PhenQ Vs. Wegovy – Which is More Effective?

January 10, 2024 |

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Choosing between an OTC and an FDA-approved prescription pill for weight loss is difficult. The decision becomes even harder when you are struggling to shed those extra pounds, but nothing has previously worked.

At first, I was more convinced of ‘FDA-Approved’ Wegovy, but then, as I looked into its potential harms and the experiences shared by its users, I had to reconsider. 

On the other hand, when I studied PhenQ’s ingredient profile and users’ feedback, I found it a safer and more practical solution for weight loss. 

Here are a few quick highlights of my findings:

Best Choice

PhenQ

Overall rating: 4.9/5
  • Over-the-counter fat burner pill
  • Made up of 13 natural ingredients 
  • Uses 6 different mechanisms to improve metabolism
  • Lowers calorie intake by suppressing appetite
  • Mild and short-lived side effects
  • Can only be purchased from the official website
Best Value

Wegovy

Overall rating: 4.0/5
  • An anti-obesity injection available on prescription
  • Primarily based on a lab-synthesized compound
  • Promotes fat burn by reducing insulin resistance
  • Minimizes hunger and food cravings
  • Associated with severe adversities
  • Not available for purchase on the official website.

What Is PhenQ & How Does It Work?

PhenQ is an OTC diet pill and fat burner made with natural ingredients in FDA-approved, GMP-certified facilities.

3 PhenQ Bottles

It is formulated to help you get rid of binge eating habits and stubborn fats. Unlike many other diet pills, PhenQ simultaneously tackles 5 key aspects of weight loss, helping you lose weight quickly.

And it does this all in a health-friendly manner, rarely causing side effects. 

PhenQ Pros

  • Speeds up fat oxidation to shed extra pounds
  • Increases muscle strength and energy to power up your workouts
  • Decreases mental fatigue and improves focus 
  • Available over the counter
  • 60-day money-back guarantee

PhenQ Cons

  • Not available at local stores or pharmacies

What Is Wegovy & How Does It Work?

Wegovy is a prescription drug for obesity management. 

This injectable medicine was approved for weight loss therapy for people with at least 1 weight-related disease. It helps with weight loss by affecting Insulin secretion and sensitivity. 

Wegovy

Semaglutide, the active compound in this injection, mimics the activity of the GLP-1 hormone to reduce calorie intake and speed up metabolism. Due to its anti-diabetic effects, it is often prescribed to diabetic and prediabetic overweight individuals who struggle to lose weight due to insulin resistance. 

(Before Wegovy’s approval by the FDA in 2021, many people used other Semaglutide medications like ozempic for weight loss.)

Wegovy Pros

  • Stabilizes blood sugar level to subside food cravings
  • Reduces insulin resistance for better fat metabolism

Wegovy Cons

  • Requires prescription for purchase 
  • Costs about 20 times higher than PhenQ
  • Causes severe side effects, including thyroid, kidney, and vision issues

The price for Wegovy varies according to your insurance plan. Plus, to buy it online, you would need to submit your doctor’s prescription first. So, no link here, sorry. 🙁

PhenQ Vs. Wegovy – Product Comparison

Brand Reputation

PhenQ comes from the popular supplement manufacturer Wolfson Brands. With a history of 2 decades, this company manufactures and supplies fat burners, mass gainers, and performance booster products globally.

On the other side, Wegovy is made by Novo Nordisk, a Danish Pharmaceutical company. 

It is a reputed and established pharma whose history dates back to the 1920s. This brand exclusively focuses on improving insulin metabolism in the body, which in turn affects weight and diabetes management.

Wegovy and Saxenda are popular anti-obesity drugs by this company.

Key Ingredients

In PhenQ, you will find about a dozen ingredients, all having different but related effects on your metabolism.

Compounds like caffeine, alpha lipoic acid, and l-carnitine increase the body’s rate of fatty acid oxidation to make you lose fats actively. Plus, cysteine, cactus fiber, chromium picolinate, and Innoslim lower appetite and food cravings.

Conversely, Wegovy contains only one active agent, Semaglutide.

In scientific language, it is called a GLP-1 receptor agonist that mimics the GLP-1 hormone and reduces insulin resistance in the body, leading to lowered cravings and better fat metabolism.

