New analysis being introduced on the Annual Assembly of the European Affiliation for the Research of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (September 15-19) exhibits that some people who’re taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro discover that meals style sweeter or saltier than earlier than.
About one in 5 of these collaborating within the real-word examine, printed within the journal Diabetes, Weight problems and Metabolism, perceived sweetness extra intensely and an identical quantity have been extra delicate to salt – and these modifications have been linked to a discount in urge for food.
“Incretin-based therapies equivalent to Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are extensively used for weight administration however their impact on style notion has been unclear,” says Othmar Moser, of College of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, who led the analysis.
“If modifications in style are linked to higher urge for food management and weight reduction, this might assist clinicians higher choose therapies, present extra tailor-made dietary recommendation and enhance long-term remedy outcomes for sufferers.”
To seek out out extra, Professor Moser and colleagues from the Medical College of Vienna surveyed a whole lot of people with chubby and weight problems who have been taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro for weight reduction about their sense of style and urge for food.
Of the 411 individuals (69.6% feminine), 148 have been on Ozempic, 217 have been on Wegovy and 46 have been taking Mounjaro.
Median period of remedy was comparable for the three teams (Ozempic: 43 weeks; Wegovy: 40 weeks; and Mounjaro: 47 weeks), with the entire individuals receiving remedy for a minimum of three consecutive months. The common BMI earlier than beginning remedy was 34.7 kg/m2 (Ozempic), 35.6 kg/m2 (Wegovy) and 36.2 kg/m2 (Mounjaro).
The individuals, who have been recruited on-line, have been requested if their sense of style (notion of sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness) had modified since beginning remedy.
They have been additionally requested about modifications to urge for food, satiety and meals cravings, as effectively modifications to life-style elements, equivalent to smoking, and for self-reported information on top and weight earlier than and through remedy.
Reductions in BMI, adjusted for period of remedy, dose, baseline BMI, age and intercourse, have been 17.4% with Ozempic, 17.6% with Wegovy and 15.5% with Mounjaro.
Round a fifth of the individuals mentioned that meals tasted sweeter (21.3%) or saltier (22.6%) than earlier than. Their notion of bitterness and sourness didn’t change.
Some 26.7% of individuals within the Wegovy group reported that meals tasted saltier than earlier than, in contrast with 16.2% within the Ozempic group and 15.2% within the Mounjaro group. Will increase in sweetness have been reported at comparable frequencies in all teams (Wegovy 19.4%, Ozempic 21.6%, Mounjaro 21.7%).
Greater than half of the individuals (58.4%) reported they have been much less hungry typically, i.e. their urge for food had decreased (Ozempic: 62.1%, Wegovy: 54.4%, Mounjaro: 56.5%).
Virtually two-thirds of the individuals (63.5%) reported elevated satiety i.e. they felt full sooner Ozempic: 58.8%, Wegovy: 66.8%, Mounjaro: 63.1%). Meals cravings have been additionally decreased, with 41.3% of Mounjaro customers reporting a powerful discount in cravings, i.e. their cravings have been a lot much less intense that earlier than, in contrast with 34.1% of these taking Wegovy and 29.7% of these taking Ozempic.
Additional evaluation revealed hyperlinks between modifications to sense of style and urge for food and satiety.
Individuals who reported that meals tasted sweeter since beginning incretin-based remedy have been twice as more likely to report elevated satiety, in contrast with individuals who mentioned their notion of sweetness had not modified.
These with a rise within the notion of sweetness have been additionally 67% extra more likely to report a discount in urge for food and 85% extra more likely to report a discount in cravings, in contrast with these whose notion of sweetness was unchanged.
Equally, individuals who mentioned meals tasted saltier than earlier than have been about twice as doubtless (2.17 occasions) to additionally reported elevated satiety, in contrast with these whose notion of saltiness was unchanged.
Professor Moser says: “These medication act not solely within the intestine and mind areas that management starvation but in addition on style bud cells and mind areas that course of style and reward. This implies they will subtly change how sturdy flavours, like sweetness or saltiness, are perceived. This, in flip, might have an effect on urge for food.”
Nevertheless, there was no hyperlink between modifications in style notion and discount in BMI. The researchers speculate it is because sense of style is only one of many elements concerned in weight reduction.
Professor Moser explains: “Shifts in style might have an effect on how satisfying or interesting meals feels within the second, which influences urge for food management. Nevertheless, weight reduction is determined by many different elements – like metabolism, long-term consuming patterns, and exercise – so modifications to style alone might not be sufficient to instantly drive physique weight discount.”
The examine’s limitations embody incapacity to show causation, the self-reporting of information and the likelihood that the individuals weren’t consultant of the affected person group as a complete.
Professor Moser concludes: “Medicine like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro might alter sense of style, making meals appear sweeter or saltier and serving to individuals really feel full sooner and fewer hungry. For scientific apply, this implies that monitoring sufferers’ style modifications might present helpful clues about remedy response, though style alone doesn’t instantly drive weight reduction.
“For instance, monitoring modifications in style might assist gauge whether or not the remedy is working past weight reduction.
“It might additionally maybe be used to tailor dietary recommendation, for instance by serving to sufferers discover alternate options to meals with flavours which have develop into overwhelming or much less interesting.”
