Weight loss medications like GLP-1s are everywhere right now—but many people are confused, overwhelmed, or even scared. From compounding pharmacies to eating disorder risks, there’s a lot that isn’t being talked about openly.
In this blog, we break down the most important concerns in simple, practical language, based on insights shared by quadruple board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Vikas Gupta, founder of Wellness Psychiatry, in Part Two of the ANEW Insight Podcast.
This is not about chasing thinness.
This is about safety, mental health, and sustainable well-being.
The Rise of Compounding Pharmacies: What You Need to Know
Many people cannot access FDA-approved GLP-1 medications due to:
- Supply shortages
- Cost barriers
- Insurance denial
As a result, some turn to compounding pharmacies.
The risk
Compounded GLP-1 medications:
- Are not FDA-approved
- Do not always meet the same quality standards
- Can vary in strength and formulation
Dr. Vikas Gupta explains that while these pharmacies filled a gap during shortages, quality and consistency cannot be guaranteed.
What to do if this is your only option
If someone feels they have no alternative, Dr. Gupta suggests:
- Plan early with your doctor — don’t wait until medication runs out
- Explore manufacturer assistance programs
- Strengthen lifestyle foundations (structured meals, hydration, resistance training)
The key message: Don’t panic—plan.
The Dosing Danger: Why Online Advice Can Be Unsafe
A growing concern is people posting syringe photos online and asking strangers how much to inject.
This is extremely risky.
Even doctors have limited insight into compounded formulations because:
- The concentration can vary
- There’s no standardized dosing system
Best practice
- Always discuss dosing with a licensed physician
- Even if your doctor didn’t prescribe it, they can help you evaluate risk
- Never rely on social media or forums for medical dosing advice
Your health should never be crowdsourced.
When GLP-1 Medications Don’t Work (or Cause Weight Gain)
Not everyone responds the same way to these medications.
Biological reasons
- Different GLP-1 receptor sensitivity
- Thyroid issues, inflammation, or sleep problems
- Other medications (antidepressants, beta blockers)
- Dose too low or titrated too fast
Behavioral reasons
- Eating too little
- Moving less due to fatigue
- Losing muscle mass
- Metabolism slowing down from under-fueling
Dr. Gupta reframes success as:
Metabolic resilience, not just weight loss
The goal is energy, strength, and sustainability—not extreme restriction.
Extreme Restriction Can Backfire
When the body senses starvation:
- Metabolism slows
- Fat storage increases
- Weight plateaus or rebounds
- Mood and hormones suffer
Listening to hunger, eating balanced meals, and avoiding chronic restriction helps the body feel safe—and that’s when real change happens.
GLP-1 Medications and Eating Disorders: A Serious Concern
One of the most alarming trends is the rise in:
- Disordered eating
- Eating disorder relapse
- Medication misuse
Why this happens
- Appetite suppression masks hunger cues
- Restriction feels “rewarded”
- Rapid weight loss reinforces harmful patterns
- Online prescribing lacks proper screening
Dr. Gupta emphasizes that GLP-1s are not recommended for:
- Anorexia
- Restrictive eating disorders
- History of eating disorders (even if “recovered”)
Even binge eating must be carefully assessed, because:
Many binge patterns come from restriction, not true binge eating disorder.
Why Multidisciplinary Care Is Essential
GLP-1 medications affect:
- Mood
- Motivation
- Body image
- Medication absorption
- Emotional regulation
That’s why safe care requires:
- A psychiatrist
- A therapist
- A dietitian (preferably HAES-aligned)
- Medical providers working together
Weight alone should never define health—or worth.
GLP-1s and Psychiatric Medications
Good news: serious drug interactions are rare.
But functional overlaps matter.
Things doctors monitor:
- Slower absorption of SSRIs
- Increased nausea when taken on an empty stomach
- Hydration and energy levels
- Mood changes in bipolar disorder
- Weight gain from antipsychotics (GLP-1s can sometimes help)
Communication between providers is critical.
