Ozempic Makes Drinking Alcohol Much less Enjoyable—and That Could Be a Good Factor

Publishing their findings within the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute not too long ago dug into how GLP-1 medicine like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have an effect on alcohol use.

In a controlled study involving 20 individuals with weight problems, half of whom have been taking a GLP-1 drug, individuals have been requested to drink the equal of three alcoholic drinks inside an hour. Then, researchers monitored their blood alcohol ranges, important indicators, and the way drunk they really felt over a four-hour window.

GLP-1 customers absorbed alcohol extra slowly and reported feeling much less intoxicated. Even earlier than the drinks, that they had much less longing for alcohol, and that didn’t change a lot afterward.

Ozempic Could Be Curbing the Joy of Drinking (and That’s Not All Bad)

The idea explaining why GLP-1 drugs appear to chop alcohol cravings zeroes in on how these marvel medicine have an effect on the intestine. They appear to sluggish gastric emptying, which means booze will get into your bloodstream at a slower tempo. A slower supply means fewer chemical reactions occurring in your mind that may finally result in a probably decrease threat of habit.

That would possibly clarify why some GLP-1 customers have mentioned that the meds have curbed their meals cravings, together with their cravings for alcohol, cigarettes, and possibly even more durable substances. GLP-1s might be suppressing appetites, together with the whole lot else your mind makes you assume you’re craving.

While this Virginia Tech research is small and technically a “pilot,” which means it’s a small-scale and infrequently preliminary research, it does add some credence to the rising physique of proof suggesting that GLP-1 medicine are an excellent all-around (presumably solely short-term) method to deal with substance use problems, with these “substances” starting from alcohol to meals to narcotics.

Suppose much more research present that GLP-1s can meaningfully scale back cravings. In that case, it would revolutionize how we consider treating habit, because it utterly adjustments our concept of how habit works and what it even is.

There’s nonetheless a protracted method to go earlier than we will stamp Ozempic as a sobriety software, however proper now it looks as if this weight reduction drug would possibly’ve been much more than its creators thought it was.