Taste perception changes linked to appetite control in users of Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy

A study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Vienna has found that some individuals taking incretin-based therapies such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro perceive foods as sweeter or saltier than before, with these taste changes linked to reduced appetite and increased satiety

Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, earlier in the autumn, revealed that some individuals being treated with incretin-based therapies such as Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro experience altered taste perception, with foods tasting sweeter or saltier than before. The phenomenon has been associated with appetite reduction, suggesting a possible link between taste and hunger regulation.

The real-world study involved 411 adults with overweight or obesity who had been prescribed one of the three therapies for weight management. The participants were recruited online and asked about changes to their perception of sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness – as well as to appetite – satiety and food cravings.

“Incretin-based therapies such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are widely used for weight management but their effect on taste perception has been unclear.

If changes in taste are linked to appetite control and weight loss, this could help clinicians better tailor therapy and dietary advice to individual patients,” said Professor Othmar Moser of the University of Bayreuth in Germany and lead author of the study.

The cohort comprised 148 users of Ozempic, 217 of Wegovy and 46 of Mounjaro. Median treatment durations were 43 weeks for Ozempic, 40 weeks for Wegovy and 47 weeks for Mounjaro, with all participants having received treatment for at least three consecutive months. Before treatment, average body mass index (BMI as kg/m²) values were 34.7, 35.6 and 36.2, respectively.

When adjusted for treatment duration, dose, baseline BMI, age and sex, reductions in BMI averaged 17.4 % for Ozempic, 17.6 % for Wegovy and 15.5 % for Mounjaro. Around one in five participants said that food tasted sweeter or saltier than before, while perception of sourness and bitterness did not change.

Taste alterations varied between treatments with more than a quarter of participants taking Wegovy said food tasted saltier, compared with about one in six in the Ozempic and Mounjaro groups. Reports of increased sweetness were broadly similar across all groups.

The study also recorded substantial changes in appetite and satiety. More than half of participants reported feeling less hungry and almost two-thirds said they felt full more quickly. Food cravings also declined, particularly among users of Mounjaro.

Further analysis showed that those who reported heightened sweetness were twice as likely to experience increased satiety compared with those who noticed no change. They were also more likely to report lower appetite and reduced cravings. Similarly, participants who said food tasted saltier were about twice as likely to report feeling fuller sooner.

“These drugs act not only in the gut and brain areas that control hunger but also on taste bud cells and brain regions that process taste and reward,” said Professor Moser.

“This means they can subtly change how strong flavours such as sweetness or saltiness are perceived. This, in turn, may affect appetite,” he added.

No direct link was found between changes in taste perception and the extent of BMI reduction. According to the researchers, this may be because taste is only one of several factors that influence weight loss.

“Shifts in taste may affect how satisfying or appealing food feels in the moment, which can influence appetite control.

“However, weight loss depends on many other elements, such as metabolism, long-term eating patterns and physical activity, so changes to taste alone may not be sufficient to drive weight reduction,” added Professor Moser.

The authors acknowledged limitations including the self-reported nature of the data, the inability to prove causation and the possibility that the participants were not representative of the wider patient population.

“Drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro may alter sense of taste, making foods seem sweeter or saltier and helping people feel full sooner and less hungry,” Professor Moser concluded.

“For clinical practice, monitoring taste changes could offer useful insights into treatment response, even though taste alone does not directly cause weight loss.

“Tracking taste may also help to tailor dietary advice, for example by identifying alternatives to foods whose flavours have become overwhelming or less appealing,” he said.

For further reading please visit: 10.1111/dom.16548