Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

news.cornell.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 985 posts

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#261

Post by nathanyz »

lm28469 wrote: post #207
infecto wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have access to the same food as everyone else, I also have craving as everyone else, but as hairless monkeys we evolved a brain able to bypass instant rewards for future goals. My step dad was obese and blamed everything and everyone but himself. We installed an app to count calories on his ipad, he lost 1/3rd of his bodyweight in less than a year and he's now cruising at an healthy weight, it really isn't rocket s…

What if some people's hunger is louder than others? What if your expended willpower to not overeat is a lot less than what is required by others?

I ask these as that is what the GLP-1's are showing. They change the hunger feeling and it might just be that you and others got lucky with a lower hunger feeling than others. There is no objective measure of food noise, but I think we all need to be open to the possibility that the food noise is different for different people and its not all willpower or laziness.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#262

Post by napkinartist »

bigfishrunning wrote: post #187
temp8830 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. The American way of life traps people in a zoo. There is nothing to do other than work (if you are lucky), eat, and consume junk media. For ones who are poor the only difference is the degree to which the food is also junk.

This is patently false -- there is plenty to do besides consume junk media; the fact that our population is addicted to the dopamine associated with short-form video doesn't mean that there aren't other options. I've made a concerted effort to consume less "junk media" in the last couple of years. In that time I've gotten an Amateur radio licence, I've built a couple of keyboards and speakers, I've started golfing (a…

I don't think you understand the situation the parent is describing. Golf is a luxury. Baking one's own bread is a huge luxury.

For a lot of people, finding the time to do either (let alone the financial outlay) is impossible.

You want to tell single parent working two jobs in an apartment that's moldy to "try playing golf. Read more!"?

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#264

Post by bmicraft »

oklahomasports wrote: post #81
spiderfarmer wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in the US for 4 weeks as a tourist, the amount of additional time and effort it takes in the US to eat healthy is mind boggling.

All the ingredients you get in Europe you can get in the US easily

Truly spoken like someone who's never been out of their region.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#265

Post by CGMthrowaway »

Aurornis wrote: post #178
carlmr wrote: 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…

> In my friend circle in Germany I don't even know one single person on this stuff. Most people don’t announce when they’re taking a new medication. GLP-1 drugs are popular in Germany, too. Not quite to the level of some other countries but a quick search shows about 1 in 12 individuals in Germany. Note that the US number quoted above was for households not individuals, so the numbers of households in Germany with at…

>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.

I had the same question and did some back of the envelope math. The data I have seen says the average American eats 400-700 excess daily calories, and 3600 daily calories total. That means 10-20% excess per person. If everyone started eating the right amount overnight, grocery spend would drop 10-20%.

But since it's 16% on these drugs, and figure since they are Losing Weight (not maintaining), safe to say those 16% of Americans are eating 20-30% less... 20-30% times 16% = 3-5% decrease in spend.

So it tracks, roughly. And we are not at the bottom yet.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#267

Post by wasabi991011 »

jhanschoo wrote: post #134
mistahenry wrote: post #43

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…

> I can buy pre-chopped Cole slaw, diced peppers / onions, etc. These accessible food options come with a premium that I strongly suspect put them out of what a median income household can sustainably afford.

I'm not sure I believe that.

Not to mention the median income (in PPP) is higher in the US all but 4 countries.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/median-in...

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#268

Post by lm28469 »

nathanyz wrote: post #261
lm28469 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have access to the same food as everyone else, I also have craving as everyone else, but as hairless monkeys we evolved a brain able to bypass instant rewards for future goals. My step dad was obese and blamed everything and everyone but himself. We installed an app to count calories on his ipad, he lost 1/3rd of his bodyweight in less than a year and he's now cruising at an healthy weight, it really isn't rocket s…

What if some people's hunger is louder than others? What if your expended willpower to not overeat is a lot less than what is required by others? I ask these as that is what the GLP-1's are showing. They change the hunger feeling and it might just be that you and others got lucky with a lower hunger feeling than others. There is no objective measure of food noise, but I think we all need to be open to the possibility…

They still have a brain capable of complex thoughts and should be able to prioritise long term health over short term pleasures.

Again I don't really care, I managed to help people around me following this dead simple recipe, if you want to make excuses for yourself or others go ahead and suffer. Suffering from obesity is much harder on the body and soul than "suffering" from skipping a snack or counting calories

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#269

Post by jacobthesnakob »

giuliomagnifico wrote: post #7
nemomarx wrote: post #2

> “The data show clear changes in food spending following adoption,” Hristakeva said. “After discontinuation, the effects become smaller and harder to distinguish from pre-adoption spending patterns.” It's interesting that overall spending doesn't decrease that much in the end, although shifting from snacks to fruit is the kind of change health advocates have always wanted?

After discontinuation of Ozempic, people start to gain the weight again (and buy again more food), that’s why the spending changes again.

Which is no surprise to anybody with common sense, the data for discontinuing GLP-1s show exactly the intuitive outcome. Zero diet change, zero habit change for the vast majority of users. Weight loss is accomplished via biochemical tricks to eat less volume of calorie dense junk food, rather than diet substitution. When the artificial appetite suppression ends, volume of the same food increases again leading to weight yo-yo. Plus why start to exercise when you’ve got a magic weight loss drug?

Don’t get me wrong, there are some people using these drugs to get out of a pit of inertia with weight and sedentary lifestyles. But it’s small. GLP-1 drugs will have most users hooked for life because they don’t have the discipline and motivation to maintain the weight loss without it. Cha-Ching!

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#270

Post by wtcactus »

wil421 wrote: post #250
wtcactus wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced the same, and no it isn’t. In Europe you don’t expect your bread to have added sugar, for instance. That tasted disgustingly. You also don’t normally expect sweeteners in your meat. Those sauces are also disgusting. Good beef meat (and in the USA there’s very good meat), needs only salt and maybe a bit of pepper. Not those weird sugary sauces they put in the USA. Seriously, for someone from Europe, some…

What kind place were you eating at the puts sauce on steak? Are you complaining about a BBQ restaurant, they are notoriously unhealthy.

One of those places, was a very fancy restaurant in Washington DC, with photos of presidents dining there hung on its walls.

So, let’s not act like it’s not something normal there. These sugary sauces are everywhere in the USA. From low level to high level eating places.

Post reply on HN