Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil, is one of the recognized smart drugs with cognitive-enhancing effects. It is advised to people having excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, or shift work sleep disorder.
The role of modafinil as a cognitive enhancer and brain supercharger is well-documented, but its appetite-suppressant essence is often talked over as a secondary effect.
Obesity is caused not only by a behavioral disorder such as lack of self-control but also by physically getting addicted to foods rich in sugar and fat – this is where an appetite suppressant could help.
Researchers have found that impulsive behavior could lead to food addiction and discovered that modafinil can help reduce that impulsivity and eventually food addiction, acting as an appetite suppressant.
Prof. Ivo Vlaev of Imperial College London (ICL) said, “We found modafinil, which is already on the market, did reduce people’s impulsive behavior,” according to Science Daily.
“It has been shown to reduce impulsiveness in a variety of disorders such as alcohol dependence, schizophrenia and ADHD,” he continued. “Food addicts suffer from the same neurobiological conditions so we believe it will help food addicts as well and our initial tests have backed up that theory.”
“This could have important implications for people who are obese,” Prof. Vlaev added. “There is mounting evidence to show that there is a substantial number of obese people who are food addicts because they have an inability to control their impulsive actions and this drug has shown it can give them more control, which will help overweight people lose weight and so improve their health.”
The ICL researchers found that those who had taken modafinil had a significantly reduced level of impulsiveness.
“Modafinil was found to have an effect on impulsivity in healthy individuals and so would be able to have an even bigger effect on food addicts, who are lacking in certain types of dopamine,” Prof. Vlaev explained. “This drug could be a real help to those people struggling to control their desire for food even though they know they should lose weight.”
He added. “The drug improves self-control, which is a key factor in determining obesity, so our hypothesis is that this drug should help in treating the disease.”
Modafinil has been known to help suppress appetite without affecting the level of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
Although the exact mechanism of modafinil in inhibiting appetite is unknown, it was believed that it improves the secretion of orexin, a brain chemical that regulates appetite and wakefulness. In addition, modafinil also acts on histamine, another brain chemical that regulates appetite, sleep, and arousal.
