Ozempic Could 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 some pounds, amongst different issues—yield vital outcomes for some sufferers, however not all. Individuals’s motivations to overeat could play a task on this, in keeping with a brand new research.

To analyze why some individuals don’t profit from GLP-1 agonists as a lot as others, researchers noticed 92 contributors with kind 2 diabetes in Japan throughout their first 12 months of taking GLP-1 medication. Their results, printed at the moment in Frontiers in Scientific Diabetes and Healthcare, recommend that individuals who overeat as a result of exterior causes—such because the sight or odor of scrumptious meals—had larger probabilities of responding properly 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 habits patterns could assist predict who will profit most from GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” Daisuke Yabe, senior creator of the research and a professor of diabetes, endocrinology, and vitamin at Kyoto College, mentioned in a Frontiers assertion. “GLP-1 receptor agonists are efficient for people who expertise weight achieve or elevated blood glucose ranges as a result of overeating triggered by exterior stimuli. Nonetheless, their effectiveness is much less anticipated in instances the place emotional consuming is the first trigger.”

The group revealed this by gathering knowledge on the contributors’ physique weight and composition, food regimen, and data corresponding to blood glucose, levels of cholesterol, and relationship with meals firstly of the remedy, three months after, and one 12 months after. They centered on emotional consuming (consuming in response to destructive feelings), exterior consuming (consuming as a result of the meals appears good), and restrained consuming (controlling one’s food regimen to drop some pounds). Whereas it might sound contradictory, extreme restrained consuming can really lead to disordered consuming, in keeping with the researchers.

Over the 12 months, the contributors skilled a statistically vital lack of physique weight and lowered levels of cholesterol and physique fats proportion 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 remedy, contributors reported extra restrained consuming and fewer exterior or emotional consuming. By the top of the 12 months, although, contributors had returned to their unique restrained and emotional consuming habits.

“One attainable rationalization is that emotional consuming is extra strongly influenced by psychological elements which might not be straight addressed by GLP-1 receptor agonist remedy,” mentioned Takehiro Kato, second creator of the article and a researcher from Gifu College, “People with outstanding emotional consuming tendencies could require further behavioral or psychological help.”

Exterior consuming lessened over the 12 months of remedy

Contributors reported decreased exterior consuming all through the whole 12 months, and people that claimed excessive ranges of exterior consuming firstly of the remedy noticed the best advantages in blood glucose ranges and weight reduction. However, the group didn’t determine any affiliation between emotional or restrained consuming scores firstly and drug advantages by the 12-month mark.

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

“Additional proof is important earlier than they are often applied in scientific apply. Ought to future large-scale or randomized managed trials validate this relationship, incorporating easy behavioral assessments might grow to be a priceless part in optimizing remedy methods,” Yabe concluded.