Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy • Hacker News Board

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#371

Post by sekai » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #274

heraldgeezer wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

One of the heaviest people I worked with only ate one meal a day.

> One of the heaviest people I worked with only ate one meal a day.

People usually lie or have no idea how many calories they consume.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#372

Post by darkwater » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #313

bluedino wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 rea…

Yep, totally agree. Point 3 is probably a bit moot with apples but applies to almost every vegetable out there. But IMO the best selling point for unhealthy, sugar-rich snacks is easy of storage. You go to the supermarket and can buy 1 month of snacks easily, you cannot do it with fruits.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#373

Post by __alexs » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #290

__alexs wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Are overweight but non-obese people unable to get GLP1s in Germany?

You need a BMI >30 or a BMI >27 + some risk factor like high blood pressure.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#374

Post by staticassertion » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

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…

> I also have craving as everyone else,

I laughed at loud at this. What an insane thing to claim. "I can experience the qualia of others, quantify it, and claim that mine is identical" lol

Also it's empirically false that all people experience the same level of craving. We have studies demonstrating different dopamine responses etc.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#375

Post by vladvasiliu » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #305

vladvasiliu wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

According to [0] the overweight rate looks stable, but obesity went up.

[0] https://www.obesitefrance.fr/lobesite-cest-quoi/les-chiffres...

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#376

Post by rootusrootus » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

ChromaticPanic wrote: post #127

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #53

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…

Maybe a bias on wealthier households in the US who can afford these drugs. Personally, my total food spending is down 30%. GLP 1 is $66CAD after insurance.

I can't say exactly what the numbers are, but anecdotally, there are a lot of "research" users buying tirz (and reta, for that matter) for a few bucks a week on the gray market. The better known sources sell out batches in a week or two, which amounts to 750K-1M worth of product (at gray prices, not retail). There's a reason you're starting to see regular news stories about it.

I'm curious how these below-the-radar users skew the numbers. Maybe not at all?

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#377

Post by gpt5 » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

elil17 wrote: post #277

notdang wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/... Here are some first steps: Earlier this year, Conagra started labeling some of its Healthy Choice frozen meals with high protein and fiber as "GLP-1 friendly." A spokesperson said those meals are selling faster than rival products making similar claims on their packaging. The company plans to introduce new Healthy Choice recipes with the same labeling in…

I don't really understand how this is big food "winning against GLP-1 agonists." Aren't they just selling healthier meals with smaller portion sizes?

They are eating healthier, the above is not at all evidence for the original claim.

All research on GLP-1 diet changes shows that people on GLP-1 naturally shift away from junk snacks, soda, and fast food. With a significant increase in high protein food, especially "mushy" one like yogurt and cottage.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#378

Post by jrockway » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

devilbunny wrote: post #83

Raed667 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is for sure expensive (~300€ / month) but from my understanding nothing like the prices you see in the US (+2'000 $)

I've known several users of GLP1's. None ever paid more than $600/mo for them once the "patient assistance" programs started, and even in the very earliest days the prices I heard were never more than about $1100 if paid in cash. So, while they are very expensive, your understanding is not reflective of the situation on the ground.

Yeah, Zepbound is $499 now. Out of reach of many, but an improvement from $549 last year.

The terms and conditions are confusing. You can only use the half-off coupon they provide if you have prescription drug insurance. Even if insurance doesn't cover it, they still require the processing pharmacy to check that you have some sort of valid insurance and only process the coupon if so. If you fall into that bucket, it's $1200 or something. (Had to pay that amount one month because Amazon Pharmacy was very confused about my gender marker changing on my insurance. Many, many support tickets later, and it got fixed.)

There is also some price difference between the autoinjector and the single-use vial + provide your own needle and syringe. I haven't looked into that because it's the same with the coupon, but if you can't get the coupon to work, it's an option to just inject it yourself. Honestly I prefer not using the autoinjectors (I inject other medications), but it's the path of least resistance.

Finally, the coupon claims it only works for 7 fills, but I've been taking the medication for a couple years and all my fills have been covered. I don't really understand it. I have a feeling that I'm the only person in the world that read the fine print, including the pharmacies and manufacturer :/

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#379

Post by staticassertion » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

phkahler wrote: post #175

brianpbeau wrote: post #71

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…

>> 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. It's not genetic, this is just your family refusing to take responsibility for their own eating habits. The proof is people who have bariatric surgery so that they can't eat as much, and people on GLP 1 drugs so they aren't hungry. Both…

You're assuming something they didn't say. Genetics might mean a poorer response to GLP1, or a poorer metabolic response to specific hormones, or how we observe that people with ADHD have poorer eating habits, or if you're genetically smaller then your metabolism may be smaller, blah blah blah. There are many genetic factors that obviously impact weight.

We know that alcoholism is genetic, addition is genetic, etc, and those are just tiny subsets of problems that genetics are involved in.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#380

Post by rootusrootus » Mon, Jan 12, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

alphazard wrote: post #357

Strange to think that the whole obesity epidemic was essentially people buying 5% more calories than they should have.

Only strange because everyone who likes to be holier-than-thou claims the problem is all about stuffing your face with candy. Your number is off by as much as a factor of 10, by the way. The average American gains a pound a year or so, which is 1% or even less of a surplus.