About Dr. Vikas Gupta, want to know more about him here are his social media links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us, https://www.instagram.com/psych_today/, https://www.facebook.com/psychologytoday, https://x.com/psychtoday, https://www.linkedin.com/company/psychology-today/
The Future of Mental & Metabolic Health
Dr. Gupta sees psychiatry moving toward:
- Personalized care using metabolic data
- Integrated teams instead of silos
- Nutrition and circadian rhythm as core treatments
- Treating both lab values and life stories
This shift puts human beings—not numbers—at the center of care.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Are compounded GLP-1 medications safe?
They are not FDA-approved, and quality can vary. If used, they should only be discussed with a licensed healthcare provider.
2. Can GLP-1 medications cause eating disorders?
Yes, especially in people with a history of restriction or body image struggles. Proper screening and monitoring are essential.
3. Are GLP-1s recommended for binge eating disorder?
Only in very specific cases and usually as a last resort. They are not recommended when binge eating exists alongside restriction.
🎧 Listen to the full episode: YouTube or visit anew-insight.com under the podcast tab.
Here is the Transcript:
Supatra: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the ANEW Insight podcast. We’re back for the second half of our incredible interview with quadruple board certified psychiatrist and founder of Wellness Psychiatry, Dr. Vikas Gupta. Dr. Guptas gave us, oh my gosh. So much insight into some of the recommendations, some of the pitfalls, some of the worries about medicalized treatment for weight loss.
I am very excited to learn more. Vic, welcome back.
Vikas: Thank you so much. I’m so ready to be back.
Supatra: Yes. So we have a lot of people who are finding their medications. They, they cannot get, or their doctor will not prescribe them the medication. And so they’re going to compounding pharmacies, which we’ve seen kind of go through the gamut of, you know, being told that they need to shut down. Now that Novo Nordisk has a greater [00:01:00] supply.
But what I’ve actually seen is that they’ve just switched their formulation, added some things so that they can get a workaround. What should patients do if they’re, you know, feel like they, their only choice is to go to a compounding, uh, pharmacy, and how do they even know what they’re getting is what are some suggestions for people who are, are looking to find their medication in that route?
Vikas: Oh, that’s a, that’s a great and timely question. Uh, the regulatory tightening we’ve seen, uh. Now it’s largely about making sure, uh, the medications are safe and consistent, um, as you are aware that the compounded versions fill the real gap in the supply of these medications. But the concern was that not all of these were being produced under the same quality standards [00:02:00] as the other FD approved products.
And, um, for patients who’ve relied on compounded GLP ones. Um, I recommend three practical steps, um, and before I recommend that, I also want to, um, preface that with saying that the FDA does not support the use of, uh, g uh, compounded GLP ones because, uh, there’s no way to ensure their quality, uh, standards.
With that said, uh, if you’re struggling to, to receive, uh, FDA-approved medications and relying on GLP ones. I think these three practical steps, um, could be helpful. So the first is to talk early with your prescriber or your obesity medicine specialist or your endocrinologist who, whoever is prescribing the medication.
Don’t wait till your while runs out. Uh, planning ahead prevents or, uh, ab abrupt interruptions. The second I would [00:03:00] say is to explore manufacturer access or savings programs. So like many branded uh, medications like Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, they have patient assistance pathways, especially for continuing their treat.
Uh, the continuation of treatment. So exploring that would be relatively helpful. Uh, third is if you may have to pause temporarily, focus on maintaining your metabolic scaffolding. Which means structured meals, hydration, balanced food intake, and resistance training. The key message is, um, don’t panic, but plan.
Um, your physiology doesn’t vanish overnight, and healthy habits can bridge the gap till the medication access returns.
Supatra: Yes. Here’s something I also see is that, uh, people, when they get their medications from these compounding pharmacies, they have no idea how to manage the dose. They don’t know [00:04:00] they’re posting pictures of the syringes and saying, Hey, everybody. Asking the metaverse what, what their dose should be based on their syringe.
Would you suggest? ’cause it, it frightens me that having anybody you know, who’s not a doctor tell me what, what I should do with my injection. Do you suggest they actually go to their doctor to ask them even if they’ve gotten it outside of, you know, a prescription to make sure that they’re doing this safely.
And would doctors be amenable to helping them figure out that dosage, even if they’re not prescribing it?
