GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) not only support weight loss but also appear to change the way people think about and experience food, according to two studies presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2025 Annual Meeting in Vienna. 

In one study, researchers found a sharp reduction in “food noise” with GLP-1 therapy. In the other, researchers noted shifts in taste perception in patients taking GLP-1s. 

Together, the findings add new dimensions to the understanding of how incretin-based therapies may affect eating behavior and appetite regulation, the researchers said. 

Lowering Food Noise Volume 

“Food noise” refers to obsessive or intrusive thoughts about food and eating. Previous research has shown that more than half of people living with overweight or obesity have experienced food noise, which can contribute to overeating. 

GLP-1 RAs are known to reduce appetite and feelings of hunger, but it’s unclear how they may affect food noise. 

To investigate, researchers with Novo Nordisk and Market Track LLC surveyed 550 people (mean age, 53 years; 86% women) taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) for weight loss. They asked them how food noise was currently affecting them and to recall how it had affected them before starting the medication. Most (81%) had been on semaglutide for at least months. 

Before treatment, 62% reported constant food-related thoughts — a figure that fell to 16% after starting the drug, Timothy Arnaut with Novo Nordisk and colleagues reported. 

Similarly, the share of participants who said they spent too much time thinking about food dropped from 63% to 15%. Reports of uncontrollable food thoughts fell from 53% to 15%, while the proportion who said these thoughts negatively affected their lives declined from 60% to 20%. 

Most participants also reported improvements in mental health (64%) and self-confidence (76%), as well as healthier habits (80%) after starting semaglutide. Still, it remains unclear whether those benefits stem from reduced food noise or from weight loss itself, the authors noted. 

“Interest in food noise has surged, fueled by patient anecdotes about GLP-1 RAs for weight loss. Many patients report that these medications unexpectedly quiet food noise, which is something they find meaningful,” Emily Dhurandhar, PhD, chief scientific officer of ObThera, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Medscape Medical News. 

“Because food noise appears to be an important outcome for patients, it’s encouraging to see studies like this addressing it. Measuring food noise is a critical first step to understanding it,” said Dhurandhar, who is also associate editor for the International Journal of Obesity.

Dhurandhar and her colleagues recently published a paper describing key features of food noise, including associated cognitive burden, persistence, self-stigma, and distress. 

She cautioned that randomized controlled trials will be “essential” to confirm the findings in this survey of reduced food noise associated with GLP-1 RA treatment. 

“This is a rapidly developing research area, and I’m aware of ongoing work examining prevalence, treatment-related change, and further validation of measurement tools for food noise. We can expect more science on food noise to come out soon,” Dhurandhar told Medscape Medical News. 

Taste Changes With GLP-1s

The other study found that GLP-1 RAs alter the way food tastes, which may help control appetite and food intake. 

“Mechanistically, GLP-1 is expressed in taste bud cells and central gustatory pathways, providing a biological basis for sensory modulation. Patients have long anecdotally reported altered sweet/salty sensitivity and reduced enjoyment of food,” lead researcher Othmar Moser, with the University of Bayreuth in Germany, told Medscape Medical News. 

Moser and colleagues surveyed 411 adults with overweight or obesity (mean age, 39 years; 70% women) taking semaglutide (Ozempic, n = 148; Wegovy, n = 217) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro, n = 46) for at least 3 months. 

Perceptions of bitterness and sourness did not change on these medications, but about one fifth reported that food tasted sweeter (21%) or saltier (23%) since starting the medication. 

In addition, more than half of patients taking one of these medications reported feeling less hungry (58%) and feeling fuller sooner (64%).

The self-reported changes in sweet and salty taste perception during GLP-1 RA treatment were associated with “favorable appetite-related outcomes, including earlier satiety, reduced appetite, and diminished food cravings,” Moser told Medscape Medical News. 

These results “highlight that taste changes reported by patients are not incidental side effects but may represent markers of effective treatment response,” Moser said. 

“Importantly,” he added, there were no marked differences between semaglutide and tirzepatide, “suggesting that these sensory changes should not influence the choice of agent. Instead, prescribing decisions should continue to be guided by established considerations such as efficacy, tolerability, comorbidities, and access,” Moser advised. 

“Counseling patients that altered taste perception can occur, and may be linked to appetite regulation, could improve treatment adherence and patient reassurance,” he said. 

As expected, significant and similar reductions in BMI were observed on these medications. However, the study did not find a direct link between changes in taste and reductions in BMI. 

“Shifts in taste may affect how satisfying or appealing food feels in the moment, which influences appetite control. However, weight loss depends on many other factors — like metabolism, long-term eating patterns, and activity — so changes to taste alone may not be enough to directly drive body weight reduction,” Moser explained in a statement. 

Limitations of the study include the inability to prove causation, the self-reporting of data, and the possibility that the participants weren’t representative of patients taking GLP-1 RAs. 

The study is published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

The survey on food noise was funded by Novo Nordisk. Three authors are employees of the company. The study on taste changes did not receive any specific funding. Moser has disclosed relationships with Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, and other pharmaceutical companies.