Can You Drink When
Taking Wegovy?

Many of us enjoy the relaxing and social effects that alcohol can have on our bodies, but can we still enjoy that when taking Wegovy?  When it comes to alcohol and how it interacts with medication we take, it is essential to be well informed.  In this article we’ll look at the interaction between alcohol and medications such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro.  We’re also going to take a look at a really exciting area of study with these medications – their effect on our desire to drink alcohol.  Let’s dive into this fascinating topic.  

How does Wegovy work?

Before we think about whether we can have a glass of wine or a beer when taking Wegovy, let’s refresh our memory about how these medications work:

• Lowers blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin production in the pancreas and reducing glucose production in the liver. 
• Slows down the movement of food through our intestines helping us to feel fuller for longer. 
• Increases the amount of energy-burning brown fat in our bodies, which increases our basal metabolic rate.  This effectively increases the number of calories we burn when we’re doing nothing.  
• Enhances the signals in our brain that tell us we are full, meaning that we will want to stop eating sooner. 
• Reduces the signals in our brain that cause cravings

So, can I drink on Wegovy?

The short answer is yes!  There is no direct interaction between GLP-1 agonists, the medication group that Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro belong to, and alcohol.  Drinking alcohol will not affect how the medication works, or stop it from working.  However there are some important considerations when thinking about the relationship between alcohol and weight loss, and our overall health.  Let’s consider some different factors at play:

Calories 

Calories are used to quantify how much energy is contained in the food and drink we consume. Consuming more calories than our body needs can lead to weight gain, as the excess energy is stored as fat.  We can lose weight by consuming fewer calories than we need which leads to us using our fat stores for energy.  Simple right?  Well, many of  know that it just isn’t that simple and there are a whole host of factors which influence why some people gain weight easily and others don’t:

• Genetics – our individual genetic make-up plays a significant role in our basal metabolic rate (the amount of calories we need at rest), how our body stores fat and where it stores fat. 
• Hormones – there are a huge variety of hormones that control our appetite, metabolism and fat storage. These include thyroid hormone, leptin, ghrelin and cortisol.  Our personal balance of these hormones is entirely unique and hugely influences our weight and ability to lose it. 
• Metabolism – how many calories we need as a baseline and how quickly and efficiently we burn calories is different from person to person. 
• Stress – we all lead busy lives and have a degree of stress to manage, but did you know that chronic stress can lead to weight gain and difficulty losing weight?  Not only does stress cause many of us to make unhealthy food choices as we seek a sugar rush, or the pleasure that can come from eating fatty foods, but it causes the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol can lead to a greater amount of fat storage, especially around the abdomen. 
• Sleep – poor sleep can disrupt the hormones that control our appetite and fat storage.  Those of us who have ever done a night shift, or lost sleep due to children or worry, will recognise that our appetites are significantly increased the next day.  If you are chronically sleep deprived then this could be affecting your weight.
• Medical conditions – there are a variety of medical conditions that can lead to weight gain and insulin resistance.  Common conditions include hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

For most of us when we think about losing weight, we think about cutting calories and for many this means dieting.  Dieting often feels punishing and isn’t sustainable over the long term for many.  When we take medications such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro we are boosting our body’s natural weight loss abilities and giving ourselves freedom from dieting.  We will naturally want to eat less on these medications, which means that we need to make the calories we do consume count. 

Calories and alcohol:

All alcohol contains calories, and these calories can add up quickly. A typical glass of wine contains around 200 calories and a pint of beer is around 250 calories.  When thinking about spirits the mixer can often be loaded with sugar, so it’s worth thinking about this as well as the calories in a shot of gin or vodka (around 100) So you can see that a few drinks will take you quickly to your daily recommended calorie intake.

The effect of alcohol on weight loss and our metabolism

• Empty calories – alcohol contains plenty of calories but no nutrition.  It doesn’t have any of the vital nutrients that our bodies need. 
• Changes in metabolism – our body prioritises processing alcohol over processing food, which means that drinking can cause our metabolism to slow down and cause excess storage of fat. 
• Increased appetite – I’m sure most of us have experienced the increase in appetite that comes with drinking alcohol. One of the reasons that restaurants encourage us to have pre-dinner drinks is that they know it will cause us to eat more!  The increase in appetite doesn’t only happen the day you are drinking, it lasts into the next day, especially if you have drunk to excess and are hungover.  

Tips for drinking alcohol when you’re taking Wegovy

We’re taking Wegovy, or similar medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro so that we can take control of our weight and have freedom from dieting. So, it makes sense to pay attention to what we eat and drink in order to maximise our success. 

Here are some tips for drinking with weight loss medications:

• Think about portion sizes – we usually think about portions in relation to food but we can think about them in relation to drinks too.  When you’re having a drink, think about choosing a smaller size or lighter alcohol option, as these will contain fewer calories. 
• Think about your drink choices – some drinks contain significantly more calories than others e.g. beer contains more calories than spirits, higher alcohol drinks contain more calories than lower alcohol drinks.  Keep an eye on your mixers – fruit juices and fizzy drinks can be very high in sugar. 
• Stay hydrated – if you drink plenty of water or other low calorie soft drinks at times when you’re also drinking alcohol, then you are likely to drink fewer alcoholic drinks overall. 

Wegovy’s effect on our desire to drink alcohol

Now that we know that we can have a few drinks when taking Wegovy, we can look at a really exciting area of research; Wegovy’s effect on our desire to drink alcohol.  Wegovy, and similar medications such as Ozempic and Mounjaro act on glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) receptors which are located in numerous places in the body including the pancreas, brain, intestines, stomach, heart and kidneys.  Wegovy’s effect on our desire to drink is likely due to GLP-1 receptors in the brain:

• Reward – GLP-1 receptors are present in the parts of the brain that regulate reward pathways, the pathways in our brain that tell us something feels good and drives us to seek that experience again e.g. the desire to eat sugary foods, and the desire to drink alcohol.  Activating GLP-1 receptors may reduce the rewarding effect of alcohol which means that we may want to drink less. 
• Satiety – GLP-1 receptors work in the satiety (satisfaction) centres of our brains, which is how they work to reduce our cravings for foods. Wegovy may work to reduce cravings for alcohol via the same pathways. 

Studies so far have shown encouraging results with regards to the impact of Wegovy on reducing alcohol consumption. However, it’s early days and there are very few clinical trials which focus specifically on this topic.  More work needs to be done in order to establish a clear link.  It is also important to understand that individual responses will vary, after all each of our bodies is completely unique. 

Conclusion

So we’ve learned that we can drink on Wegovy, which is great news for those of us that enjoy alcohol, but like all things we need to do so moderately.  When taking Wegovy we want to maximise our chances of success so it’s worth taking a bit of time to think about what we eat and drink, without letting it take over our lives.