About four years ago, I made a decision that I think has changed my life for the better. As an Asian guy, white rice has been a staple of our diet. We have it in every meal, and whenever we don't get it, we don't feel as though we've had an actual meal.
I'm not really overweight, although at that time, I was teetering on the edge of being overweight, and I felt it too. I felt heavy and almost unable to do any physical exercise. It wasn't helping that I was living abroad, and for my first year, I lived on the side of a mountain. So, whenever I needed to get groceries, I literally had to walk down and climb back up the mountain. Going down was a walk in the park, you just had to be careful not to slip and roll down the slope. It was the way back up that proved to be a challenge.
That's when I decided that perhaps it was time for me to watch my weight and watch what I was eating. So with the help of my friend, with whom I lived for about a year, I changed my diet from eating white rice to brown rice. I heard some of the health benefits of brown rice, so I decided to try it. It wasn't as bad as I thought, with regard to the taste, although the texture took some time to get used to.
Before long, I was exclusively eating brown rice at home, and only having white rice occasionally when eating out with friends. As the years went by, I made the decision to simply have one rice meal a day, and just eat fruits or whole grain bread for breakfast and even dinner. I lost about 18 pounds on the first year. And since then, I have just been maintaining my weight given that I'm not that heavy to begin with.
I noticed one major change in my body when I made that change, and that was my appetite. The less I ate, the more my body got used to the amount of food intake I get each day. I was able to control how much I ate in a day, and I also felt full a lot faster.
Now, some people may struggle more in controlling their hunger and satiety, and they might have tried various diets, workout routines, and other solutions to help them lose weight, but one particular solution may have been the "miracle" drug that some people have been looking for.
Ozempic initially is a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, but now there are studies that have looked into its effects on weight loss. Although effects vary on different people, those who have experienced dramatic changes report that they had experienced something similar to what I had, in terms of the way they viewed food.
Some people reported no longer craving too much or being able to have more control over their cravings. More than helping improve their eating habits, it also reduced anxiety. These drugs are under a category called GLP-1 receptor agonists. And researchers have found that GLP-1 is not only associated with treatment for diabetes and weight loss, but also addiction treatment.
This spate of new studies on GLP-1 and how it affects a variety of physiological and neurological functions has researchers honing in on it and seeing how it's connected with different dysfunctions in the body. Right now, researchers are looking to break down the stigma on obesity and addiction with the help of research on GLP-1.
The more we understand that our cravings, addictions, or appetite may be connected to a mutation or malfunction in our natural GLP-1 receptor, the more we are able to empathize with people who struggle to make certain changes in their lives and maintain them. At the very least, with drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and other GLP-1-based medication, several people have found relief from lifelong struggles.
Hopefully, as further research and development progresses, we are able to unlock the secrets of our neurological pathways and how they are connected to a wide array of pathologies, which we may not even have much control over. For a more detailed explanation as to the mechanism behind GLP-1 and how targeting it helps control excessive behavior related to obesity or addiction, check out the article on Scientific American.
(Image credit: Kimzy Nanney/Unsplash)
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