Vikas: So there are, uh, prescribers and doctors in the community who are, uh, prescribing compounded versions of GLP ones. Um, many of their patients are not comfortable with these injections and some of them are also providing assistance in their clinics to do this. Um. That said, um, [00:05:00] even the prescribers and doctors, they, um, don’t have firsthand knowledge of the compounded versions.
Uh, so while they’re able to do that, but it does come with a disclaimer that they still don’t have like, quality control over what is being administered. Uh, so I think it’s like a risk benefit discussion that the patients can have with their doctors. The doctors sometimes have, are privy to the compounded pharmacies in terms of their prior tech records and in terms of any response, bad response or adverse effects that any of the patients have reported.
But that is, again, a smaller sample size. Uh, but that said, I think, uh, either way a good discussion with their, uh, prescribing physician, um, is, is relevant and very important.
Supatra: Yes. I think it says a lot about the pressures that people face in our society that, you know, there’s so much, there’s so much damage done from weight [00:06:00] stigma and when people experience being overweight that, that the motivation to go outside of our medical providers to get something like this at the risk of their health.
It just says everything to me about our culture and how much we need to change, how much we need to stop focusing on our weight as a number or as a moral value, or, you know, uh uh, uh, a measure of our worth if we have to go to these compounding pharmacies and we don’t know what we’re injecting into our bodies, that that’s just taken us so far away from health and so much more towards unhealthy pursuit of thinness.
And so I hope people hearing this know that there’s, there’s other ways that we can improve our health and that your worth does not. Your weight does not equate to your worth, um, and working with a psychologist. [00:07:00] Will be very helpful as you are pursuing your health journey, because if the only focus is on thinness, we’re in big trouble.
You guys we’re in really big trouble.
Vikas: Yeah.
Supatra: So, um, let’s talk about people who don’t react to the medication. They may not, lose weight at all. They might even gain weight despite being on them. What are some of the biological or behavioral, behavioral reasons that that might happen?
Vikas: So absolutely this can happen and it’s more common than what people may think. Uh, few reasons biologically, not everyone responds the same way to medications. Um, some individuals have different GLP receptor expressions or metabolic adaptations that may cause and contribute to this. Sometimes the issue might be the dose is too low and they didn’t see a, their physician for a long time and did not follow up for a year.
And, um, [00:08:00] as a consequence and boost any or patch weight, sometimes the titration is too fast or going up on the dose too fast. And that can, you know, maybe result in some side effects. And because that people may want to not take the medication anymore. And sometimes the impact of, um, other medications, uh, antidepressants or beta blockers may blunt the effects of some the medications.
The other, uh, variables that may play a role in this is sleep, um, inflammation and thyroid function. They may also impact, uh, the medications not working. Uh, in the same efficacious manner as we do for so many other people. Um, the other thing when, which you aply mentioned before is behaviorally when you know the appetite drops, uh, the protein intake, uh, the carbohydrate intake and the movement often drop as well.
And, uh, in turn, you know, people may lose lean muscle, the metabolism may slow [00:09:00] down, uh, they eat less, but also move less. And this and their progress may plateau. So, um. I frame success from weight loss to metabolic re resilience, uh, focus on preserving muscle, maintaining energy, and building sustainable habits. Uh, it’s not always that the medication isn’t working, it’s also sometimes that the body isn’t adapting.
Supatra: Yes. Uh, and I’d like to add, you know, especially if the dosage is too high, and this is the same case, if you have a highly restricted diet, our body is evolutionarily designed to resist starvation. So it goes through a lot of processes when it senses extreme restriction, which is what we see a lot of times with these medications, but just even, uh, restrictive dieting.
And what the body will do is it will slow down thermogenesis ’cause it’s trying to hold onto those juicy fat cells, um, and maintain [00:10:00] those calories so that they can use them for, uh, you know, energy at the, you know, at, at. In terms of like in an emergency situation, the body tends to prefer, of course, carbohydrates, but we’ll use fat if there’s no stores available.
But it will slow that down when we are in a highly restrictive diet. And it will also, there’s this thing called the body energy partitioning system, where it will keep track of how much muscle you’ve had, how much fat you’ve had before the restriction, and it will try to rebound you right back to where you started from if you were in restriction.
