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Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

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Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#61
post #47
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…

[dead]

Germany is at 24% obesity rate and the US is about 10% higher.

But the trend is the same worldwide. Obesity is on the rise. I don't think demographics has as big of an influence as you assume.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#62
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not read dismissive to me. They are surprised, yet not necessarily judging those who use it. There can be a discussion about the perverse incentives of systems without judging the individuals.

> not necessarily judging those who use it. He implies that people who are using Ozempic are eating too much processed food. And more or less also that mostly Americans eat processed food?

It's actually true that American's eat mostly processed food ... (Canadian's are not much better at just under 50%)

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ultra-processed-food-consum...

https://nutri.it.com/who-eats-the-most-processed-food-a-glob...

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#63
post #17
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…

Your friend circle in Germany probably doesn't have many members who were a proud big boned 5"7' 300lbs (~140kg).

For good reason.

That'd be a BMI of 47. There isn't a lot of statistical data for such high BMIs, but [1] lists prevalence of BMI>40. In Germany 1.2% of men and 2.8% of women had a BMI over 40 in 2011, in the US it was 5.6% and 9.7% respectively in 2016. That's nearly four times as many as in Germany.

1: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7078951/

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#64
post #57
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.

this is the remains of the moral outrage that was online and in the media a few years ago when ozympic was first mediatised

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#65

That is pretty astonishing given 10% of Americans use semaglutide / tirzepitide. > Spending on savory snacks dropped by about 10%, with similarly large decreases in sweets, baked goods and cookies. Even staples like bread, meat and eggs declined. I can't read the paper (paywall), but that means something like the 10% of Americans who are on it must switch to purchasing almost no junk food.

It's the change for households where at least one person is taking it, not the entire population. So the effect size doesn't seem that large considering

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#66
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in europe there is a social stigma around GLP-1 drugs, a lot of people considered it cheating and lazy, so a lot of people don't dare talk about their usage

In Austria I have noticed a massive social stigma. I think that's embarrassing and backwards. As someone who is very athletic and takes nothing extraordinary besides creatine and whey protein I fully support anyone who wants to become healthier, with or without medication.

In my experience this is not healthy. People who had problems with weight are very quickly losing excess weight and displaying a range of symptoms related to that including sunken and starved looking faces and significant loss of lean muscle mass. Changes made to the face with rapid weight loss may become permanent and especially for older people the loss of lean muscle mass can become a major health problem. Sudden extreme changes in body composition are often neither healthy nor stable.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#67
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…

Obesity is not evenly distributed by age or demographic. If you're a relatively young person in the workforce, you probably don't know such people. But it is true that obesity is much less prevalent in most of Europe. Even the places with less "healthy" diets, suprisingly.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#68
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…

The overall food quality in Germany is significantly higher than in the US. Visit an Aldi or Lidl in Germany, then visit one in the US; night and day difference in food quality.

You can tell Germany cares for its population via food regulation and from what's offered; whereas, it's a toxic trash heap in America solved with drugs or paying a higher premium for healthier items. The healthier items in America should be a baseline instead of pricing out people. Feels like Americans are paying for a premium upfront or downstream via pharmaceutical/healthcare solutions.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#69
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?

> 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.

Re: Ozempic is changing the foods Americans buy

#70
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... do you have any evidence to back up this claim?

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…

Why wouldn't they have already been looking for a way to make their food more palatable? There was already a lot of money on the line
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