A new survey has revealed that folks who’ve adopted GLP-1 receptor antagonist meds for weight loss are spending much less on food. At the same time, they’re reaching out for more nutrient-dense opt-ions, such as fresh produce and yogurt…
Foodsphere observers’ suspicions are have been confirmed – by a new Cornell University (CU) research paper being hailed as, “tiny but important.”
Surprising, but welcome
The CU survey showed that households with at least one GLP-1 antagonist user are significantly re-ducing their grocery spending. It’s a healthy shift in spending on a number levels, actually. Notably, the results showed folks are not only spending less overall, but spending more of their their food budgets on healthier, nutrition-dense foods. The results, overall, were characterised as surprising by welcome.
GLP-1 households were found to have reduced their food spending by an average of 5.5 percent in just the first 3 months after the nominal ‘at least one family member’ started using meds such as Ozempic specifically to aid weight weight loss. Wealthier families have experienced food bill savings of up to 8.6 percent.
What are they eating, now?
Not only did GLP-1 antagonist users spend less, they have been changing their food choices – spon-taneously, it appears – dropping junk foods and adopting more-nutrition-dense options, such as fresh produce and yogurt. But the news isn’t all good.
They’re also adding foods to their diets that appear or sound healthier, but really aren’t. A prime ex-ample of those would be protein, granola and and ‘energy’ bars. They’re billed as ultra-healthy. And they are, for athletes who burn many ore calories than average in a given day. But they’re full of ad-ded sugars, carbs and fats. And as such, are exactly the opposite of ‘healthy’ for the average person.
On the bright side…
GLP-1 meds users made their largest reductions in the worst foods: including, “snack foods, sweets, and other calorie-dense items,” as well as consumables often associated with, “impulse purchases.”
The researchers also found that study subjects reduced their spending on ‘food-away-from-home’ options such as fast food joints, most prominently at breakfast and supper times.
The takeaway…
“Our findings highlight the potential for GLP-1 medications to significantly reshape consumer food demand,” the team wrote in it’s study report summary. Adding that it’s, “a trend with increasingly important implications for the food industry as adoption [of GLP-1 meds] continues to grow.”
We’ll be interested to see where the whole, inititially unexpected GP-1 meds trend goes next. And what it’s eventual outcome may be…
~ Maggie J.