But when we are in hormonal balance and listening to our hunger, listening to our fullness, eating, um, slowly throughout our meals, and especially eating foods that the body thrives upon, which are mainly, carbohydrates and healthy [00:11:00] proteins, especially plant proteins and healthy fats, uh, the body then does not feel like it is in this restriction starvation mode and can utilize those nutrients more efficiently.
Doesn’t hold on to your fat. It starts to burn it off slowly and sustainably. So that’s how you can actually avoid dieting completely. Or you can wean yourself off of these medications with this knowledge so that you do not have to be on these medications for life. And I think that that’s something that a lot of people are striving for and what I hope to really blast out as information through this podcast and, and my, my speaking engagements and things like that.
Um, so I really want to talk about, um. Other medications. But before we do that, I would like to really delve into the topic of eating disorders [00:12:00] and disordered eating in relation to these medications. I just recently delivered a TED Talk because I was so alarmed to see the dramatic rise in disordered eating and eating disorders, and you’re actually doing some work with Montinito right now.
And I want you to help give everybody a picture of some of the things that we’re seeing come from GLP one use, uh, and these medications. What are you starting to see in terms of eating disorders and disordered eating, and how can we mitigate against this?
Vikas: Right. So, Hmm. First of all, uh, whatever I say is not endorsed by Montinito. Uh, uh, but it’s coming from my personal, uh, opinion. So, as regards to eating disorders, they present like a complex, uh, you know, overlap with the, and concern for the GLP use. Uh, so we do see patients [00:13:00] who, um, begin to get disordered eating after they’re on GLP ones because of, um, aberrant cues and perhaps, uh, decreased appetite.
Um, and, uh, that can sometimes stimulate trigger, uh, disordered eating. Uh, with the eating disorders, uh, we have an array of patients who already deal with, uh, restrictive eating behaviors. On occasion, many of them may have like bingeing episodes and sometimes, um, they may pursue, uh, GLP ones for the binge eating, uh, with their, uh, providers and doctors.
So I think it’s very care important for the physicians to, uh, carefully and aptly, uh, acertain if there is any restrictive eating or restrictions happening outside the binging. Uh, because in that, uh, scenario and. Uh, uh, concern is for the anorexia or, uh, other specified eating [00:14:00] disorders, um, which are atypical of like a typical binge eating scenario wherein the BMI is more than 25 and binge eating is the only presentation.
I think the physicians, uh, need to be very careful about prescribing GLP ones in patients with disordered eating and eating disorders. They’re certainly not recommended in anorexia or, other specified eating disorders, especially if there’s any component of restriction happening. Uh, we also have to, uh, be very careful, uh, about prescribing these medications in patients who have a history of anorexia or disordered eating, uh, even if they’re fully stable at this point.
So I think, uh, there is a risk balance, a risk benefit analysis that needs to be done. Uh, aside from taking a detailed history before a prescription of these medications. Um, I do, I do know that a lot of patients, um, uh, consider g uh, the [00:15:00] weight as one of the primary, you know, assessments of how they see themselves and in terms of their body image and self image.
And oftentimes we do see patients, uh, asking for these medications. I think the onus is really on the doctors and the prescribers and the type therapist that they work with. To carefully assess them for any history of disordered eating or eating disorders, and carefully, um, and educationally, uh, inform their patients about their relative value or, or, uh, their potential to hurt their particular scenarios.
Supatra: Yes. And I think that that’s very difficult with a lot of these online prescribers where you can just fill out some kind of, um, questionnaire. You, there are so many ways to fake your answers so that you can get these medications. So I think we’re in the wild, wild west right now in terms of how
disordered eating and eating [00:16:00] disorders can be completely exacerbated. Um, you know, I just read a study that, you know, GLP ones are significantly associated with patterns of misuse, which could be unprescribed use, uh, intentional misapplication, other, uh, ways that, um, you know, are really disturbing for what we’re seeing right now.
And I know that there’s been essentially an unprecedented rise in eating disorders related to these medications. So can you, can you give a, a clearer picture of how, you know, an eating disorder or disordered eating might occur with somebody while on these medications? What, what would be some of the factors that lead them down that road?
