🍷 Could a Weekly “Ozempic-Style” Shot Help Curb Drinking? Here’s What a New Trial Found

Based on the 2025 study "Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial" by Hendershot, Bremmer, Paladino, & others in JAMA Psychiatry. Read the full paper

If you’ve seen headlines about GLP-1 medications (like semaglutide) changing people’s cravings—not just for food, but for alcohol—you’re not alone. This study puts that idea to a real test in a controlled trial.

🔬 The Problem: Alcohol use disorder is common—and treatment options are underused

Alcohol use contributes to major health harms globally, and in the US the gap between how many people have alcohol use disorder (AUD) and how many get medication help is huge.

Meanwhile, semaglutide prescriptions have surged, alongside anecdotes of reduced alcohol interest. The big question is whether that’s real—and clinically meaningful.

📊 The Study: A 9-week, double-blind trial that tested drinking in the lab and real life

Researchers ran a phase 2, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial lasting 9 weeks in 48 non–treatment-seeking adults with AUD.

Who participated?

• 48 adults (average age about 40)

• 71% female

• Baseline drinking was substantial: roughly 3 drinks per day on average, about 20 drinking days per month, and about 9 heavy drinking days per month.

What did they take?

• Weekly injections: 0.25 dose for 4 weeks, then 0.5 dose for 4 weeks, with a final week aiming for 1.0 dose if tolerated.

How did the study measure outcomes?

• A laboratory “alcohol self-administration” session before treatment and again after the 0.5 dose phase, where participants could delay drinking for up to 50 minutes (for money) and then drink over a set period while breath alcohol was tracked.

• Weekly tracking of drinking patterns and cravings (including a standardized craving scale).

📈 The Results: Semaglutide helped most with “how much per session,” not “how often”

The once-weekly semaglutide program delivered across the board—but the strongest signal was about drinking intensity (how much you drink when you do drink), not total drinking frequency.

The big wins:

• Lab alcohol consumed fell by about a medium-to-large amount compared with placebo — a notable reduction in a controlled “drink as you like” test.

• Peak breath alcohol level dropped by about a medium-to-large amount — meaning participants didn’t get as “high” from alcohol in the lab session.

Cravings (a big deal for relapse risk):

• Weekly alcohol craving improved by about a moderate amount vs placebo.

Heavy drinking:

• Heavy drinking days over time improved more with semaglutide than placebo — and effect sizes were largest in weeks 5–8 (the 0.5 dose phase), suggesting the benefit may build with dose/time.

• Zero heavy-drinking weeks became more likely in the semaglutide group from the early phase to the later phase.

Smoking (in people who smoked):

• In the subgroup of 13 current smokers, cigarettes per day declined more over time with semaglutide.

What stayed the same:

• Average drinks per calendar day didn’t clearly change vs placebo.

• Number of drinking days vs abstinent days also didn’t meaningfully shift.

Other improvements:

• Body weight dropped by about 5% on average in the semaglutide group, compared with essentially no change in placebo.

One important nuance: Retention and dosing mattered. 42 of 48 participants made it through week 9 visits, and not everyone moved up to the highest week-9 dose (some held steady or deferred).

🧠 How It Works: Why a “metabolic” drug might affect alcohol reward

The study builds on the idea that GLP-1 receptor agonists may reduce the reward pull of alcohol and alter craving—something seen in preclinical research and hinted at in real-world reports.

In plain English: the medication may make alcohol feel less compelling, so you’re more likely to stop earlier once you start.

🎯 What This Means for You: A potential new tool for reducing heavy drinking (not necessarily abstinence)

If your goal is harm reduction—like fewer binges or less drinking per occasion—this trial is encouraging. The biggest changes showed up in measures tied to drinking intensity and craving, which are often the hardest parts to budge.

Practically, that could look like:

• Fewer “I meant to have two but had six” nights

• Less intense urges week to week

• Potential bonus benefits if you also smoke (still early, but interesting)

⚠️ Caveats: Promising, but definitely not the final word

• This was a small study (48 people) and lasted 9 weeks.

• Participants were not seeking treatment, so results may differ for people actively trying to quit or already in care.

• The key lab outcome had complete data for only 25 participants, because some chose not to drink in the lab session.

• Semaglutide caused about 5% body-weight loss on average—which might be welcome for some people, but not all.

💡 The Bottom Line: Early evidence says semaglutide may reduce cravings and heavy-drinking intensity

This trial suggests that low-dose, once-weekly semaglutide can reduce alcohol craving and how much people drink when they drink, with a strong signal in a controlled lab drinking test—enough to justify larger, longer trials.