The human capabilities reach far and beyond all conceivable boundaries, and yet none of them can be deemed as important as our ability to improve on a consistent basis. This progressive approach, on our part, has already got the world to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology appearing as a major member of the stated group. The reason why technology enjoys such an esteemed stature among people is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which ushered us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look up close for a second, it will become clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component was, in fact, what gave the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and consequentially, kickstarted a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, this revolution then went to scale up the human experience through some outright avenues, but even after achieving such a monumental feat, technology will somehow continue to produce the right goods. The same has grown increasingly evident over the recent past, and assuming one new healthcare-themed development shakes out just like we envision, it will only make trend bigger and better moving forward.
Noom, the leading digital healthcare company empowering people to live better, healthier lives, has officially announced a partnership with FitOn to add a “Muscle Defense” enhancement to its newly launched Noom GLP-1 Companion. Making Noom the first ever company to launch an on-demand fitness programming into its platform specifically to support GLP-1 patients, the stated enhancement will help users navigate one of the most problematic concerns surrounding GLP-1 use today i.e. muscle mass loss. To understand the significance of such a development, we must try and understand how, even though the current GLP-1 medications have shown a great deal of promise on several occasions, a consistent trend indicates that their stringer requirements, if not followed rigorously, can also go the other way around and worsen people’s health. You see, in an event where the patient fails to implement a strong behavior change program which emphasizes muscle-building exercises and a high-protein diet, they run a risk of losing significant muscle mass, strength, and bone density. This, in turn, can further lead to lowered resting metabolic rate and a sub-optimal insulin resistance. Hold on, it gets worse, considering the whole healthcare plight can eventually go on to cause in people a complication called sarcopenic obesity, which has long remained associated with worse prognoses from chronic disease and higher all-cause mortality. In case you are looking for some concrete evidence, then we must consider at a study where it was revealed that an estimated 68% of individuals discontinue the use of GLP-1 medications within 12 months of first use. Once they do so, they end up regaining the lost weight as fat, leaving them worse off with a potentially higher percentage of unhealthy body fat than before. But how will Noom and FitOn’s new partnership solve such a conundrum? Well, the answer talks to how the companies will bring a Muscle Defense program made from a series of FitOn resistance training exercises, exercises that are especially geared towards addressing the most prevalent health conditions in the context of GLP-1. You see, developed through collaboration with renowned global fitness experts at FitOn, the program in question will provide a range of workout videos designed to help GLP-1 users build and maintain lean muscle mass, something which should eventually encourage healthy metabolism and greater bone density. The stated videos will be available for people who are being clinically treated for obesity. Next up, we must get into how the partnership will also spell some huge changes to Noom’s well-known food color system. Under this detail, we need to acknowledge that Noom’s “green-yellow-orange” food color system underwent the biggest change in its history by taking over 200,000 protein-rich foods and re-marking them as “green” for members. Notably enough, the program also delivers at your disposal a dedicated protein tracking tool. The purpose of such a tool, unsurprisingly enough, is to help members hit their daily protein requirements, and therefore, keep themselves from losing a serious amount of lean muscle.
“We designed Noom GLP-1 Companion with Muscle Defense to be the adjunct diet and exercise program that addresses key dangers associated with taking GLP-1s such as loss of muscle mass,” said Geoff Cook, CEO of Noom. “We believe prescribing the drug without such a program carries dangers, given the amount of muscle mass people often lose while taking a GLP-1 and the fact that most people will stop taking the GLP-1 and regain the weight absent of behavior change, which can potentially lead to future conditions like sarcopenic obesity.”
Then, there is the prospect concerned with availing expert-led guidance and content. The idea with this one is to inform you on all the potential side effects and complications that you might encounter on your journey. Rounding up the highlights for us, though, would be those customized interactive mini-courses focused on driving long-term behavior change around nutrition, fitness, and goal-setting to support successful tapering and off-ramping from GLP-1s.
Talk about what makes FitOn an ideal partner for such an initiative, founded in 2019, the company’s rise stems from its digital fitness platform which provides instant access to the widest variety of premium workouts and health experiences, all conceived through inputs from world-class trainers, experts, and celebrities. Boasting one-of-a-kind user experience, FitOn has already completed over 1 billion workout minutes, something it did on the back of achieving more than 15 million members.
“We are so excited to partner with Noom to power an important aspect of Noom GLP-1 Companion with Muscle Defense,” said Lindsay Cook, Founder and CEO of FitOn. “FitOn is on a mission to bridge the gap in today’s health and wellness solutions and make fitness accessible to anyone. We know fitness is a critical part to long-term lifestyle changes. This partnership with Noom combines FitOn’s best-in-class fitness content with Noom’s expert nutrition tracking and guidance to help people taking GLP-1s build muscle mass and set them up for a more successful long-term weight loss journey.”
As for Noom, it takes pride in being one of the best when it comes to connecting people to content, coaching, community, and clinicians for the purpose of improving whole-person health. At present, the company works with leading health plans and employers to offer products like Noom Med COE, Noom GLP-1 Companion, Noom Healthy Weight, and Noom Diabetes Prevention and help millions of covered lives. Noom’s excellence in extending these services can also be understood once you consider that its digital diabetes solution was the first mobile application recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a certified diabetes prevention program. Furthermore, the company has also, thus far, secured multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health.
“Patients taking control of their health through a GLP-1 treatment plan deserve to have their complex needs met after years of being misunderstood, and as risks of treatment such as sarcopenic obesity continue to complicate patient journeys. In order to serve this community with the utmost care and promote better long-term living, we must meet them where they are with on-demand solutions that promote overall metabolic health, not just weight loss alone,” said Dr. Linda Anegawa, Chief of Medicine at Noom and the curator of exercises available in the company’s updated GLP-1 Companion program.
