New study results may help explain why people taking popular diabetes and weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro have reported less desire to drink alcohol.
In a small experiment, people on these medications, called GLP-1s, absorbed alcohol into their bloodstream more slowly compared with a group not on these drugs who drank an equivalent amount. They also reported feeling less intoxicated.
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“Alcohol must reach the brain and cross the blood-brain barrier to have its effect, so the slower alcohol enters the blood, the slower it reaches the brain,” says study coauthor Alex DiFeliceantonio, PhD, interim co-director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Center for Health Behaviors Research at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Experts say that slowdown could make alcohol less satisfying — and possibly less addictive.
Preliminary Results Reveal How GLP-1s May Blunt Alcohol’s Effects
For the study, Dr. DiFeliceantonio and collaborators recruited 20 adults who were 36 years old on average and had obesity. Half were taking a maintenance dose of GLP-1s, while the other half were not on medication.
They all fasted before arriving for the experiment, then received a snack bar to standardize their caloric intake and stomach contents.
After 90 minutes, participants received an alcoholic beverage to drink within 10 minutes: a vodka mixed with orange or cranberry juice.
Researchers calculated the amount of vodka needed to raise each person’s blood alcohol to 0.1 grams per deciliter (g/dL), a volume based on each individual’s age, sex, and weight. That amount roughly translates to 0.08 g/dL when measuring breath alcohol, which approximates how much alcohol is in the bloodstream.
Scientists then measured each person’s breath alcohol concentration 20 minutes after drinking.
The results, published this month in Scientific Reports, showed that breath alcohol concentration in the GLP-1 group was less than half that of the non-GLP-1 group (0.017 g/dL versus 0.037 g/dL). That suggests for people on GLP-1s, the alcohol was hitting their blood stream more slowly. DiFeliceantonio called that change a “robust decrease.”
After drinking, the study subjects also answered questions about the alcohol’s effects, for example: On a scale of 0 to 10, how drunk do you feel right now?
Researchers asked this question three times over 60 minutes. Those taking GLP-1s consistently reported feeling less intoxicated than the control group.
A Possible Way to Curb Alcohol Cravings
The results align with a growing body of evidence showing that GLP-1 drugs cause people to drink less, which could be helpful for those who experience alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, or other alcohol-related problems.
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Research so far indicates that GLP-1 therapies can help regulate brain pathways related to addictive behaviors, thereby potentially reducing substance use while simultaneously addressing conditions like diabetes and obesity.
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“I have heard from individuals taking these medications, or who have friends or family members that take these medications, that alcohol cravings decrease while on them,” says Alyssa Dominguez, MD, an endocrinologist with Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the research.
“Individuals taking GLP-1s in this study reported lower subjective craving for alcohol, so it would be reasonable to think that these drugs could be helpful for those who have problems with alcohol, though larger studies are still needed.”
Why Might GLP-1s Affect How People Metabolize Alcohol?
GLP-1s cause delayed “gastric emptying,” meaning food and beverages move more slowly through the digestive tract. This effect helps people feel full longer and eat less.
The new study demonstrates how this impacts the desire to drink: For people on GLP-1s, alcohol remains longer in the stomach — where it does not readily enter the bloodstream — before it enters the small intestine, where it’s absorbed faster into the bloodstream and begins making its way to the brain.
“The speed at which a drug gets into the brain may be very predictive of its addictive potential,” says Kyle Simmons, PhD, a professor of pharmacology and physiology, and director of the Oklahoma State University Biomedical Imaging Center in Tulsa.
“If you are in fact slowing the rate at which a drug like alcohol is getting into the brain, people may be less likely to want to take that drug,” says Dr. Simmons, who was not involved in the study.
He says this change in how the body processes alcohol may reduce its “reward value” — it becomes less appealing and less satisfying, so people have a decreased drive to drink it.
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Research from the Yale School of Medicine has also shown that GLP-1s may slow down alcohol metabolism in the liver, and in turn reduce the levels of toxic alcohol-related substances in the body.
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“GLP-1s may not only help people by reducing alcohol intake, but also protect the liver from alcohol metabolism-mediated damage,” says one coauthor of that study, Wajahat Mehal, MD, who directs the Yale Fatty Liver Disease Program and the Yale Metabolic Health and Weight Loss Program in New Haven, Connecticut.
Looking for Solutions to Reduce Alcohol Abuse
More than half of U.S. adults drink alcohol, and roughly 1 in 10 has alcohol use disorder, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Chronic alcohol use is tied to conditions including high blood pressure, cancer, and heart and liver disease.
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The new study points toward a new way to help reduce problematic alcohol use. Although its findings are limited because of its small size, the clear differences between the groups provide early data to support larger trials.
“GLP-1 receptor agonists could be part of treatment for alcohol abuse in the future, but more studies are needed for guidance on appropriate use,” says Dr. Dominguez.
