As GLP-1 weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy continue to surge in popularity, experts warn that rapid weight loss and severe caloric restriction could deprive the brain of vital energy and nutrients.Dr.Tommy Wood, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, said the drugs' effects on the brain may depend on whether the body is getting enough energy and nutrients during weight loss."The best way to think about this is the spectrum of what we call energy availability," Wood told Fox News Digital at Strong NY, New York City's largest annual fitness and wellness festival.
"The brain is your most energy-hungry organ in the body."POPULAR GLP-1 WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS LINKED TO POTENTIALLY DEADLY BRAIN DISORDERAccording to Wood, brain reserve — the physical amount and integrity of brain tissue — follows a bell-shaped curve relative to the body's energy availability.Excess energy caused by obesity, high blood sugar and metabolic disease can lower the brain's resilience by damaging blood vessels and contributing to insulin resistance.As GLP-1 weight-loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy continue to surge in popularity, experts warn that rapid weight loss and severe caloric restriction could deprive the brain of vital energy and nutrients.(iStock)In these cases, GLP-1 medications can provide cognitive benefits by lowering blood pressure and improving blood sugar control.However, Wood noted that the lower end of the energy spectrum poses its own structural risks to the brain.
Because the brain relies heavily on continuous fuel, extreme caloric deficits can force the organ to consume its own tissue.POPULAR WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGS CAN BECOME AN ‘ATOMIC BOMB’ AT HIGH DOSES, DOCTOR WARNS"There was a study that looked at the brains of people who ran a marathon ...because the marathon is so energy-intensive, the white matter in the brain actually shrank during a marathon because the brain didn't have enough energy … so it was eating it...