for many people to see weight loss success The numbers on the scale aren’t the only changes I’m experiencing with prescription injections like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Saxenda. The “food noises” in their brains, the mental distractions that make them feel they have to eat, are also becoming quieter.
Robin, 49, from Baltimore, Maryland, uses her first name for privacy reasons. Ozempic She gave birth in December 2022 as a precaution against diabetes as she showed some signs of insulin resistance. Since then she has lost 20 pounds in her weight and so has her blood sugar. blood pressure Both have stabilized and my relationship with food has completely changed.
“I joke that the drugs helped me get rid of my last bad habit,” she says. “The food is delicious, but I don’t want to eat it. I don’t want to eat anything, so sometimes I have to force myself to eat. Losing weight is great. Thanks to the medicine, my numbers are exactly as expected.” But it’s a little sad because I like food.”
So how exactly do these drugs hijack the brain space previously occupied by snack siren songs? by.
How Ozempic and Wegovy work
Ozempic and Wegovy belong to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, or GLP-1 agonists. GLP-1 is a hormone the body naturally produces and is one of several hormones that help regulate appetite. It also speeds up emptying of the stomach, allows food to move through the intestines more slowly, and promotes and improves the release of insulin, which helps manage blood sugar levels.
An agonist is a substance that binds to a receptor (the molecule that receives a signal) on or in a cell and produces the same effect as a substance that normally binds to that receptor. In other words, these agents act like the natural hormone GLP-1, causing the cell’s receptor to send out exactly the same signal as if it were bound to her GLP-1 itself.
“It’s essentially a hormonal replacement for the hunger/satiety signaling system we all have in our bodies that’s supposed to regulate our weight,” said the president-elect of the Obesity Medical Society and its chief medical officer. Lydia Alexander, Ph.D. enala health. “When weight is not properly regulated by the body, it becomes obese.”
How Ozempic and Wegovy silenced the ‘dining noise’
GLP-1 produced in the body is degraded fairly quickly, whereas GLP-1 agonists stimulate the receptor for longer. These receptors are found in many different parts of the body, including the gut and the liver, but they primarily act in the brain, says obesity medicine expert Dr. Nisha Patel. sutter health in San Francisco.
“The body has mechanisms that try to combat weight loss,” she says. “They’re like, ‘No, I don’t really like this.’ I’ll make you hungry. I’ll make you want to see the food.’ It helps offset the changes that are taking place and makes it easier for people to stick to healthy habits.”
Patel stresses that this is not a quick fix, but a slow dose increase over several months, not a solution at all for some people.
“There are a lot of individual differences,” she says. “Not everyone reacts this strongly. Some people don’t lose weight at all, and even gain weight.” lifestyle piece It is still a very important foundation of our care. However, drugs are very good tools for patients to help improve their health. “
Willpower alone won’t cure obesity
Many people are genetically predisposed to GLP-1 deficiency or resistance to GLP-1. This means that you do not receive the same signals that other people receive. In such cases, it becomes much more difficult for the body to control its hunger/satiety system. But unlike some social messages, Alexander says the solution isn’t just to “try harder.”
“It just feels so simple. willpower, I hope we get through this,” she says. “But this is a chronic, relapsing disease, and hormones dictate how we behave.”
This is a behavior the human body needed to survive, especially 10,000 years ago when food was scarce, Alexander says. But now they are sent for the wrong reasons, creating a vicious circle.
“It’s infuriating. You lose weight and you feel good, but the more you lose, the further away you are from your weight set point and the more these signals increase, triggering the behavior to go back and eat.” . And you’re arm-wrestling with hormones, and hormones are supposed to win, so this ends up feeling like a personal failure. “
Ozempic and other medications, when combined with lifestyle changes, are very effective for many people taking them, resulting in an average weight loss of about 15%. It is not only a burden on their bodies, but also on the minds of many.
“Especially for my patients who have reward-seeking behaviors and desires, they don’t feel like they have to constantly conflict or fight their urges,” says Patel. “It’s pretty liberating.”
This story was originally Fortune.com
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