- The use of the following medications are excluded: insulin or sulfonylureas; patients with thyroid disease who are not on stable doses of thyroid medication for at least the past 6 months; medications that cause weight loss (e.g., topiramate, bupropion, exenatide, lorcaserin, phentermine or orlistat) within the past 3 months; medications that are likely to cause weight gain or prevent weight loss (e.g., corticosteroids, lithium, olanzapine, risperidone, clozapine, oral contraceptive pills, hormone replacement therapy) within the past 3 months; medications that may affect adipokine or inflammatory markers (e.g., sulfonylureas, glitazones, insulin, steroids, ACE inhibitors, beta blockers and statins) unless started ≥3 months prior to enrollment, or chronic NSAIDS (defined as use of ≥3 times a week) for ≥1 month.