GLP-1 treatments challenge the belief that weight management relies on willpower

Nearly half the world's population now lives with overweight or obesity, and the oldest explanation is still the most popular: some people have self-control and others don't. A rival view blames the setting instead, a food supply engineered to overwhelm restraint.

GLP-1 medicines unsettle both camps. Losses of up to 20 percent with steady use show that willpower can be altered by a drug acting on reward pathways and gut-brain signals. The same medicines quiet food noise, which shows the cues around us can be managed too.

Diet programs built on discipline have a known ending: one to two thirds of the weight returns within a year, and nearly all of it within five. Stopping the medicines brings regain as well, and fast, deep loss often takes muscle with it.

Read the full story at Psychology Today ↗