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How does Wegovy affect your relationship with food?
- Wegovy can reduce urges to eat, giving you pause for thought to explore your relationship with food.
- The injections can dampen compulsive thoughts about eating, sometimes referred to as ‘food noise’.
- Feeling fuller can help you improve your meal choices.
- Alongside therapy and lifestyle changes, Wegovy can help improve emotional eating habits.
Medically reviewed by
Craig Marsh, Independent Prescriber
Wegovy is a weekly weight loss injection that reduces urges to eat. It also makes you feel fuller, and can help to bring your blood sugar levels into balance. Combined, these effects can create the calorie deficit needed to reach your target weight in a steady, healthy way.
Consuming more calories than you burn off can lead to an accumulation of fat, and ultimately, weight gain. If you’re living with obesity or have overweight, Wegovy can be used as part of a holistic weight loss plan alongside increasing your activity levels and improving your diet. Looking more closely at your relationship with food can help you understand your eating habits, the choices you make, and the impact it has on your weight.
How can Wegovy improve your relationship with food?
Wegovy can improve your relationship with food by changing your eating habits. By reducing urges to overeat, you can be more mindful about your meal choices and only eat when you’re hungry. Because Wegovy can also reduce food cravings, you shouldn’t want to snack as often, especially on unhealthy foods that might hinder your weight loss.
The active ingredient in the pens, semaglutide, is a peptide-1 receptor agonist, a group of medicines which are used to manage obesity and diabetes. They work by mimicking GLP-1, a hormone your body produces naturally.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) stimulates insulin production, which helps bring blood sugar levels down after you’ve eaten. It also slows down the rate food empties from your stomach, making you feel fuller. With a reduced appetite, you should feel less inclined to reach for quick-fix processed foods that are often high in calories while providing little nutrition.
Food choices and eating patterns aren’t always simple; deciding when and what to eat can involve more than just responding to internal hunger cues. Cues can be both internal and external, and there are other factors involved beyond needing to refuel.
Previous experiences, personal tastes, and availability of food can all play a part in determining your choices, including when and how much you should eat. But research has shown that individuals with obesity and overweight may be more likely to choose energy-dense foods.
The term ‘energy-dense’ refers to foods that are high in calories in relation to what they weigh. This doesn’t necessarily make them unhealthy, but they often can be — fried food, full-fat dairy products, and processed meals are some examples of energy-dense foods that can cause weight gain when eaten excessively.
High-calorie diets often lead to obesity. While there’s no internationally recognised definition of energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) food, knowing more about what’s in the food you eat can help you recognise where your daily calories are coming from. With a clearer picture of what your meals provide you with nutrient-wise, and with the help of Wegovy, you can change your relationship with food for the better.
Fewer food cravings
One way Wegovy works is by reducing food cravings. Semaglutide helps to curb your appetite, which means you might feel less inclined to snack or overeat while using the injections.
Overeating is considered a major contributing factor when it comes to gaining weight. When your blood sugar levels dip, hunger cues can kick in as you feel the need to raise your energy levels. This is one reason people eat snacks. Snacking is common — a US study found that over 90% of adults eat one or more snacks each day.
Fewer urges to snack mean you can think about what you’re eating between meals. Wegovy won’t suppress your appetite completely, but the need to eat less means you can control your portion sizes and be more mindful about your choices when you do get food cravings.
Reduced ‘food noise’
By suppressing your appetite, Wegovy can stop you thinking about food as much as you normally would. Compulsive thoughts about food have sometimes been referred to as ‘food noise’, and this can affect people to different extents.
Feeling preoccupied by incessant food noise and hunger cues can impact your behaviour. If you’re bombarded with thoughts about eating, it follows that you may be more tempted to reach for the nearest snack to try and quieten down the noise. But this can have negative consequences for your weight, depending on what you choose to snack on and how often you eat.
Semaglutide targets your hypothalamus, the part of the brain involved in regulating hunger. By influencing your appetite, Wegovy can help you feel less distracted by food-related intrusive thoughts (FRITs).
Fewer thoughts about food mean you might be able to think more clearly about your meals and snacks, and plan ahead for the day. With more clarity of thought regarding your diet, you can prepare for the times when ‘food noise’ feels like it’s been turned up again.
Improved food choices
Changing your relationship with food is about more than eating fewer calories. A calorie (or energy) deficit is thought to be the most important factor for losing weight. Wegovy can help you eat less by decreasing your appetite and making you feel fuller, which can create the deficit you need for steady weight loss. But eating healthily has benefits beyond a slimmer waistline.
A balanced diet can support your mental health, boost your energy levels and improve your general sense of wellbeing. In a study that looked at individuals trying to change unhealthy eating habits, participants listed numerous positive benefits of eating healthily. Better mood stability, increased energy, increased self-confidence and improved gut health were all mentioned as benefits of eating a more balanced diet than they did previously.
Choosing what goes on your plate can encourage long-term changes for maintaining weight loss. When your eating habits are healthy, you’ll want to stick with them even if you decide you no longer need Wegovy to keep your weight down.
Better digestion
Wegovy can slow the rate at which food is absorbed from your stomach. This helps you stay fuller for longer, reducing your urges to snack throughout the day.
Slower digestion also means your body has longer to absorb vital nutrients from the food you eat. And certain foods that take longer to digest can raise your blood sugar levels slowly, rather than causing them to spike. Aiming to eat foods with a low glycemic index, or GI, can help to stabilise your blood sugar by helping you avoid fluctuations.
Can Wegovy help with emotional eating habits?
Emotional eating, sometimes called stress-eating or comfort eating, describes the process of eating in response to your emotions or feelings. While this might typically refer to eating as a way of easing negative thoughts, it can also affect people who lean into food as a reward when they’re feeling positive.
In the same way relationships with food are often complex, so too are hunger cues. A range of emotions can motivate us to eat, both positive and negative, and they won’t be the same for each person. Even neutral feelings, like boredom, can create urges to snack.
If you think you may be experiencing emotional eating, you can speak to a clinician about it. If they think Wegovy will help you lose weight while reducing comfort eating tendencies, they’ll recommend it along with non-judgmental, supportive advice about other things that might benefit you. While it’s not always the easiest conversation to have, being honest and open about your relationship with food means you can get the best help for it.
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Mela, D J (2001).
Determinants of Food Choice: Relationships with Obesity and Weight Control.” Obesity Research, vol. 9, no. S11.
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Biltoft-Jensen, A, et al (2022).
Defining Energy-Dense, Nutrient-Poor Food and Drinks and Estimating the Amount of Discretionary Energy. Nutrients, vol. 14.
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Enriquez, J P, et al (2023)
Snacking Consumption among Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review.” Nutrients, vol. 15.
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Kim, Ju Young (2020).
Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance.” Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome, vol. 30.
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James, Anna et al (n.d).
Healthy Eating as a New Way of Life: A Qualitative Study of Successful Long-Term Diet Change.” INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, vol. 59, no. 1.
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The British Diabetic Association (n.d).
Emotional Eating and Feasting. Diabetes UK.
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