Semaglutide, the active ingredient in the popular diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovee, may modulate people’s sense of taste for the better, preliminary research suggests. Scientists found that women who took semaglutide had improved taste sensitivity, particularly to sweet tastes. The finding comes as and similar drugs The authors say it can very effectively help people lose weight.
The study was led by scientists at the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia. They were intrigued by animal studies showing that GLP-1, a hormone important in controlling blood sugar levels and hunger, also influences sweet taste perception. For example, mice bred to not produce GLP-1 appear to have dramatically reduced sensitivity to sweet tastes.
Semaglutide and other incretins are designed to mimic GLP-1, and some studies have found that people taking the drug tend to have reduced cravings for sweet, salty and savory foods. However, the mechanisms behind this change are not fully understood, so the researchers wanted to see whether similar changes to taste occur in humans, not just mice, who take semaglutide.
It may sound counterintuitive, but increasing your taste sensitivity may actually aid in weight loss by reducing cravings for sweet or high-calorie foods. Having a stronger sensitivity to sweet things may mean you feel satisfied with smaller amounts of sugar, which may reduce your overall calorie intake.
The researchers conducted a 16-week study with 30 female volunteers, half of whom received the drug and the other half a placebo. The volunteers had their taste sensitivity measured by placing a strip containing all four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) on their tongues. They also sampled some of their tongue cells to study gene expression, and underwent MRI scans before and after tasting a sweet treat after a standard meal.
“This study demonstrates that semaglutide improved taste sensitivity in obese women, meaning their detection thresholds for different concentrations of the four basic tastes were improved,” lead study author Moika Genstare Sebbah told Gizmodo.
The team also found that tongue cells from people who took semaglutide showed changes in the expression of genes related to sweet taste perception and taste bud regeneration, and MRI scans showed changes in the way users’ brains responded to sweet tastes, particularly in the angular gyrus of the parietal cortex. Angular The cerebral cortex is thought to integrate different senses to help us better understand the world around us and solve problems, while the parietal cortex is known to harbor cells that carry GLP-1 receptors.
The team’s findings are due to be presented at ENDO 2024 this weekend, so they haven’t yet gone through the usual peer-review process. Sebbah points out that their work is only a proof-of-concept study, meant to show there’s more to explore, not to definitively confirm the phenomenon. Because taste varies widely from person to person, it’s also possible that GLP-1 drugs don’t affect everyone’s taste buds in the same way.
However, research suggests that some obese people may perceive sweet tastes less strongly than normal, which may stimulate cravings for sweeter, and often more calorie-dense, foods. Treating obesity This could help in a few ways, such as making you feel fuller faster during a meal, and it’s certainly possible that one of the benefits may be by increasing your sensitivity to sweet tastes, the authors say.
“Our study provides ‘food for thought’ about additional mechanisms by which semaglutide and other incretin-based therapies may promote changes in food preferences and eating behaviours that may lead to weight loss, beyond appetite suppression and improved eating control,” Sebbah said.
Future research will overcome the study’s limitations and “will clarify whether the effectiveness of semaglutide in treating obesity is also a matter of preference,” she added.
