Obesity Medication Podcast

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Good Morning,

I just finished listening to the obesity medication podcast and I have a quick question. It seems like the common theme around these medications is to suppress hunger. In that case if they were medication free but did not act on their hunger would they still lose the same weight? I know this is purely hypothetical but what I am trying to understand is if there are any other physiological responses outside of the drive for hunger that these help with. Or is it just a matter of those that are more genetically predisposed to food cravings via hormone triggers are not able to consistently prioritize not over feeding? So it still is an energy balance problem but these medications decrease the energy intake via suppressing hunger through GLP agonists or Neuromodulators? Sorry for the confusion surrounding this I just want to fully understand if it is still an energy balance issue or if there is something physiologically I am missing. Thanks in advance.

Argronfly

2

Argon,

Thanks for the question. As you recall from the podcast, there are some additional mechanisms of action for some of the medications, e.g. reducing fat absorption by Orlistat, increasing sympathetic nervous system activity in phentermine-containing meds, for example. Still, the major mechanism is reducing hunger and increasing satiety, thereby reducing energy intake.

Most food-related behaviors are made subconsciously, so neither your or individuals who maintain energy balance at a higher level of body fat are consciously doing much here.

Hope this makes sense.

-Jordan