Can weight loss drugs help you cut back on drinking? A new study shows their effect on alcohol cravings.

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1s — have made headlines and surged in popularity for their unique ability to help patients lose weight by reducing food cravings. But a new study is offering further evidence that these drugs may be instrumental in reducing other cravings as well — including helping people cut back on alcohol and drinking habits.

What the study found

Researchers recruited 48 adults with alcohol use disorder — that is, the inability to stop or control one’s drinking despite negative consequences — who weren’t actively seeking treatment, and randomly assigned the participants either weekly, low-dose injections of Ozempic (the brand name of semaglutide, a type of GLP-1) or a placebo for nine weeks. Then, they monitored the participants’ weekly drinking habits.

After nine weeks, researchers found that participants who received the semaglutide injections experienced reduced weekly alcohol cravings and reduced the average number of drinks they consumed on drinking days. Those who received semaglutide injections also reduced their number of heavy drinking days (defined as four or more drinks for women and five or more for men), with nearly 40% of people in the semaglutide group reporting no heavy drinking days in the last month of treatment.

This study is the latest to demonstrate how drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could be used to tackle other health challenges. Numerous recent studies on both animal and human patients have found that GLP-1s used for weight loss and diabetes could also be used to treat different forms of addiction — from drug and smoking addiction to alcohol addiction.

Christian Hendershot, an author of the study and director of clinical research at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Addiction Science, tells Yahoo Life that based on prior research, researchers did expect to see some reductions in drinking. But he says they were surprised by what a substantial effect semaglutide had, particularly on heavy drinking habits, despite only giving participants the lowest dosage of the drug.

“These findings give us reason to expect that studies with higher doses might even see stronger effects,” Hendershot says.

What experts think

Dr. Lorenzo Leggio, senior investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which funded the study, tells Yahoo Life that the study’s findings are “exciting news.”

“It provides additional important information on the potential role of this new class of medications in alcohol use disorder — and addictions at large,” Leggio says.

Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, tells Yahoo Life he’s “intrigued” by the study’s findings, adding that it makes sense given the drugs’ effectiveness at reducing food cravings.

“It may indicate that these drugs have fundamental effects on our brain reward systems — which reduce appetites not just for food,” he says.

Carolina Haass-Koffler is a pharmacologist and associate professor of psychiatry at Brown University who is also currently conducting clinical research on GLP-1 medications and addiction. She tells Yahoo Life that this is further evidence of the “exciting potential” for these medications to not only help manage alcohol use, but also address the serious health risks that can come along with it.

“Patients with alcohol use disorder are often at higher risk for other health problems, including heart issues, diabetes and liver disease,” Haass-Koffler says. “Since GLP-1 medications can help with weight loss, blood sugar control and possibly even alcohol cravings, they could be a helpful option for this comorbid population — addressing both addiction and physical health problems at the same time.”

Is this good news? Yes — but experts urge caution.

While more evidence that semaglutide may help people drink less is indeed good news, you shouldn’t start taking these drugs to help curb drinking habits just yet. The study authors and other experts note that larger and longer studies are needed to fully understand the safety and efficacy of these drugs in people with alcohol use disorder.

Christopher Kahler, a psychiatry professor and director of alcohol and addiction studies at Brown University, points out that while the study found that semaglutide helped people drink less, it’s not yet known if the drug would help people who are trying to quit drinking altogether.

“This study was not testing semaglutide as a treatment for alcohol use disorder,” Kahler tells Yahoo Life. “The study was simply observing whether people given semaglutide made greater changes in their drinking compared to those given a placebo. We don’t know yet whether it would help people who are in treatment for an alcohol use disorder.”

And while GLP-1 medications have been on the market for diabetes since 2005, Dr. Klara Klein, one of the authors of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, says it’s important to note that the safety of semaglutide and other such weight loss drugs hasn’t been established yet in people with alcohol use disorder.

“These therapies can result in substantial weight loss — which in a person with alcohol use disorder may be detrimental,” Klein tells Yahoo Life.

The treatment protocols — like how much medication to prescribe, or how long the medication should be taken — would likely also differ for someone with alcohol use disorder versus diabetes or obesity.

And a more individualized approach — tailoring these medications specifically to the needs of patients hoping to reduce or cut out drinking — is also key. Haass-Koffler points out that the health profile of a person with alcohol use disorder can put them at greater risk for some of the risk factors of semaglutide. Pancreatitis, for example, is a “known adverse event associated with semaglutide,” and individuals with alcohol use disorder are already at increased risk of this disease.

What you can do instead

There are currently three medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat alcohol use disorder by reducing cravings and alleviating withdrawal symptoms.

“I’m optimistic that semaglutide may become another effective treatment option,” Kahler says, “but we are not there yet.”

Check out these expert tips from Kahler and others on how to reduce your drinking habits independently. Putting “barriers” in place, documenting your progress and confiding in a friend about your goals can help you cut back if you aren’t ready to completely stop drinking, and remember that any reduction in drinking, no matter how small, has health benefits.