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Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

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Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#311

Post by kube-system »

Mashimo wrote: post #57
Foivos wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The social stigma in Europe exists, because these drugs are in limited supply. So, if a person who does not really need them is using them, the people who actually need them to stay alive might have difficulty accessing them.

> because these drugs are in limited supply That's the first time I hear about this. A close friend of mine uses it and she just goes to the pharmacy. Never heard about any problems with supply.

Here's a short history of the official shortage statuses for various GLP1s from the FDA:

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-c...

Currently, only Liraglutide is officially in shortage. Although others have been in shortage in the last couple years.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#312

Post by FatherOfCurses »

nemomarx wrote: post #84
francisofascii wrote: post #14

> a handful of categories showed increases. Yogurt rose the most, followed by fresh fruit, nutrition bars and meat snacks. Interesting. Wonder what it is about yogurt and ozempic users. Probiotics?

I'd believe probiotics are involved. It seems to cause some gut issues as digestion slows down, so you really want to stay on top of fiber and a few other things?

Yeah, I found out the hard way about that about two weeks into my journey and it was not a pleasant experience.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#313

Post by sjsdaiuasgdia »

bluedino wrote: post #287
sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Maybe I should have compared individuals then. One apple can be had for less than dollar and one snack cake is over a dollar Either way people should be eating apples, bananas, pears (as well as cheese, nuts...), instead of snack cakes.

When you think of it in the context of a person with not much cash or time to work with, there's other advantages Little Debbie brings...

- It's extremely unlikely that any of the snack cakes in a particular box on the shelf have gone bad or have rotten areas. They must carefully inspect a bag of apples for brown spots or risk getting less usable product than they paid for.

- The snack cakes can sit at home for a really long time and still be usable. The apples have a much shorter shelf life. This makes bulk pricing more attractive for the snack cakes as there's a better chance all of the product can be used before it goes bad.

- The apples require more preparation, dependent on preferences. Yes, you can grab an apple out of the bag and chow down. A lot of folks will want to wash it first. Some will want to cut it into pieces, or peel it, or do some other prep to it before eating. Snack cakes are pretty much always eaten as they are.

Add it all up and it starts to become clearer why a lot of economically disadvantaged folks end up making "bad" choices around food. All of these points could be mitigated in various ways, but generally they would increase the financial and/or time costs.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#314

Post by rconti »

alistairSH wrote: post #259

I'm confused by the language... Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. A household doesn't take Ozempic, a person does. Are they implying that if everybody in the household takes Ozempic, as a group they see a 5% reduction? Or, any one person in the household causes a 5% reduction for the group? The average household in the US is 2.5 people...

Presumably it's difficult to figure out individual grocery spending, so they measured the household level spending.

So when one (or more) people in a household begins taking the drug, the household spending goes down by that much.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#315

Post by rconti »

iambateman wrote: post #76

My initial question was whether this 5% was overall or just for households with someone using ozempic. It looks like it’s just for users, not across the board.

Households that contain one or more users.

> 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

#316

Post by FatherOfCurses »

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.

People must be getting prescribed this medication in a vacuum without any corresponding nutritional guidance. I can't see any way of going back to my previous eating habits, mainly because I've really had my eyes opened to how mindless some of my eating was before.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#317

Post by alexfoo »

It's not just GLP-1 type drugs.

My grocery spending has fallen significantly since I started ADHD medication. Both lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate absolutely zeroed my appetite. When I walk around a grocery store I'm no longer tempted by anything I didn't actively go in to buy. This is a huge shift from my pre-medication days.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#318

Post by siliconc0w »

This is why if we can get them down to ~$50 I think they are clearly +ROI just on the individual level.

I snack, drink less, and feel like eating out significantly less. Or when I do those things, I eat the take-out meal over multiple-meals. 1-2 less takeaway meals and a svelter grocery bill due to the less booze or snacks probably is at least $50 if not more.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#320

Post by phil21 »

__alexs wrote: post #279
Aurornis wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

1 in 12 is wild. That means about 50% of all obese germans are on GLP-1s.

It also likely includes T2 diabetics, where these meds are more or less best-in-class treatment now.
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