By Kalpana Sharma
Copyright timesnownews
For emotional eaters, losing weight is the toughest battle. They often turn to food as a way to cope with emotions, whether it’s happiness, sadness, stress or even boredom. This makes appetite-suppressing injections like Mounjaro particularly attractive, since they promise to reduce cravings and cut down on overeating. But a new study has found that emotional eaters may not respond as well to these weight-loss jabs as others do. Researchers from Kyoto University studied 92 people with diabetes and tracked their eating habits while administering them GLP-1 therapy. They found that people who tended to eat in response to external cues like the smell, sight or taste of appetizing food, saw significant benefits from the medication. They experienced weight loss and better glucose control. ALSO READ: Psychologist Shares A Rather Bizarre Side Effect of Mounjaro Weight Loss Injection On the other hand, those who ate primarily for emotional reasons lost less weight. Lead researcher Prof. Daisuke Yabe explained, “Pre-treatment assessment of eating behaviour patterns may help predict who will benefit most from GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy. These medications are effective for people whose weight gain is linked to overeating triggered by external stimuli. However, their effectiveness is less expected in cases where emotional eating is the main cause.” The findings were published in Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare. The study also observed eating behaviours outside the home, such as how participants chose food, whether guided by hunger, by taste preferences or simply by how appealing food looked. Interestingly, while the first year on GLP-1 injections brought improvements for many, emotional eaters tended to return to their old eating patterns after some time, diminishing the drug’s benefits. The researchers believe this is because emotional eating is less about physical hunger and more about psychological coping. As study co-author explained, “Emotional eaters are driven by psychological factors which may not be addressed by GLP-1 drugs. To see results, such individuals might need additional psychological support alongside medication.” The team stressed that these findings are still preliminary and larger studies are needed to confirm the connection. But the research points to an important takeaway: the effectiveness of GLP-1 therapies may not be one-size-fits-all, and understanding the underlying reasons for overeating could be key to achieving long-term weight loss.
