Latest / Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson / Food Noise, Addictions, and Ozempic

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Food Noise, Addictions, and Ozempic · Fork U with Dr. Terry Simpson

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  >> Dr. Terry Simpson: M
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  Today we're going to talk about the fascinating topic of the
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  GLP1 Agonist. You may know them by their generic
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  names of ozempic or semaglutide
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  or wegovy or zeppelin, and not for their
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  effects on obesity as much as their effects
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  on the brain and how
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  those same centers of the brain may be
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  related to addiction. It's an area that's
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  gaining significant attention in the medical community and
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  beyond. And, today we're going to talk
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  about it.
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  I am your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terry
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  Simpson, and this is Fork U
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  Fork University, where we bust myths and
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  make sense of the madness and learn a little bit about
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  food and medicine and their
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  interaction.
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  All right, let's get started.
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  So for those of you who have been living Under a
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  rock, GLP1 agonist
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  stands for glucagon.
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  Like polypeptide 1, which
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  is a hormone that is normally made in the
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  guts and plays a critical role in
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  glucose metabolism and appetite
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  regulation. The medications
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  mimic this hormone and they have been
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  synthesized in such a way that when they are
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  injected, they last about a week.
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  But what has really become intriguing is how
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  these medications influence brain
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  activity and behavior,
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  particularly concerning reward
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  addiction and what we now
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  call food noise.
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  So let's start with some basics. How these GLP1
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  agonists, Stepbound, WeGovy, et cetera, work
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  in your body. When you eat,
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  GLP1 is released from your intestines.
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  It helps to lower blood sugar levels by enhancing
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  insulin secretion and reducing something
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  called glucagon levels. But it doesn't stop
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  there. It also signals the brain that
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  you're full, meaning it's time to
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  stop eating or that reduction of
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  appetite. You feel
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  appetite not in your stomach as much
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  as you feel it in your brain.
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  But recent studies have shown that these drugs not only help with
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  the weight loss, but can modify how
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  our, brains respond to that food related
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  rewards, sometimes called a,
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  hedonic response, standing for
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  hedonism. In particular, there
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  are GLP1 receptors found in several key
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  areas of the brain, including the hypothalamus,
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  which is crucial for appetite control, and the brain
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  stem, which helps regulate basic physiologic
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  function. To be more precise,
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  if you want to be a little nerdy about it, the GLP1 receptors
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  are present in the nucleus accumbens and the
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  prefrontal cortex, regions of the
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  brain's reward system.
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  The nucleus accumbens is involved in
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  processing pleasure and reward. And while
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  the prefrontal cortex, or the front part of your brain,
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  plays a role in this decision making and impulse
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  control. By acting on these areas,
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  GLP1 agonists alter how we perceive
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  food rewards and cravings.
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  Sometimes we call this
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  food noise. And I want you to think
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  about, let's say, Halloween, which recently passed.
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  And if you have Halloween candy left over,
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  you might get a hit eating the Reese's.
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  Well, maybe that's just me, but knowing
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  there are Reese's candies sitting up there, and
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  if I get a little bit hungry, my brain
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  starts thinking about the reward I get
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  from when I eat that delicious piece of
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  candy. Now, if you
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  are under the influence of GLP1
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  receptor and that area has been
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  stimulated, you feel less reward
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  for that candy, and there's less
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  interest in going after that extra little bit
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  of reward. But that constant
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  feeling or that constant sensation, that
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  that Reese's candy bar is up there or that there's
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  leftover cheesecake or anything,
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  is part of what we call food
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  noise. Now, how might
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  these medications influence
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  addiction like nicotine or
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  alcohol dependence? Some early research and
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  a lot of anecdotal testimony indicate they might.
