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Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

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Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#191
post #6

>The share of U.S. households reporting at least one user rose from about 11% in late 2023 to more than 16% by mid-2024. I was wondering how you could get such a high impact overall. But it seems one in 6 households are on GLP-1 drugs in the US. In my friend circle in Germany I don't even know one single person on this stuff. It's insane to me that so many people need these to get off the processed foods killing them…

Americans (and increasingly us Europeans) are pigs. The society is built to sit in a chair 8h, get in your car and drive 1h home and sit in a chair. Then repeat. Also "eating 3 meals a day" I eat 3 full meals, I blow up like a balloon. I don't get it. It's like they have to constantly eat. When I was a teen or in my 20s yes. Now in my 30s its game over. It is also the way society, public transport, cities are designe…

>> I walk 4km to work when its nice out here in Europe. Could I do that in the USA?

I had a business trip to Germany (from the US) and found it enlightening. We all went out to eat after work one night and a couple of the local Germans had to walk 20 minutes from the restaurant to the train station to go home and didn't think anything of it. It wasn't a big deal to walk, but you'd never do that here in the US - or at least in Michigan where we have no real public transportation.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#192
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there is argument to be made that the path of least resistance is very different in the US, Europe and Asia. I think maybe by living abroad you have adapted by default to a path (shaped by the environment) to eat more healthy. In the US I heard there is now parity in terms of quality products, but maybe culture takes some time to adapt to such environments.

I agree that when it comes to portion size and whole foods, Europe makes it easy to follow by example. FWIW, I ate healthy in the US before because I rock climbed and needed to maintain a very lean mass. If I wanted to cut weight in Indonesia, it was easy: just eat their portion size, and I'd come in below maintenance. What I've seen consistently amongst the non-healthy eating Americans is that they argue: 1. Dieting…

Here's some advice on all 3, and I don't even ask you to buy my supplements :)

1. Practicing a healthy diet is self-love

2. A daily treat is not what breaks your diet. Have _a piece_ of chocolate, sweets or snacks now and then. If you (still) lack the self-control to not eat the whole package, help yourself out by repackaging in daily-compatible portions. Meaning is not gained by consuming anyway.

3. Taste preferences are in big parts a matter of habit. Also prepping doesn't necessitate you eat the same thing for a week. You can freeze a lot of things for longer and thaw them in a mixed manner.

Imo the issue is that people seem to lack a combination of knowledge, time to prep or motivation. Lack of knowledge could be solved with information campaigns, lack of time/motivation is a consequence of people having to spend so much of their time doing a dayjob just to get by, embedded in a culture that puts no value on thriving humans.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#193

Yet they seem to be spending more in restaurants: > Ozempic Users Actually Spend More Dining Out. > ..In casual dining establishments, they spend 25% more than non-GLP-1 households do, the market researcher says. Data firm Numerator shares similar findings, noting that while GLP-1 users report eating out less and cooking at home more, their spending says otherwise: “Verified purchase data reveals that their fast-food…

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Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a prediction. Not a terribly unreasonable one as far as I can see. If a drug can move 5% of the ~trillion dollars spent on groceries in the US, there's a lot of money available for clawing those 5% back. Demanding evidence for predictions like this is a bit... hm. Arrogant, maybe. A prediction is a commitment. We want people to make predictions. The evidence we get when those predictions come true or not. Would…

Wanting evidence for random claims is arrogant? I'd say magical thinking is whats arrogant.

A prediction is not a claim.

Predictions operate on events that will happen in the future.

Proofs typically operate on things that already exist.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#195
post #6

>The share of U.S. households reporting at least one user rose from about 11% in late 2023 to more than 16% by mid-2024. I was wondering how you could get such a high impact overall. But it seems one in 6 households are on GLP-1 drugs in the US. In my friend circle in Germany I don't even know one single person on this stuff. It's insane to me that so many people need these to get off the processed foods killing them…

I don't know a single person on it either (USA), but it's not exactly something that people talk about. I am naturally quite thin, as is the rest of my family, but there's certainly no shortage of hefty people here.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just processed foods, there is also a genetic struggle as well. Looking at my family living in the US and in the EU, being overweight is a thing for a large portion of us. Even in my grandparents generation of family had issues as well, and they were all blue collar manual workers that lived before processed foods. This is not to say you are wrong. The food supply in the US is not healthy. The bad news is th…

> there is also a genetic struggle as well. Weird that it virtually did not exist pre ww2 and that it now affects 75%+ of your population

I am not sure the genetic angle but there definitely is something happening at a craving level in the way the mind is responding.

On the flip side I don’t think your comment holds much weight either. A large portion of the population worked trade jobs and the access junk food was a lot less prevalent. You kind of have a good recipe for unhealthy population now. Low quality foods and less activity.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's interesting that overall spending doesn't decrease that much in the end Only after discontinuation. GLP-1s should be considered chronic medication for most people.

There was an interesting study recently that showed coming off actually caused weight re-gain an order of magnitude worse than yo-yo dieting. The media spun it as GLP-1’s being evil and pointless, quelle surprise, but really it hints towards obesity being more than just “fixing your relationship with food” and acknowledging that there is more we don’t understand about why some people are fatter than others despite si…

Citation? Sounds dubious

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can buy a bag of apples for less than what a pack of Little Debbie snacks cost.

I decided to check one of my local grocery stores because I honestly wasn't sure where they stood relative to each other. Most Little Debbie varieties, for a standard package containing 6 or 12 items depending on the size of the items, are listed at $3.19. Apples are commonly sold in 3 pound bags, which the internet suggests would contain 6-12 apples depending on the variety of apple and individual sizing. The 3 poun…

Calorie wise you'd need to 2-3 apples to equal most Little Debbie snacks, but in terms of satiation the opposite is true.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#199
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A consequence of universal healthcare that people don't talk about much is that it turns unhealthy citizens from an individual cost into more of a collective one. So it makes sense that countries with universal healthcare regulate in favor of their citizens as opposed to their food industry, because they're paying for the consequences more directly.

Not that this affects the political calculus (where perception may as well be reality), but the cost burden specific to universal healthcare is actually opposite this intuition. Things like obesity, smoking, and alcoholism all kill you before you can get too old. Healthy citizens end up using far more of the far more expensive end-of-life care, to the point where it outweighs the extra healthcare the unhealthy citize…

This sounds like an interesting proposition, do you happen to have the numbers to back it up?

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#200
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in Germany and Indonesia. It’s easier for me now back in the US than ever to eat healthy. I can buy pre-chopped Cole slaw, diced peppers / onions, etc. Whole Foods is best in class (Alnatura doesn’t come close) While to me, the layman, it seems health regulation in general in Europe is more conservative about what can be put on the body / be consumed, I think it’s mostly Americans don’t want to eat healthy. A…

Yes, whole foods is great, but if you look are they locations, name Americans don't have access to one and or cannot afford it.

Whole Foods isn’t the only store providing vegetables or pre-cut vegetables.

Even my local Walmart has pre-cut vegetables.

It’s not an affordability issue either. It’s cheaper to buy the same number of calories from vegetables, fruits, and legumes than meat right now. Meat prices are unusually high and it doesn’t seem to be slowing consumption.

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