Common Ingredients:

No common active ingredient

Unique Ingredients:

PhenQ 

  • L-carnitine L-tartrate
  • Innoslim
  • Caffeine Anhydrous
  • Capsimax Powder
  • ɑ-Lacy’s Reset  
  • Nopal Cactus
  • Piperine
  • Chromium picolinate
  • Vitamin B3 or Niacin
  • Vitamin B6 
  • Vitamin B12
  • Copper
  • Iodine

Wegovy

  • Semaglutide

Dosage Regimen

PhenQ works best when 2 pills are taken daily in 2 servings. You should take it with a meal because its potent thermogenic ingredients can trigger nausea if consumed without food.

Wegovy shots are given once every week for 5 months or longer. The dose concentration gradually rises from 0.25 mg to 2.4 mg, increasing every month or when your doctor finds it suitable. 

And if you miss your dose for 2 consecutive weeks, you may need to restart the regimen.

verdict

Both drugs represent reputable brands. However, PhenQ is made by a sports supplement manufacturer, while Wegovy’s producer specializes in manufacturing prescription-only drugs.

Consequently, none of their ingredient matches. Also, dosage routines are different mainly due to different drug forms and potency.

With that being said, I find PhenQ’s dosage regimen way more straightforward than Wegovy’s.

PhenQ CT

Wegovy vs. PhenQ – Which Is Best For Weight Loss?

PhenQ Uses Multiple Metabolism Boosting Mechanisms, Wegovy Relies On One

PhenQ utilizes many metabolic pathways to promote fat loss. 

Natural compounds in this fat burner affect your body’s ability to absorb, store, convert, and oxidize fatty acids. Overall, its ingredients speed up fat loss by improving metabolic efficacy at different steps.

For example:

  • Caffeine stimulates the CNS to increase thermogenesis and fat burn.
  • Capsimax ingredients convert stored fats to brown fats that are easy to burn.
  • L-carnitine facilitates the transport of fatty acids to metabolic sites.
  • Nopal extracts prevent fat absorption from meals.
  • Alpha lipoic acid from α-Lacy’s Reset prevents the conversion of carbs to fats.
  • Innoslim activates AMPK, promoting glucose and fat oxidation. 

In contrast, Wegovy promotes fat metabolism in 1 way only by activating the AMPK enzyme in fat cells. 

Activated AMPK increases fat oxidation to compensate for cellular activities. A 68-week trial conducted in the UK reports that taking 2.4 mg of Semaglutide results in decreased total body fat and is especially more effective for belly fat.

Wegovy Increases Insulin Secretion To Curb Appetite 

When you inject Wegovy (Semaglutide), it will trigger insulin production. And insulin helps suppress appetite in many ways:

  • Firstly, it signals the brain to induce a sense of fulfillment. This contented feeling keeps you from binge eating and restricts your intake of carbs and calories. 
  • Secondly, it slows the movement of food in the gut. As a result, glucose is released gradually in the blood, and your cells have a constant supply of energy rather than an abrupt rise and fall.

And when your blood glucose level is stabilized, food cravings are minimal.

How Wegovy Helps Diabetics With Food Cravings?

While normal individuals crave sweets when blood sugar is low, diabetics also feel cravings when their glucose levels are high. 

That happens due to insulin resistance because your cells cannot utilize the glucose even if it’s freely circulating in the blood. That’s why anti-diabetic drugs are often used for chronic weight management.

And the working principle of Wegovy is very similar to anti-diabetic medicines. So, it also helps diabetics subside cravings by decreasing insulin resistance.

This effect is confirmed by a 2022 review journal published in New York, inferring that Semaglutide (Wegovy) has superior weight loss efficacy compared to other anti-diabetic medicines used in weight loss therapies.

PhenQ Also Helps With Insulin Resistance, But With Natural Herbs

Innoslim, a proprietary blend in PhenQ, also improves insulin sensitivity and stabilizes blood glucose levels as Wegovy does. However, this blend is prepared using herbal extracts from Panax notoginseng and Astragalus rather than lab-made stimulatory compounds. 

Besides that, PhenQ also utilizes the following mechanisms to curb hunger and keep random food thoughts away:

  • Caffeine anhydrous suppresses appetite with psycho-stimulation
  • Cysteine keeps your body from secreting ghrelin (the hormone which induces hunger pangs!).
  • Nopal fiber promotes satiety and makes you feel full with small meals.

