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Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

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Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#301
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…

It's household spending, not nationwide. Presumably you'd see similar findings among German households on "this stuff".

> Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what? Why does that bother you? Is the (European) hatred towards your fellow brothers and sisters so strong that you prefer them to be chronically unhealthy, when there is a solution for them?

idk about them but to me people who don't value their own life and well being to that point are repulsive to me. Such a lack of discipline and self esteem, if you can't even control what you put in your mouth what can you even control? Why even bother if all you're capable of doing is mindless consumption? What can I trust you with if you can't even be trusted with yourself? Also from a purely financial pov they're a…

People are cable of recreating themselves and digging themselves out of holes, sometimes even to later become greatly admirable.

An Ozempic cure might be just the right push needed for someone to start a healthy cycle, which then has massive beneficial effects in all aspects of life for that person, as well as for others.

> Also from a purely financial pov they're a a major strain on the healthcare system

Except for victims of crime, you cannot point to a single adult receiving healthcare services, who is not to blame for "burdening the system". Whether that is obesity as you mention, or chronic injuries, or sports injuries, or traffic accidents, work accidents, any disease spread by virus or bacteria, and so on. All of those could be avoidable, and the patient is solely to blame for that and for "burdening the system".

Europeans generally have the perspective that people are born a certain way and cannot change. That's why it is a continent with immense hatred against the rich and successful, because those are considered inherited statuses, something you get from estates and serfs. That's why so much focus in European politics is to ease out differences instead of striving for success. And naturally, that's why Europeans are (the only people in the world) against Ozempic. Because it's seen as helping people who are inherently bad to cheat on their discipline and gain benefits they don't "deserve". Not as a first step to a great new life for the individual.

Just look at the angry European hackers censoring and [dead]ing the other guy's comment below mine, where an already admirable individual used this medicine for great personal health benefits.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#303
post #36

This headline is a touch misleading as it gives the impression of being across all US households, the quote is: >Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. Among higher-income households, the drop is even steeper, at more than 8%. Spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries falls by about 8%.

That's not "a touch" misleading. It's very misleading.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#304
post #115

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.

My brother was on it for a bit (and should go on it again) and the thing he noted was that it makes it easy to not eat but it gives you no useful habits to keep that up because it's so easy. Which makes sense. I still calorie count everything generally because I know I'll let myself creep portion sizes unchecked.

I don't think it's natural (in the sense of defining health) for adequate homeostasis to require special rituals and constant attention.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#305
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For artificial problems, artificial solutions. I think the state of food in the US is really bad, and one cannot compare such products to the superior EU food quality standards and eating habits (and city designs) which render the incentives really perverse

These drugs are expensive and, at least in France, they're discussing offering them. I think this is the main reason explaining the difference in prevalence between the US and the EU. Despite access to "superior food quality", weight issues are absolutely a problem in the EU, too. Maybe it's not at the same point as in the US, but 51% of the population of the EU (outside Ireland and Germany for some reason) are "over…

I can't get a solid statistic on this, but didn't the obesity rate basically plateau last decade in countries like Italy, France and Germany?

https://data.worldobesity.org/country/france-71/#data_trends

My country (Poland) is an unfortunate leader in childhood obesity (and close to the top in terms of obesity in general), but it's very easy to see why: people live very different lives than they did just 20 years ago.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

I'm not sure how this math checks out. 1lb of fat is roughly 3500 calories. Given 500 calories a day of excess, that would lead to 1lb of fat gain per week. 52 pound average gain per year?

As you gain weight, your base metabolic rate also increases. Having fat means you inherently burn more calories, even if you don’t exercise any more.

Take one person, say they eat 2000 calories to maintain bodyweight. If they start eating 2500 calories a day, they won’t gain 1lb of fat a week forever. As they gain fat, their body naturally burns more calories due to the increased body weight, and eventually a stable weight (higher than their original weight) will be reached.

So yeah if you’re eating 500 calories above your metabolic weight, you’ll theoretically gain weight forever. But in this case your metabolic rate is rising over time, so you would be eating more and more calories per day.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what? Why does that bother you? Is the (European) hatred towards your fellow brothers and sisters so strong that you prefer them to be chronically unhealthy, when there is a solution for them?

idk about them but to me people who don't value their own life and well being to that point are repulsive to me. Such a lack of discipline and self esteem, if you can't even control what you put in your mouth what can you even control? Why even bother if all you're capable of doing is mindless consumption? What can I trust you with if you can't even be trusted with yourself? Also from a purely financial pov they're a…

I hope one day you'll realize how easy it is to be judgmental on the internet and think of people you don't know as somehow less than human. If you think people who "can't control what you put in your mouth" are incapable of self control, you should see the amount of self control it took me not to post the things I wanted to post about you. Try to have more empathy and compassion in your life.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#308
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.

Also price. What percentile of income do you need to feed a family of 4 on Whole Foods?

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#309
post #36

This headline is a touch misleading as it gives the impression of being across all US households, the quote is: >Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. Among higher-income households, the drop is even steeper, at more than 8%. Spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries falls by about 8%.

Thank you. It didn't make sense that if 16% of the population was on these drugs that grocery spending overall would be down over 5%.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how this math checks out. 1lb of fat is roughly 3500 calories. Given 500 calories a day of excess, that would lead to 1lb of fat gain per week. 52 pound average gain per year?

As you gain weight, your base metabolic rate also increases. Having fat means you inherently burn more calories, even if you don’t exercise any more. Take one person, say they eat 2000 calories to maintain bodyweight. If they start eating 2500 calories a day, they won’t gain 1lb of fat a week forever. As they gain fat, their body naturally burns more calories due to the increased body weight, and eventually a stable…

Fat does not raise your metabolism by a lot (relatively), and tiny changes in diet lead to massive swings in the equilibrium implied by basal metabolic rate formulas. In fact, some formulas do not include weight due to body fat. If you think about it, that fact touches on the idea that your natural weight is being maintained by another body system, one related to GLP-1.

By the way... if humans had to count calories to not accidentally starve or die from overeating, we would not have made it long enough as a species to invent a scientific way to do that. Even the diets of obese or overweight individuals are being naturally regulated, because anyone could physically eat even more.

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