Why some people lose weight with Ozempic while others don't
Reseach shows that eating behaviours influence the effectiveness of weight-loss injections like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Image: IOL AI
The promise of weight-loss injections like Ozempic and Wegovy has captured global attention, with many patients shedding significant kilos while others see little change.
Now, new research suggests the answer may lie not in the drug itself, but in the reasons why people eat in the first place.
A Japanese study involving 92 patients with type 2 diabetes has revealed that eating behaviour plays a crucial role in determining how effective GLP-1 medications are.
Over the course of a year, participants were monitored for weight, body composition, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and eating habits.
While most experienced weight loss and improvements in cholesterol, the degree of success varied depending on how they approached food.
The study focused on three types of eating linked to weight gain
- External eating - when people eat because food looks or smells tempting, rather than from hunger.
- Emotional eating - eating in response to stress, sadness, or boredom.
- Restrained eating - deliberately restricting food intake in an attempt to lose weight.
Interestingly, those who tended to eat for external reasons responded best to the treatment, showing greater weight loss and better improvements in blood sugar compared to emotional or restrained eaters.
By the three-month mark, many participants reported eating less in response to both external cues and emotional triggers.
However, while external eating steadily declined throughout the year, emotional eating crept back to its original levels.
The findings suggest that GLP-1 drugs may be less effective for people whose overeating is closely tied to emotional distress, such as anxiety or depression.
Experts stress this does not mean the injections won’t work at all for emotional eaters, but rather that additional strategies, such as therapy or behavioural support, may be needed to achieve long-term success.
As these weight-loss drugs continue to make headlines, the study highlights an important message: tackling the reasons behind overeating may be just as vital as the treatment itself.
IOL Lifestyle