Ozempic can be less effective for emotional eaters, suggests the study

GLP -1 agonists – “wonderful drugs” like Ozempic or Wegovy who help individuals reduce blood sugar and lose weight, among others – mainly have significant results for certain patients, but not all. People’s motivations to eat too much can play a role on this subject, according to a new study.

To study why some people do not benefit as much from GLP-1 agonists as others, researchers observed 92 participants with type 2 diabetes in Japan during their first year of taking GLP-1 medication. Their results, published today in borders in clinical diabetes and health care, suggest that people who get rid of external reasons – such as the sight or the smell of delicious food – were very likely to respond well to long -term drugs than people who too eat for emotional reasons.

Who will benefit most from GLP-1 medications?

“The assessment of the pre-treatment of food behavior models can help predict that will benefit from the agonist therapy of GLP-1 receptors,” said Daisuke Yabe, main study and diabetes teacher, endocrinology and nutrition at the University of Kyoto, in a border press release. “GLP-1 receptor agonists are effective for people who have a high weight gain or high blood sugar due to the overeating triggered by external stimuli. However, their efficiency is less expected in cases where emotional food is the main cause. ”

The team revealed it by collecting data on body weight and the composition of participants, diet and information such as blood sugar, cholesterol levels and relationship with food at the start of treatment, three months later, and a year later. They focused on emotional food (eat in response to negative emotions), an external diet (eat because food looks good) and a diet retained (control your diet to lose weight). Although it may seem contradictory, an excessive diet retained can actually lead to a disorderly diet, according to the researchers.

During the year, participants experienced a statistically significant loss of body weight and a drop in cholesterol levels and a percentage of body fat without changing skeletal muscle mass. While blood sugar levels have improved, the improvement was not statistically significant. However, there were certain variations depending on food behavior. Three months after the start of treatment, participants reported a more limited diet and a less external or emotional diet. At the end of the year, however, participants returned to their original and emotional restricted eating habits.

“An explanation possible is that emotional food is more strongly influenced by psychological factors which may not be directly discussed by agonist therapy of GLP-1 receptors,” said Takehiro Kato, the second author of the article and researcher at Gifu University, “people with emotional emotional tendencies may require additional behavioral or psychological support.”

An external power supply has decreased during the year of treatment

Participants reported a decrease in external food throughout the year, and individuals who claimed high levels of external food at the start of treatment experienced the greatest advantages of blood sugar and weight loss. On the other hand, the team did not identify any association between emotional or sober food scores at the start and drug services at 12 months.

“Although our study suggests a potential association between external eating behavior and the response to treatment to GLP-1 receptor agonists, these results remain preliminary,” said Yabe. In addition, the study of the team was observational and the participants declared information, which means that the researchers revealed a potential association, not a causation.

“Additional evidence is necessary before being able to be implemented in clinical practice. If the future trials controlled on a large scale or randomized validate this relationship, the integration of simple behavioral assessments could become a precious component to optimize treatment strategies,” concluded Yabe.