Vikas: So sometimes, uh, you know, it’s, uh, obviously the GLP ones lower the appetite. So with someone who has a recovery from an eating disorder previously. but they’re not [00:17:00] satisfied with their body image. Perhaps they have a BMI of 22 or 24 and they visit, uh, uh, their, uh, online, uh, prescriber and, uh, you know, they, they don’t, uh, answer honestly, uh, regarding the BMI their weight.
And there is, so there is a alleged risk that they may be prescribed one of these medications, which may foster restrictions again and may lead them to a relapse of their eating disorder. Um, I think the overall assessments needs to be thorough in terms of like the weight, the BMI, the prior eating history, the prior prior history of any eating disorders or any treatments in any kind of settings, residential, inpatient, outpatient, uh, intensive.
So I think the history really needs to be thorough and uh, I have seen a lot of patients who have come in with concerns for it. Occasionally say binge eating with a higher BMI. Uh, but they’ve had a history of, uh, [00:18:00] restriction previously. And, uh, because eating disorders can also evolve over time. Uh, so I think the onus is really on the doctors to, to monitor the eating, uh, with the weight and the BMI as well.
Uh, obviously it’s easier done in the programs where there is monitoring, like in a partial program or a residential setting where. Uh, diet is monitored and food is monitored, and intake is monitored, and meal completions kind of are noted and ascertained and, um, uh, uh, patients get feedback all the time.
Uh, however, in an outpatient kind of work, uh, the, this is, uh, really going by what the patients are telling us. So, um, but the only objective metrics we have are the weight and the BMI and kind of seeing, uh, if there are ac other concerns, uh, like low heart rate, low blood pressure, dizziness. Uh, some of those variables can actually play into disordered eating and if someone is actively restricting.
So monitoring, uh, for the [00:19:00] physical factors, the objective factors, the vitals, um, is, is critical, uh, with the use of these medications. And even when considering them.
Supatra: Yeah, and I, I would say that that’s a lot of pressure for a doctor to be under, and I think this just calls for a more multidisciplinary approach, I think. You know, like you and I would be the perfect team because we have you as a psychiatrist and me as a, a dietician and psychologist, like, I think that people need to understand that these medications can be very dangerous.
That it’s not just a magic pill, that you can’t just inject yourself, eat whatever you want. Um, or just not eat, which is even more frightening. Um, and then lose weight and everything is going to be okay. These medications are extremely serious. Uh, they can cause some real debilitating side effects, and we shouldn’t just be injecting ourselves with things that we don’t.
[00:20:00] No, especially from these compounding pharmacies. So you know, it, it also speaks to the broader cultural issues that I was talking about earlier, and I think the disordered eating and eating disorders get exacerbated because people feel it’s okay to comment on other people’s bodies. Whether it’s you’re too fat or you’re, oh, wow, you’re thin, and either one of those comments can exacerbate disordered eating or eating disorders, and you’re not even aware that you’re doing that, especially if you’re complimenting someone’s weight loss and they’re on these medications, you might be feeding into something that is going to be ultimately deadly for that person. I think yes, we need to all be working together and we need to get some more education out there on. How do we talk? Do we talk about each other’s body? I, I personally have a staunch rule that we don’t make comments about each other’s bodies because we don’t [00:21:00] know if we are complimenting an eating disorder.
Um, and we certainly do not weight shame. Which still see, uh, especially in doctor’s offices. I have to say, doctor’s offices are some of the areas where we need to really educate, um, doctors on how to speak to people, uh, in terms of their health more than their weight, because weight doesn’t always, uh, equate, equate to poorer health.
Um, so we, we have a lot of things to change. Would you agree?
Vikas: Absolutely. I think, uh, the movement of health at every size is picking up and there’s a huge, uh, conversation around that. Uh, unfortunately it hasn’t translated as such to the medical settings, which still heavily rely on like BMI as an indicator of, um, you know, health. So, um, you’re absolutely right. Uh, there are very, very healthy people who are very, sometimes occasionally a very high BMI and, uh, BMI isn’t, uh, or the size isn’t an indicator of your physical emotional [00:22:00] health.
