Jardiance and weight loss: What the science says
Curious if Jardiance can help you lose weight? While it’s mainly for blood sugar control and heart health, many people also see some weight loss. Let’s explore how Jardiance works, what the research says, and how it compares to other diabetes and weight-loss medications.
Key highlights
- Jardiance (empagliflozin) isn’t officially approved for weight loss, but some people may lose weight while taking it. On average, studies show that people lose about 4 to 5 pounds after using it for 6 months.
- Jardiance starts lowering blood sugar soon after you take it. To get the full benefits, like reducing the risk of heart-related death if you have heart or kidney disease, you need to take it regularly over the long term.
- It’s recommended to take Jardiance once a day in the morning. Taking it at night might make you wake up to pee. You can take it with or without food, but make sure to drink plenty of water during the day to stay hydrated.
- There are ways to save money on Jardiance. If you qualify, you can use a savings card from the manufacturer to pay as little as $10 a month. There’s also a patient assistance program that might help you get it for free.
Jardiance (empagliflozin) is an FDA-approved medication primarily for managing type 2 diabetes and reducing cardiovascular and kidney risks.
Since obesity is a big health problem around the world and there are only a few approved weight-loss medicines, doctors sometimes use Jardiance and other medicines in ways not officially approved to help people who are overweight.
For people who already have type 2 diabetes, even minor weight loss can improve their health in many ways, not just by helping blood sugar.
Explore the link between Jardiance and weight loss. Learn how this oral type 2 diabetes medication can also lead to weight reduction, typical results, how it compares to other weight loss drugs and strategies for maximizing its potential effects.
Does Jardiance cause weight loss?
While Jardiance, manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim, is primarily approved to manage type 2 diabetes, many patients also experience modest weight loss as a secondary benefit. Studies show that people lose about 4 to 6 pounds after taking Jardiance for 6 months.
Jardiance helps remove extra sugar from your blood (glucose excretion) through a mechanism called SGLT2 Inhibition. This sugar leaves your body in urine, so your body gets fewer calories to turn into fat. Over time, this can help you lose weight. Jardiance might also help your body burn some stored fat.
Diet, exercise, and other medicines can affect how much weight you lose with Jardiance. For example, people who take Jardiance and metformin together may lose more weight than those who take just Jardiance.
Combining Jardiance with a healthy diabetes-friendly diet can help you lose even more weight. In one study, people who did this lost an average of over 12 pounds in about 6 months.
Jardiance is not made to help you lose weight. Other diabetes medicines, like Ozempic (semaglutide), usually help people lose more weight than with Jardiance.
If you want to lose weight as part of your diabetes treatment, talk to your doctor about a healthy weight target for you. They will probably recommend changes to your diet and exercise. They might also suggest adding or switching to a medicine that helps you lose more weight.
How much weight can you lose with Jardiance?
Clinical studies show that the amount of weight loss from SGLT2 inhibitors can vary. One study found that people lost between 5.5 and 8.8 pounds over about two years.
A recent study looked at how Jardiance affects weight loss in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes who weren’t taking other diabetes medicines. Out of 43 patients, they lost an average of about 6.6 pounds, which is 3.8% of their starting weight, after three months.
Jardiance is a pill that lowers blood sugar in a unique way that doesn’t depend on insulin. It works by blocking certain parts in the kidneys called SGLT2, which normally put sugar back into the blood. When Jardiance blocks them, extra sugar leaves your body through urine instead (diuretic effect).
SGLT2 inhibitors help your body get rid of about 75 grams of sugar in the urine each day, which is like losing 300 extra calories. Losing 300 calories a day can lead to about one pound of weight loss every week.
Weight loss outcomes can vary significantly from person to person. Factors that influence results include your starting weight or BMI, diet quality, exercise habits, consistency, and metabolic response. Some patients may see rapid changes, while others may experience slower or minimal weight loss, even on the same dose.
Realistic Jardiance weight loss timeline
Jardiance starts lowering your blood sugar right away. However, it can take months or even years to see all the full health benefits. Here’s what you might notice over time.
Blood sugar management
Jardiance is a type of medicine called a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. It helps your kidneys remove extra sugar from your body through your urine.
Your body will start getting rid of sugar within the first day of taking Jardiance. You may see lower blood sugar readings at home within a few weeks.
However, it takes about 3 months to see changes in your A1C test, which shows your average blood sugar over time. Jardiance can help lower your HbA1C by about 1%.
Some people may keep seeing their blood sugar go down for up to a year after they start taking Jardiance.
