Some Weight-loss drugs linked to reduced drinking, smoking
Good news for those using weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. There is a new study that found some fascinating outcomes from using these drugs. The study found some weight-loss drugs are helping some people reduce their alcohol intake and reduce people’s urges to smoke.
Some of these people were in a party atmosphere, and were offered a drink. Normally, they would happily accept and drink about 6-8 drinks a night. It seems that suddenly that desire to drink seemed to just vanish. That’s what happened to some men and women taking a drug called semaglutide. These drugs are used to help people lose weight and manage diabetes.
According to Business Insider Erin Bradley McAleer, a lawyer from Washington state said that he used to be a big beer drinker. After Erin started taking semaglutide for weight loss, he noticed that he was no longer interested in alcohol anymore. Instead of drinking beers with his co-workers, he desired to hit the gym instead.
Others have noticed a similar effect on their interest in addictive behaviors like smoking and alcohol.. CNN reports Cheri Ferguson a smoker for most of her life, started Ozempic 11 weeks ago to try to lose about 50 pounds. Cheri noticed a lack of interest in addictive behaviors like smoking and alcohol. Ferguson said. “And all of these vapes and cigarettes that you’ve had over the years, they don’t look attractive anymore. It’s very, very strange. Very strange.”
So, why does this happen? Well, experts think these drugs might mess with the brain’s reward system, making things like food and alcohol less appealing. It’s like your brain suddenly decides that the usual pleasures just aren’t worth it anymore.
While it’s good news that some people are drinking less, scientists still need to do more research to see if semaglutide and other drugs doctors are prescribing for weight loss, could be used to treat alcohol problems. One study showed how it reduced cravings and even how the brain responds to alcohol cues, but researchers say there is still more to learn.
I think this is an exciting discovery to learn one drug can do away with years of addictive behavior including online shopping! Who would have dreamed that a drug designed to help with weight loss could also help you kick other habits? It just goes to show, that sometimes, science can surprise us in the most unexpected ways.
No, You Don't Really Look Like Your Selfies - Here's Why
Lenses flatten us
Lenses flatten our image. Photographer Nadia Meli spoke with Cosmopolitan.com about this reality. “Our bodies and faces do not look the same in the mirror, on a professional DSLR, on the phone camera, the front lens the back lens – all of these don’t show us how we actually look either!” she said via the magazine. “Lenses always flatten us, it’s just 2D, not 3D and doesn’t give an accurate representation of what we see when someone is in front of us IRL!” Crazy, right? She added that the camera actually fails to capture what’s really in front of it.
Getty Images / IRA EVVA
The lens distorts facial features
Upworthy.com explains why selfie cameras are the absolute worst. They state, “Cellphone selfie cameras usually have an even smaller focal length than the 40 mm shown here (Winters points out that the iPhone 13 Pro Max selfie camera has the equivalent of a 23 mm focal length), so they distort facial features even more.” They add that other factors are how far away you are from the camera, because the closer you are, the more distorted your photos will be. Another reason the camera doesn’t capture what we look like in real life, aside from the lenses, is the 2D factor. You’re not going to look the same on a 2D photo as you will in real life. Lighting is also a huge issue. Lighting can make or break a photo.
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They make your nose look big
Selfies can make your nose look much bigger than it really is. “For years, I’ve heard patients and family members say, ‘Oh, look at my nose, it looks so big,’ when they show me a selfie,” Dr. Paskhover tells Yahoo. “I was always telling my patients, that’s not how you really look.” Selfies simply distort your nose shaped, due to the lens and your distance from it.
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We're used to a mirror image
“The image you see in the mirror is reversed compared to the image that others see face-to-face with you,” Psychology Today explains. “Your friends are familiar with your non-reversed image, while you are familiar with your reversed image in a regular mirror.” That totally makes sense.
Getty Images / Mariia Vitkovska
The lens can make you look thinner or fatter
The Huffington Post points out that, “Different camera lenses can change the way people look in photos.” They add that, “the shorter the lens, the wider it’s going to make your face.” So, make note if you don’t want your face to look super wide.
Getty Images / Viktor Gladkov