Supatra: Exactly. And I think that that’s, you know, for most people when they go into a doctor’s office, their first fear is being weighed by the doctor and then being told, hello, you’re BMI is blah, blah, blah. And you need to diet and exercise. And I think we need to get away from that and ask deeper questions.
And it’s really hard for doctors. I will, I will, you know. Be sympathetic that they don’t have a lot of time. They also don’t have, uh, you know, some of these measures to really help people. But there are some simple questionnaires that you can give to your clients, like the Eat 26, where you can really start to understand people’s eating behaviors and I think encouraging this open, honest conversation in the office, avoiding the weight shaming and the weight stigma and really helping somebody on a more of a holistic level rather than just, here’s some medication now, just go and, you know, eat high protein, low carb. Like let’s get away from that and really start to look at a person [00:23:00] individually.
Um. Let’s also talk about like other medications while you’re on GLP ones. Um, how do they interact with like psychiatric medications, like SSRIs or mood stabilizers or anti-psychotics?
Vikas: Yeah, so the good news is that, uh, true drug drug interactions are rare with these medications. Um, but there are functional overlaps to watch because they slow down the digestion. Sometimes we notice that the oral medications like SSRIs may not absorb as well, and they may absorb more slowly. Uh, taking the SSRIs on an empty stomach can also, uh, worsen nausea.
So also on, for patients who are on antipsychotics, which sometimes may cause weight gain. GLP’s sometimes can actually help rebalance the metabolism. So, um, I also work in inpatient settings in both the, uh, the children’s inpatient units. Uh, [00:24:00] and they’re being used for patients who’ve gained quite a bit of weight on antipsychotics, uh, to kind of counter counterbalance that.
Uh, so that is a real possible benefit, but we do have to monitor for hydration and energy, energy levels to avoid, um, you know, sudden drops in glucose or mood stability. We also have to watch out for other potential. Side effects that can happen because of GLP ones like nausea and constipation as we talked about before.
Um, in other conditions like bipolar disorder, uh, a rapid physical changes can sometimes be destabilizing for mood rhythms. So, um, it’s very important for cross communication between, uh, obesity medicine physicians and psychiatrists and anyone who works in this space. Um. I often say that the, the brain says, uh, brain eats what the body says, and when the brain changes, its, the body changes its rhythm.
[00:25:00] The, the brain can feel it also. So, um, some of these interactions, uh, somehow can, uh, you know, impact your, your moods, your emotions, um, and, uh, being on concurrent medications can sometimes be a concern and they need to be watched very carefully.
Supatra: Yes. More need for multidisciplinary care, for sure. One question back to eating disorders. I have been reading that, uh, GLP ones are not recommended for binge eating disorder, and I just really want to make sure that we talk about that, uh, before we end this podcast. What are your thoughts on all of that?
Vikas: Yeah, great question. So I think, uh. The binge eating disorder, there are some FDA approved medications for that, uh, like Vyvanse, uh, or, uh, is approved for the binge eating disorder. Sometimes we’ll use Topamax and binge eating disorder, so that’s another alternative. Then there can be other alternative medications that can be tried, uh, on occasion if [00:26:00] everything else has failed and someone really has a true binge eating disorder and with a heavier set body mass.
They have, um, other metabolic complications like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes for that matter. They may be an acceptable, you know, option, uh, with a high BMI. But if binge eating is accompanied, uh, with restriction and, uh, a lower BMI below 25 and there is significant concern for disordered eating and restriction and a history of anorexia.
Um, certainly GLP ones can actually trigger way more problems than benefits. So, um, yeah, so I think this should be used as a last resort in that scenario. And only when binge eating disorder is an actual diagnosis. Oftentimes we see that, uh, binge eating is happening in the context of a bigger eating disorder picture with restriction, and patients are asking for a medication and they come with diagnosis of binge eating.
But it’s not actually true binge eating [00:27:00] disorder. It’s actually binge eating in the context of restriction, which is not diagnosed as binge eating disorder, which is other specified eating disorder, and GLP ones are certainly not.
Supatra: I will agree wholeheartedly. Uh, many of my clients who’ve come in for difficulties with binge eating, um, I have seen it stem from a restrictive dieting mentality along with a lot of other psychological factors. And that’s the other area that I just wanna, to emphasize for people that there are many complex reasons why we develop problems with eating.