Weight loss
You might start to see some weight loss about 6 weeks after starting Jardiance. At first, this is mostly because your body is losing extra water along with sugar.
Over time, you may also start to lose body fat, which can lead to more weight loss. This usually happens slowly over about 6 months.
Heart benefits
Besides lowering blood sugar, Jardiance can also help lower blood pressure. Studies show this effect starts after about 3 months.
Jardiance also lowers the risk of dying from heart problems in people with Type 2 diabetes and heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. These heart benefits started soon after people began taking the medicine and lasted over time.
Jardiance can also help prevent hospital stays and death from heart failure. It’s even approved by the FDA to treat heart failure in people with or without Type 2 diabetes. These heart failure benefits also began soon after starting the medicine and continued long-term.
Kidney benefits
Jardiance can also help protect your kidneys if you have chronic kidney disease. It’s approved to lower the risk of kidney failure, heart-related death, and hospital visits in people with this condition. It can also slow down how quickly your kidneys get worse.
But these kidney benefits take longer to show up. In studies, people started seeing kidney improvements about a year after starting Jardiance, and the benefits got better the longer they took it.
When is the best time to take Jardiance?
It’s best to take Jardiance oral tablet once a day in the morning, around the same time every day. Taking it at night still works, but it may make one side effect, needing to pee, more annoying. Taking it in the morning can help you avoid waking up during the night to go to the bathroom.
If you forget to take your morning dose, take it as soon as you remember that day. But if it’s already evening or close to your next dose, just skip the missed dose and take your next dose as usual. Don’t take extra to make up for a missed dose.
Do you need to take Jardiance long-term?
Most probably, yes, Jardiance is meant to be taken long term. It doesn’t cure diabetes, but it helps you manage it. Since diabetes is a lifelong condition, many people need to stay on medication for life.
Your doctor will help you choose the best treatment, which could be pills, shots, or a mix of both. Sometimes, more than one medicine is needed.
The same goes for heart failure and kidney disease, which are also long-term conditions. People often need to take medicine like Jardiance for life to help lower the risk of serious health problems. Talk to your healthcare team to find the best treatment plan for you.
Jardiance vs. other weight loss and diabetes drugs
Many diabetes medicines help with weight loss in different ways. Depending on how well a person’s blood sugar is controlled, these medicines might be used alone or together with other medicines.
Metformin
Metformin is often the first medicine used to treat type 2 diabetes. It helps with weight loss in several ways, like lowering sugar made by the liver, reducing insulin, and changing appetite. In one study, 28.5% of people taking metformin lost 5% or more of their body weight after one year.
Liraglutide
Liraglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. It works like natural hormones in your body that help control blood sugar. It helps your pancreas release insulin after eating, which lowers sugar in your blood. It also slows down digestion, so food stays in your stomach longer and you feel full.
Liraglutide is used to treat type 2 diabetes and to help people lose weight. It comes as Victoza, a lower dose for diabetes, and Saxenda, a higher dose approved for weight loss. In a study with over 3,000 people, those who took liraglutide along with lifestyle changes lost 7 to 13 pounds more, and this weight loss lasted for two years.
Trulicity
Trulicity (dulaglutide) is a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication, approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes along with diet and exercise. It’s not officially approved for weight loss, but a study (AWARD-11) showed that people lost weight while taking it. The higher the dosage they took and the higher their body weight, the more weight they lost.
Semaglutide
Semaglutide is sold as brand-name Ozempic for treating type 2 diabetes and as Wegovy for weight loss. It’s also available as a pill called Rybelsus for diabetes.
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist given by a shot once a week. In a study (STEP-4), people who took semaglutide lost about 10% of their body weight in 20 weeks.
Tirzepatide
Tirzepatide is administered in an injectable pen once per week. It is sold as Mounjaro for treating type 2 diabetes and as Zepbound for weight loss. A clinical trial showed that tirzepatide helps people lose a lot more weight compared to a placebo.
In a head-to-head study comparing tirzepatide and semaglutide, tirzepatide helped people lose more weight. About 82% of people taking tirzepatide lost 5% or more of their weight, while 66.5% of those taking semaglutide lost the same amount.
Invokana
Invokana (canagliflozin) and Jardiance are both SGLT2 inhibitors that work in similar ways and have similar side effects. Both can help people lose weight, but studies show that people using Invokana tend to lose a little more weight than those using Jardiance, no matter the dose.
