Can GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs Cause Scurvy? What to Know

• Studies of GLP-1 customers growing scurvy have elevated in current months.
• GLP-1 medicine can result in malnutrition since they scale back urge for food and meals consumption.
• Folks may additionally eat fewer vitamin C-rich meals, similar to vegetables and fruit.
• Correct meal planning and supplementation will help forestall scurvy.

Possibly you’ve been utilizing a GLP-1 treatment for some time now, and also you’ve began to note that your gums are bleeding a bit, otherwise you appear to be bruising extra simply than ordinary? Might the drug be associated to those uncommon signs?

It seems that increasingly folks utilizing these medicine are being recognized with scurvy, a extreme deficiency of vitamin C.

You may know scurvy as an 18th-century sickness related to lengthy sea voyages, when contemporary vegetables and fruit had been in brief provide. So, why is a illness related to pirates and sailors now making a comeback in a time when these meals are available?

The reply, consultants say, has much less to do with the medicines themselves and extra to do with what occurs when urge for food and consumption of sure meals fall dramatically.

Right here’s what’s identified concerning the connection and shield your self whereas staying on monitor with remedy.

In an opinion revealed within the BMJ on July 21, 2025, Ellen Fallows famous the dangers of prescribing GLP-1 medicines to sufferers who already eat nutrient-poor diets, highlighting that malnutrition instances are already being reported within the U.S.

Fallows moreover identified that, though weight problems is usually considered a case of being “over-nourished,” the other is ceaselessly true, with muscle wasting and nutrient deficiencies being simply as widespread in these people as in those that are underweight.

When an already unhealthy weight loss program is mixed with caloric restriction, it could possibly exacerbate the issue.

Irritation of the gastrointestinal tract and nutrient deficiencies attributable to widespread diabetes medicines, similar to metformin, may contribute to malnutrition, she mentioned.

Based on Fallows, GLP-1 use isn’t just linked to vitamin C deficiency. It has been related to extreme thiamine and magnesium deficiencies, amongst a number of others.

Nevertheless, a lack of expertise of this problem is probably going resulting in each underdetection and under-reporting of malnutrition, she wrote, which can result in much less favorable affected person outcomes.

“Good high quality wraparound take care of sufferers taking GLP-1 agonists should go additional than easy ‘dietary recommendation’ as really useful by the Nationwide Institute for Well being and Care Excellence,” she suggested. “It should embrace evaluation of dietary standing earlier than remedy to establish sufferers with malnutrition whose dangers might solely be mitigated with further assist.”

Fiorella DiCarlo, RDN, CDN, of FiorellaEatsTV, instructed Healthline that GLP-1s gradual gastric emptying and motility, which causes folks to really feel full and lose their urge for food. Nevertheless, they could find yourself not consuming sufficient to correctly nourish their our bodies.

“Some folks find yourself consuming 600-1000 energy per day with out realizing it and thereby undereating important vitamins and nutritional vitamins,” she mentioned, explaining that that is what results in deficiencies.

When an individual doesn’t eat sufficient vitamin C for an prolonged interval, they’ll develop scurvy.

“GLP-1 customers report low urge for food and early satiety, so fruits and veggies that comprise Vitamin C are usually not consumed as typically however moderately changed with toast, crackers, and processed food to accommodate GI points like nausea as a substitute,” mentioned DiCarlo.

She added that meals aversions to acidic foods or uncooked greens may complicate issues.

“Vitamin C deficiencies trigger weakened blood vessels, wounds that don’t heal, together with acne and bleeding gums,” mentioned DiCarlo.

Nevertheless, scurvy is reversible with a multivitamin or a 100- to 200-milligram vitamin C complement, she mentioned.

Based on DiCarlo, one of the best ways to navigate the dietary challenges of being on a GLP-1 treatment is to work with a Registered Dietitian. These healthcare professionals are consultants in vitamin and allow you to plan meals that finest assist your wants.

“I counsel constructing meals and snacks round protein and consuming on a schedule to make sure correct consumption all through the day,” she mentioned.

DiCarlo additional suggests getting plenty of fiber from fruit, greens, and legumes, as it could possibly assist counteract constipation related to gradual motility.

These similar meals are additionally wealthy in antioxidants and nutritional vitamins, which will help scale back your danger of deficiencies, she mentioned.

“The order the macros are eaten at a meal might be necessary too,” DiCarlo defined. “Start with some protein, then greens to make sure that these vitamins are ingested first, notably for these feeling fuller sooner.”

DiCarlo additionally emphasised the significance of consuming water to scale back your danger of dehydration.

Concluding her feedback, she mentioned, “Consuming whereas on a GLP-1 might be very difficult, and whereas weight loss will happen, the collateral harm from malnutrition may cause bodily and psychological emotions that may have an effect on high quality of life.”

Nevertheless, as DiCarlo explains, correct planning and supplementation will help mitigate the dangers.