time for you" section). It's not so much a "time" problem as a motivation/focus/time management problem. Fast food & other highly processed convenience eats might be fast & available on every corner, but they're both expensive in the moment & the long term. Good health is priceless & worth the effort. 💚
Conclusion
None of this is EASY, mind you, but nothing worth doing ever is. We don't become clinically obese overnight or for no reason--there are are many pathologies and maladaptive behaviors that go into it. And there will be just as many positive life changes required to dig ourselves out. If you're waiting on a magic pill or potion to do the heavy lifting for you, here's your sign to stop--it's not coming. It's on you to educate yourself about good nutrition (which I've made easy by linking to examples of "good" foods in each of the major food groups above), to slow down & give your health the same attention you give everything else in your life. GLP-1 agonists are merely a tool that hits 'pause' on the clock while you recalibrate your lifestyle in a healthy way... or not. Your long-term outlook is entirely dependent on what you do with that time & whether you remain dedicated to avoiding the highly addictive foods that made you sick to begin with.
Whew.
So to answer the question of whether Ozempic & other GLP-1 agonists are miracle or demon drugs for weight loss in non-diabetics, I'd say they're neither. Theyare probably the best weight loss aids that have ever existed due to their specificity in treating insulin resistance & lack of addictive potential like stimulants. That said, they can be misused and already are being overprescribed to non-obese patients & even people with eating disorders like bulimia who know how to manipulate doctors & drug-seek. And as with all medications, they have side effects that can be serious for some people. All patients should educate themselves on what those are and stop them at the 1st signs of possible complications. Managing your expectations & using them properly--in the lowest effective dose for the shortest time possible while you make healthy dietary changes--will result in the best outcomes. They're safer than invasive bariatric surgery for sure but doctors must do a better job of saying NO to non-obese patients & not prescribing the counterfeit knockoffs.
There's no such thing as a miracle drug OR a demon drug, by the way--it's all in the dose & how it's used. That goes for everything from baby aspirin to Ozempic to fentanyl. They all have their place. It's pharma/doctor greed & patient ignorance that is the problem. These are my opinions and you can do with them as you please. 🛐 🧻
Like all my other articles, I wrote this one on my own time with lots of love & research poured into it. Please consider donating to one of the accounts below to keep this blog running. Every dollar helps. I don't want to have to go private on Substack or another subscription platform (boo!) but I'm hurting for donations this year. Thank you!
Vendor: Star Stvff Location: Tyler, TX Items: Diazepam, kratom, cannabis, misc. Rx meds. Rating: 4.95 of 5 stars Website: shternshtopn.blogspot.com
This vendor is a personal friend I met nearly a decade ago who lives only a few hundred miles away so ordering was a no-brainer. We used to do "trades" via email but now they've got a small email business going due to changes in eBay's tax rules. If you follow me on Twitter you've probably seen me plugging them (get it? "Plug?"). 🤭
I took advantage of their Halloween sale and purchased some Tylenol #3's since I hadn't had any painkillers in months. While checking out I came across a small half-gram order of cannabis I couldn't resist (strain: Blue Diesel). We'll start with the pills since there's not much to report other than "they are what they say they are."
And they are: this is on par with any codeine I've gotten from a doctor & is taking me back to my syrup-sippin' days in college. The pills are blank & unscored which gave me a little pause, but I was reassured that's normal in their country of origin. (I suspect they're Tatanol or Tydol brand... something like that. There are many OTC brands available in Asian countries). The blister packs give them credibility & test strips confirmed it: no fetty here. 30 mg codeine and 500 mg APAP hits the spot when your tolerance is in the dirt like mine, plus they came in very handy for the surprise migraine I got at Thanksgiving dinner. Could only be better if larger amounts were available.
I give the pills5 of 5 stars for quality, discreet packaging & shipping time, which was lightning-fast: (Star Stvff has a 12-hour turnaround time after you complete payment which is much appreciated). This order of 15 pills cost $55 w/ the Halloween discount, which is not exactly cheap but worth it due to the fast, discreet shipping and lack of worry about getting seized in customs.
Oh, and they threw in a couple "extras"--a Vistaril & an alprazolam--for no extra charge. Score!
In OG packaging
Dumped into a pile
Vistaril (white) & Xanax
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Now for the fun review: the weed. I grabbed a half gram of Blue Diesel, aka "Blue City Diesel" to round out my order. It's a strain I always wanted to try, both due to the cool-sounding name & its effects, which are happy, uplifting & euphoric according to sites like Leafly & Wikileaf. It came in a sealed/taped Mylar baggie that had absolutely zero smell, which was impressive as the stank was STRONG upon opening the package. Bag appeal was 'meh' due to compression that happened in transit, but it's clear no potency was lost as the only reason it's smooshed is due to travelling in an envelope + the stickiness, not being pressed into a brick like that horrific Mexican brickweed we all know & hate.
Blueberry muffin is apparent upon first sniff along with some citrusy/skunky background smells. I rolled it into a joint with the complementary blueberry-flavored papers and lit up around midnight. (I was surprised to get as much mileage as I did out of a half-gram but it definitely went a long way, filling one medium-sized joint & leaving enough for a couple one-hitter tokes). The effects were absolutely in line with the description, taking me to a supremely happy place when I've been bummed all week for a variety of reasons. The high melted into a tranquil, calm comedown with medium-strength munchies. Also: I've never laughed so hard at such dumb shit in my LIFE.
I'd give this sample of Blue Diesel a 4.9 of 5 stars for aroma/flavor, effects & packaging. The price was quite a bit higher than at the dispensaries ($27 for a half-gram 😬) and the bag appeal kinda sucked due to the compression of the bud, but beyond that it was one of the best strains I've tried in ages, & the description on the Star Stvff website was spot on. I actually wish larger amounts were available because I'd sooo stock up on it. It's up there with Golden Goat & Zkittlez in terms of being the ideal mix of uplift + chill with a healthy dash of 'laugh your ass of for no reason'. I look forward to trying more of Star Stvff's ganj when finances allow. They only have (super) small amounts but the strains look VERY promising indeed... lots of landraces & hype strains. Ditto the kratom, which is named after mythical goddesses (Hecate, Kali, etc). 🖤
w/ Flash off...
...w/ Flash on.
If you're looking for a reliable domestic boutique vendor of very small amounts of various substances, you can't lose with Star Stvff. They take Paypal & CashApp and respond very promptly to emails. Sucks that eBay and the IRS are screwing vendors so badly but it's a win for shoppers who are willing to put their trust in those who decide to go "rogue" and take their business off the grid like this. It's not bad enough American workers HAVE to have a "side hustle," now they're getting ass-raped on their profits from it. Another rant for another day.
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