Jardiance vs. other weight loss and diabetes drugs
| Medication | Active Ingredient | Mechanism of Action | Administration | Average Weight Loss | Average Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jardiance | Empagliflozin | SGLT2 inhibitor: removes excess glucose through urine | Oral, once daily | 4–6 lbs (6 months) | $630 |
| Ozempic | Semaglutide | GLP-1 receptor agonist: increases insulin, slows stomach emptying, reduces appetite | Injection, weekly | 12–14 lbs (6–12 months) | $220–$265 |
| Mounjaro | Tirzepatide | Dual GLP-1 + GIP agonist: boosts insulin, reduces appetite, increases satiety | Injection, weekly | 17–27 lbs (6–12 months) | $380–$480 |
| Rybelsus | Semaglutide | GLP-1 receptor agonist: same as Ozempic, but oral form | Oral, once daily | 8–10 lbs (6 months) | $245–$275 |
| Saxenda | Liraglutide | GLP-1 receptor agonist: slows digestion, reduces hunger | Injection, daily | 13–18 lbs (6–12 months) | $250–$330 |
| Metformin | Metformin | Biguanide: lowers liver glucose production, improves insulin sensitivity | Oral, once or twice daily | 4–7 lbs (6–12 months, varies by person) | $27–$130 |
Safety profile of Jardiance
When taken as directed, Jardiance is safe for most people, and serious side effects are rare.
Some people may need extra check-ups or should avoid taking Jardiance. Talk to your doctor before using Jardiance if you:
Have type 1 diabetes
Are allergic to any ingredients in Jardiance
Are allergic to other SGLT2 medicines
Often get urinary tract infections
Often get yeast infections
Are pregnant or breastfeeding
Who is more likely to experience weight loss on Jardiance?
Jardiance is approved by the FDA to be used along with diet and exercise for adults with type 2 diabetes. It comes in two strengths: 10 mg and 25 mg tablets. You usually start with 10 mg once a day in the morning. If you’re doing well on the medicine and need better blood sugar control, your doctor may increase the dose to 25 mg once a day.
There is no approved Jardiance dose specifically for weight loss. The increase from 10 mg to 25 mg should only be done to safely lower high blood sugar, not to speed up weight loss.
Even though losing a small amount of weight can help improve health, it often isn’t enough for most people who want to lose weight. If Jardiance is used for weight loss (off-label), it’s important to follow your doctor’s advice and watch out for side effects. Because of possible higher risks, the FDA says Jardiance should not be used or should be used very carefully in people with certain health conditions:
Type 1 diabetes (since it can increase the risk of a serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis)
Poor kidney function
People who might get dehydrated easily
Allergic to Jardiance or any of its ingredients
Pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding
Jardiance dosage for maximum weight loss
For maximum weight loss with Jardiance (off-label), the dose is typically 25 mg once daily, as the higher dose will increase sugar excretion in urine.
Follow a low-carb diet with less than 100g of carbs a day to prevent sugar recycling in the body which will reduce the effectiveness of the medication.
Take electrolyte supplements to replenish the sodium and magnesium that your body will lose while taking Jardiance.
Take the medication in the morning before breakfast to align with your body’s peak blood sugar levels. Follow these guidelines to maximize weight loss safely.
Sustainability of weight loss with Jardiance
Weight loss with Jardiance is modest and can be sustained long-term according to clinical trials, but the weight loss tends to plateau after a few months.
Jardiance helps by removing excess glucose and calories in urine but long-term weight management depends heavily on healthy lifestyle habits like a balanced diet and regular exercise.
Regardless of medication use, long-term success in weight control requires consistent lifestyle changes to support overall health and prevent weight regain.
5 foods to avoid while taking Jardiance
Here are 5 foods that can help support weight loss while taking Jardiance:
High-sugar fruits (mangoes, grapes): Their natural sugars can add extra glucose to your bloodstream, which may reduce the weight loss effect of Jardiance.
Processed “keto” foods: Contain erythritol, as this sweetener may trigger sugar cravings and make it harder to stick to a low-carb diet.
Alcohol: It can cause dehydration and makes the liver focus on breaking down alcohol instead of fat, which slows weight loss.
Sports drinks: Because they often contain electrolytes and sugars that can counteract the benefits of Jardiance’s electrolyte balance.
Hidden carbs: Found in sauces and dressings, which can add up quickly and interfere with your low-carb diet goals.
Always tell your doctor or pharmacist about all over-the-counter medications, supplements, and vitamins you take.
Maximizing weight loss while taking Jardiance
If you’re taking Jardiance and want to get the most out of it for weight loss, here are some practical steps to help support your journey:
Follow a reduced-calorie, balanced diet: Focus on whole, unprocessed foods. Include lean proteins (chicken, fish, tofu), plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. Watch your portion sizes to avoid overeating.
