Does Ozempic burn fat or just reduce appetite? A new study explains

Scientists now believe that the weight-loss injection that has become popular among celebrities affects the user’s metabolism, not just their appetite.

Semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, as well as liraglutide, marketed under the brand name Victoza, among others, have been known to increase feelings of fullness in people who take them by interacting with satiety hormones and slowing down digestion so that the stomach stays full longer.

People who take GLP-1 drugs often report feeling less hungry and less willing to eat, and therefore eating fewer calories, but a previous experiment in mice showed that GLP-1 appeared to increase the mice’s ability to use their stored visceral fat, thus burning more calories.

Visceral fat is the fat surrounding the abdominal organs, and having too much of it is thought to contribute significantly to the health problems associated with obesity.

To verify these findings, a team from Ireland conducted a small, randomized, controlled trial with 30 patients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (people with obstructive sleep apnea have higher levels of visceral fat inflammation) in the new study, published in the Journal of the Obesity Society.

The scientists wanted to know if GLP-1 treatment could help these patients in particular.

During the experiments, the team found that those who took liraglutide experienced a significant increase in their ability to burn visceral fat.

Those with a lower baseline visceral fat metabolism also tended to respond better to GLP-1 treatment, and those who experienced the greatest increase in metabolism were more likely to lose more weight overall.

“It always seemed to me that these new treatments made people eat less,” said study leader Professor Donal O’Shea in a statement. “So this study is an exciting step forward in our understanding of how these new obesity drugs work. The findings also provide the science to support the fact that treating obesity is not just about eating less and moving more, that’s the prevention part. Treatment is more complex than that.”

Source: Independent