Ozempic Might Be Much less Efficient for Emotional Eaters, Research Suggests

GLP-1 agonists—so-called “wonder medication” like Ozempic or Wegovy that assist people decrease blood sugar ranges and drop extra pounds, amongst different issues—yield vital outcomes for some sufferers, however not all. Folks’s motivations to overeat might play a job on this, based on a brand new examine.

To analyze why some folks don’t profit from GLP-1 agonists as a lot as others, researchers noticed 92 contributors with sort 2 diabetes in Japan throughout their first yr of taking GLP-1 medication. Their results, printed right now in Frontiers in Medical Diabetes and Healthcare, counsel that individuals who overeat because of exterior causes—such because the sight or odor of scrumptious meals—had higher possibilities of responding nicely to the medication in the long run than individuals who overeat for emotional causes.

Who will profit most from GLP-1 medication?

“Pre-treatment evaluation of consuming conduct patterns might assist predict who will profit most from GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” Daisuke Yabe, senior writer of the examine and a professor of diabetes, endocrinology, and vitamin at Kyoto College, stated in a Frontiers assertion. “GLP-1 receptor agonists are efficient for people who expertise weight achieve or elevated blood glucose ranges because of overeating triggered by exterior stimuli. Nonetheless, their effectiveness is much less anticipated in circumstances the place emotional consuming is the first trigger.”

The group revealed this by gathering information on the contributors’ physique weight and composition, eating regimen, and data comparable to blood glucose, levels of cholesterol, and relationship with meals in the beginning of the therapy, three months after, and one yr after. They targeted on emotional consuming (consuming in response to damaging feelings), exterior consuming (consuming as a result of the meals appears to be like good), and restrained consuming (controlling one’s eating regimen to drop extra pounds). Whereas it might sound contradictory, extreme restrained consuming can really end in disordered consuming, based on the researchers.

Over the yr, the contributors skilled a statistically vital lack of physique weight and lowered levels of cholesterol and physique fats share with out altering skeletal muscle mass. Whereas blood glucose ranges ameliorated, the development wasn’t statistically vital. There have been, nonetheless, some variations relying on consuming behaviors. Three months after the beginning of the therapy, contributors reported extra restrained consuming and fewer exterior or emotional consuming. By the top of the yr, although, contributors had returned to their unique restrained and emotional consuming habits.

“One potential clarification is that emotional consuming is extra strongly influenced by psychological elements which might not be straight addressed by GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” stated Takehiro Kato, second writer of the article and a researcher from Gifu College, “People with outstanding emotional consuming tendencies might require extra behavioral or psychological assist.”

Exterior consuming lessened over the yr of therapy

Individuals reported decreased exterior consuming all through your entire yr, and people that claimed excessive ranges of exterior consuming in the beginning of the therapy noticed the best advantages in blood glucose ranges and weight reduction. Alternatively, the group didn’t establish any affiliation between emotional or restrained consuming scores in the beginning and drug advantages by the 12-month mark.

“Whereas our examine suggests a possible affiliation between exterior consuming conduct and therapy response to GLP-1 receptor agonists, these findings stay preliminary,” defined Yabe. What’s extra, the group’s examine was observational, and contributors self-reported data, which means the researchers revealed a possible affiliation, not a causation.

“Additional proof is critical earlier than they are often applied in scientific follow. Ought to future large-scale or randomized managed trials validate this relationship, incorporating easy behavioral assessments may turn out to be a useful element in optimizing therapy methods,” Yabe concluded.