PhenQ Takes Care of Your Muscles When Dieting

PhenQ ingredients like l-carnitine and vitamins protect your muscle mass when you diet and exercise to lose weight.

These ingredients support protein formation, muscle fiber elongation, and muscle recovery processes.

Plus, they slow down protein breakdown in muscles, keeping your muscle mass intact.  But Wegovy does not affect muscle function. So, it can’t help you sustain a healthy muscle mass when dieting.

verdict

PhenQ is a better fat burner as it increases thermogenesis, makes metabolic machinery more efficient, and activates AMPK enzymes, but Wegovy only triggers fat burn through AMPK activation.

Both drugs have similar potential for appetite suppression, but PhenQ is more muscle-friendly.

PhenQ CT

PhenQ and Wegovy Side Effects – Which Is Safer?

PhenQ Side Effects

The most common PhenQ side effects are nausea, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, sleep issues, headaches, and increased heart rate.

These issues come up mostly because of the potent fat burners in the pills (caffeine, capsimax) to which your gut is yet unfamiliar.

So, it takes some time for these effects to wear off, but they eventually do, as most users report.

Wegovy Side Effects

Wegovy’s safety profile is quite poor if you compare it with PhenQ’s. 

Side effects like heartburn, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, belching, gas headaches, fatigue, dizziness, belching, gas, and runny nose or sore throat are common.

Besides that, Wegovy’s official website cautions that these shots will put you at risk of severe ailments like thyroid cancer, palpitations, depression, pancreatitis, gallstones, worsening of kidney issues, serious allergies, and vision change in Diabetes type-2 patients.

As it lowers blood glucose levels, people who use other glycemic control medicines or inject insulin can experience hypoglycemia.

Experiences shared in Reddit discussions by Wegovy users confirm these side effects.

For example, Sweaty-You2859 said she had to call 911 a few hours after getting her first dose.

verdict

PhenQ is a safer weight loss solution; its side effects are milder and go away after a few days. Also, it doesn’t put you at risk of severe ailments (palpitations, vision change, pancreatitis, kidney issues, and thyroid cancer) as Wegovy does.

PhenQ CT

PhenQ or Wegovy- Which Is More Affordable?

PhenQ – Where To Buy & Price

PhenQ is about 5 times cheaper than Wegovy.

It will cost you only $69.99 per month. And if you opt for bundle deals, the price can go as low as $41.99 per month.

To order, visit PhenQ’s official website, and remember, these pills are not sold anywhere else.

 If you find someone selling them locally or at an Amazon or Walmart store, don’t buy from them because that’s surely counterfeit.

The brand also provides extra financial perks to its users, such as free shipping on all orders and a guarantee to return all money if you think pills aren’t working or can’t bear the side effects.

Owing to these benefits and low prices, PhenQ is the favorite of many people like Beth.

Wegovy- Where To Buy & Price

According to the Novocare website, its list price is $1349.02 per package.

However, the exact price varies according to potency, pharmacy, and insurance coverage.

You can get it from a local or online pharmacy. On Amazon Pharmacy, its retail price is $1618 for 1 month. But with insurance, the expense can go as low as $25.

After severe side effects, the high cost and low availability of Wegovy is another big cause of people quitting this medicine, as this Reddit comment shows.

verdict

If your insurance covers GLP-1 agonists, Wegovy is a more budget-friendly option. But without insurance coverage, Wegovy is about 19-23% more expensive than PhenQ.

FAQs

What supplement is similar to Wegovy?

Prescription drugs like Ozempic and Rybelsus contain Semaglutide as Wegovy. So they work similarly.

However, if you are looking for a Wegovy over-the-counter alternative, I recommend you go for PhenQ. It’s a lot safer and is equally effective.

Is PhenQ the same as semaglutide?

When considering weight loss efficacy, PhenQ is as effective as Wegovy. 

But the answer is a clear No when you look at the safety profiles – PhenQ is much safer than Wegovy.

How much weight can you lose in a month with Wegovy?

On average, people lose 4 to 8 lbs per month with Wegovy, but the results usually become visible after 2-3 months.

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