It’s not a strictly physiological problem. Most people who struggle have had some kind of trauma difficulties in childhood, come from abuse, maybe even from, uh, you know, poverty, uh, have some, uh, distorted views on sustenance and its need. There’s so many reasons. So I would say that, you know, if you are [00:28:00] struggling with binging, and especially if it’s coming from
being in a dieting mentality and not being able to handle that or control that anymore and swinging over to binging these medications are not going to help you. They will definitely exacerbate that restrictive cycle, which. Then we see, especially if you get off those medications, contribute to the binge cycle.
So it is so important to talk to somebody who can help you work through these issues. A therapist, a psychologist, will be your best bet in that area. And then you can also work in a multidisciplinary approach if you really want to improve your eating. Going to somebody who’s a haze, um. Aligned dietician will also help you because they will keep you away from that dieting and restrictive mentality and provide you this, the dietary, uh, education that you will need to improve your [00:29:00] overall health, which may include your weight and it may not.
It just might just improve overall physical and mental health. And I think that’s what we really need to emphasize on some more. So for you. Dr. Vikas What is, uh, down the pike for you? Where do you plan to take your practice and what do you see for psychiatry in general, in your area in the future?
Vikas: Yeah. Thank you. Great question. So I’m very optimistic about the future of psychiatry, uh, and, uh, mind body medicine in general. I think we are headed towards a true mind body conversions model with so much, uh, conversations and overlaps and how the mind body connection is being studied. Um, I expect in the next five to 10 years, um, quite a few major shifts.
One. Uh, I anticipate that personalized psychiatry [00:30:00] will, um, meet a lot of metabolic data. There’ll be a lot more genomics, microbiome testing. There’ll be also a lot of variable technology that may help, uh, match treatments to emotional and metabolic profiles. Then, as you already mentioned, uh, there’s a lot more, uh, uh, understanding and importance of multidisciplinary treatments.
A lot more integrated care teams including, uh, uh, dieticians, obesity medicine physicians, psychiatrists and therapists will be working together, not in parallel silos as they do mostly now. Um, and then, um, I do also think that metabolic mental health will become mainstream. Uh, we’ll see that nutrition, inflammation, and circadian rhythm, uh, are treated, uh, and discussed as primary levers for mood disorders, not as side notes.
And, uh, the future really will belong to clinicians who can read both the lab values and the life stories and, uh, you know, treat, uh, [00:31:00] patients with compassion and, uh, really, uh, utilize, uh, the precision medicine and other, uh, medical advances that might happen in the next few years.
Supatra: Yay. I’d love to hear that. You know, when I was, um, interviewing for my doctoral program and I was coming out of my nutritional science program, the person interviewing me asked why I was going in a different direction. And I was like, I was like, what do you mean I’m going in the same direction? And I think that that’s where we’re seeing a lot more people becoming aligned with nutritional psychology and psychiatry.
That our physical health is 100% connected to our mental health and vice versa. And if we can understand, uh, what food. You know, all these lifestyle factors can do to help or harm us. We can improve people’s health. So I love to hear you say that, and I love how aligned you are with me. [00:32:00] It’s been such a pleasure to sit here with you, Vic.
I, I just think you’re a wealth of knowledge. You’re such a kind, compassionate, and gentle person, and you really do have a wealth of knowledge. So how can people find you? How can they work with you? Give us all the four one one please.
Vikas: Absolutely. Well, the best way to get ahold of uh, me is through our practice website, wellnesspsychiatry.com. Uh, we offer telepsychiatry and holistic wellness consultations for adults and adolescents as well as children in, uh, several states, including California and New York. And, uh, today’s been a enlightening and practical conversation.
I really appreciate, uh, you inviting me.
Supatra: Oh, absolutely. And I would love to have you back on here some more and pick your brain some more. ’cause you are just incredible wealth of knowledge. So you guys, oh my gosh, we were blessed today. Thank you, Vic, for coming on the podcast. I am so grateful. And thank [00:33:00] you everyone for tuning into the ANEW Insight podcast.
I’m looking forward to the next exciting interview and really hope you join me next time.
Vikas: Thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure.
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