Engage in regular physical activity: Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week (brisk walking or cycling), plus strength training exercises at least twice a week.
Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated, reduce cravings, and support digestion.
Follow your prescribed dosage: Take Jardiance exactly as your doctor prescribes. Don’t change the dose or timing without medical advice.
Manage side effects: If you experience nausea, constipation, or other gastrointestinal issues, talk to your doctor. Managing these possible side effects can help you stick to a healthy diet and stay active.
Consider working with a registered dietitian: A dietitian can provide a personalized meal plan that works with your lifestyle and Jardiance treatment to support safe, effective weight loss.
Track your progress: Keep a journal or use an app to track your weight, food intake, physical activity, and how you feel. This can help you stay motivated and make necessary adjustments.
These strategies can help enhance the weight loss benefits of Jardiance while supporting overall health and well-being.
Cost and insurance coverage for weight loss with Jardiance
Insurance for Jardiance for weight loss is limited since it’s not FDA-approved for that use. However, some patients have received coverage through prior authorization (PA) processes, especially if they have underlying conditions like type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular risk factors. For example, people with a BMI over 30 or those with prediabetes have a higher chance of obtaining coverage for weight loss purposes.
Keep in mind that insurance plans vary. Some may require medical necessity documentation, such as lab results or proof of failed attempts with other weight loss methods. Others may not cover off-label use at all. It’s important to talk to your doctor and insurance company to find out what’s required for your plan and the likelihood of getting coverage for Jardiance for weight loss.
There are other ways to save on Jardiance:
Use a copay savings card: If you have commercial insurance, you may pay as little as $10 a month with a savings card from the manufacturer.
Use patient assistance programs: If you don’t have insurance or it doesn’t cover Jardiance, you may get Jardiance through a patient assistance program, which offers the medication for free.
Jardiance side effects
The most common side effects of Jardiance are:
Increased urination
Thirst or dry mouth
Urinary tract infections
Yeast infections
Mild dehydration
Although rare, some people taking Jardiance may experience serious side effects:
Low blood pressure (dizziness or fainting)
Ketoacidosis (a dangerous build-up of ketones in the blood)
Kidney problems
Serious urinary tract infection (UTIs)
Allergic reactions (rash, itching, swelling)
Genital yeast infections
Risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar, especially when combined with insulin or sulfonylureas)
Overall health benefits of Jardiance
One of the most significant findings about Jardiance is that it offers significant health benefits beyond blood sugar control, particularly in its ability to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including heart attack, stroke, reducing cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular death, making it a key treatment for many patients with type 2 diabetes.
The EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial demonstrated that Jardiance reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 38% in patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease. These effects are so compelling that Jardiance is now commonly prescribed not just for glycemic control but also for heart failure and cardiovascular risk reduction, even in non-diabetic patients with heart failure.
It also provides strong renal protective effects by slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease in people with and without diabetes, which is why it’s often prescribed even in patients without a primary focus on weight loss.
These effects have been confirmed in trials such as EMPA-KIDNEY, positioning Jardiance as a frontline therapy for preserving kidney function in at-risk populations.
While Jardiance may aid in modest weight loss and lower blood sugar levels, its primary clinical value lies in its ability to protect the cardiovascular system and kidneys. These life-saving benefits are why it is often prescribed regardless of a patient’s weight or baseline glucose control.
Jardiance weight loss FAQs
Does Jardiance burn belly fat?
Jardiance will help with belly fat loss, but the effect is small. Significant fat loss, especially around the belly, will be more when combined with carbohydrate restriction and lifestyle changes.
Can Jardiance cause weight gain?
Jardiance will promote weight loss, but weight gain can still happen if you consume more calories than you burn. Overeating, especially high-calorie or high-carb foods, will counteract the drug’s effect and cause weight gain.
Best time to take Jardiance?
The best time to take Jardiance is in the morning, before breakfast. Taking it at the same time every day will ensure consistent blood sugar control.
Conclusion
Jardiance (empagliflozin) plays a crucial role in managing blood glucose levels and significantly helps reduce the risks of heart disease and kidney problems in people with type 2 diabetes.
While it may lead to some weight loss, it’s important to have realistic expectations. Jardiance is not primarily a weight loss medication and typically results in less weight loss compared to drugs made specifically for that purpose.
Other diabetes prescription drugs that can help with weight loss include metformin, liraglutide, dulaglutide, glimepiride, semaglutide, tirzepatide, and canagliflozin.
Always talk openly with your healthcare provider about your overall health goals and treatment options to find the best plan for you.