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  For instance, one study in animals,
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  the GLP1 agonists reduced alcohol
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  consumption, meaning we had less drunk
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  mice. But that was the first hint
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  that these medications might be useful for those struggling
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  with alcohol use disorder. But we have to approach this
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  cautiously because addictions are complex and
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  we really don't want to say food's an addiction. But clearly,
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  food noise is something that is very hard for some
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  people to control, like me with
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  rhesus. Anecdotal evidence, though,
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  has shown this. In a query of
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  GLP1 users, people who use semaglutide or
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  zembic wegovine, they all noted that they
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  are drinking less alcohol and not driven to drink the
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  alcohol. Some individuals quit smoking. Some
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  individuals find that they just don't have an
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  interest in coffee in the morning, which horrifies
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  me. But be that as it, may, coffee is
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  a perfectly acceptable, wonderful morning
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  gift. But as we consider the effects of these
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  GLP1 agonists, it's essential to understand
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  the implications of targeting
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  those brain regions. While
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  dampening the reward response to food, it can aid in weight
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  loss. That food noise is
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  gone. It could also have an impact on other
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  addictions. If GLP1 influences
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  the dopamine release in the reward pathways, it
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  opens up intriguing possibilities for addiction
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  treatment and maybe raises some ethical questions
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  as we blur the line between treating medical
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  conditions and behavior.
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  But for people who truly want to
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  lose weight when they get upon the
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  GLP medications, these aren't people that are
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  morbidly obese. These are people that maybe have
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  30, 40, 50 pounds to lose. They'll tell
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  you they didn't even realize there was food noise going
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  on in their brain until this
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  now GLP1s act on the stomach. But we're today just
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  talking about the brain. So personalized
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  medicine is always the key in this discussion. Not everyone's going to
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  respond to these GLP1 agonists in the same way.
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  Genetics, environment, blah blah blah, they all shape
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  how we process rewards and make choices.
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  But they do offer a really
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  interesting possibility, not only for treating weight
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  loss and food noise, which
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  clearly drives people with ultra processed food to
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  want more. And this also
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  changes perhaps one of the other ways we consider
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  food. In the recent ultra
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  processed food discussions, many people
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  say, well there's not fiber in
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  Doritos, for example, so therefore you can
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  eat a whole family pack of Doritos and not feel
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  full. So if we were to put
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  fiber in Doritos, you might
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  feel uncomfortable eating that family pack.
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  But that doesn't change the reward center in your
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  brain. That doesn't change your desire
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  to have those Doritos.
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  So my future prediction goes something
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  like this. More researchers clearly need
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  to understand the impact of the GLP1s on the
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  brain. And probably we will get Some very
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  specific GLP1 agonists
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  for the brain to help people with food noise and
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  reward.
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  Anyway, I really hope that you've enjoyed
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  Today's topic on GLP1. It's a
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  fascinating topic that we have seen here on
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  4Q. It is fascinating how those reward
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  systems in the brain hack. My interest of
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  course is in people who struggle with weight loss,
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  but they may give us a key for
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  addiction treatment in general. If you want
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  to see the references associated with this, you
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  can find it on forku.com or on my
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  regular blog, which is yourdoctorsorders.com
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  today's production is brought to you by.
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  Well, me. No
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  seriously, we're not asking for sponsors, but we do
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  appreciate them. But thank you for listening. If you've enjoyed
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  this, please give us a nice 5 star review.
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  This has been distributed by our friends at Simpler Media and the
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  Pod God Evotera. I'm Dr. Terry
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  Simpson. This was written and researched
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  by me. If you need medical
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  advice, I'm not your doctor. Please
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  find your own doctor. Specifically, I'd like you to find
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  an obesity specialist. If you are
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  concerned about your excess weight
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  and want to have an impact with some of the
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  new GLP1 agonists like Ozempic, WeGovy et
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  cetera. There are plenty of people out there who are
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  obesity specialists who are actually trained on obesity like the
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  people@acomplishhealth.com until next
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  time, keep questioning, keep learning, and
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  remember to think critically about the
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  choices that you make.
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  Hey Evil, can you imagine?
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  Food noise goes away. I wonder
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  if I'd still like that Reese's candy bar though,
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  to help with candy, I'm thinking about using it to fight
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  the munchies.