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PORTSIDE CULTURE
OZEMPIC IS CHANGING THE FOODS AMERICANS BUY
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Laura Reiley
December 19, 2025
Cornell Chronicle
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_ 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 more than 8%. Spending at fast-food
restaurants and coffee shops fell at about 8% _
Among the food categories that showed increases, yogurt rose the
most, followed by fresh fruit, nutrition bars and meat snacks.,
jeannetteferrary.photoshelter.com
When Americans begin taking appetite-suppressing drugs like Ozempic
and Wegovy, the changes extend well beyond the bathroom scale.
According to new research, the medications are associated with
meaningful reductions in how much households spend on food, both at
the grocery store and at restaurants.
The study, published Dec. 18
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the Journal of Marketing Research, links survey data on GLP-1
receptor agonist use – a class of drugs originally developed for
diabetes and now widely prescribed for weight loss – with detailed
transaction records from tens of thousands of U.S. households. The
result is one of the most comprehensive looks yet at how GLP-1
adoption is associated with changes in everyday food purchasing in the
real world.
The headline finding is striking: 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%.
Among households who continue using the medication, lower food
spending persists at least a year, though the magnitude of the
reduction becomes smaller over time, say co-authors, assistant
professor Sylvia Hristakeva
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professor Jura Liaukonyte
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in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in
the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.
“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.”
Unlike previous studies that relied on self-reported eating habits,
the new analysis draws on purchase data collected by Numerator, a
market research firm that tracks grocery and restaurant transactions
for a nationally representative panel of about 150,000 households. The
researchers matched those records with repeated surveys asking whether
household members were taking GLP-1 drugs, when they started and why.
That combination allowed the team to compare adopters with similar
households that did not use the drugs, isolating changes that occurred
after medication began.
The reductions were not evenly distributed across the grocery store.
Ultra-processed, calorie-dense foods – the kinds most closely
associated with cravings – saw the sharpest declines. 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.
Only a handful of categories showed increases. Yogurt rose the most,
followed by fresh fruit, nutrition bars and meat snacks.
“The main pattern is a reduction in overall food purchases. Only a
small number of categories show increases, and those increases are
modest relative to the overall decline,” Hristakeva said.
The effects extended beyond the supermarket. Spending at
limited-service restaurants such as fast-food chains and coffee shops
fell sharply as well.
The study also sheds light on who is taking GLP-1 medications. 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. Weight-loss users skew
younger and wealthier, while those taking the drugs for diabetes are
older and more evenly distributed across income groups.
Notably, about one-third of users stopped taking the medication during
the study period. When they did, their food spending reverted to
pre-adoption levels – and their grocery baskets became slightly less
healthy than before they started, driven in part by increased spending
on categories such as candy and chocolate.
That movement underscores an important limitation, the authors
caution. The study cannot fully separate the biological effects of the
drugs from other lifestyle changes users may make at the same time.
However, evidence from clinical trials, combined with the observed
reversion in spending after discontinuation, suggests appetite
suppression is likely a key mechanism behind the spending changes.
The findings carry implications far beyond individual households.
For food manufacturers, restaurants and retailers, widespread GLP-1
adoption could mean long-term shifts in demand, particularly for snack
foods and fast food. Package sizes, product formulations and marketing
strategies may need to change. For policymakers and public-health
experts, the results add context to ongoing debates about the role of
medical treatments in shaping dietary behavior – and whether
biologically driven appetite changes succeed where taxes and labels
have struggled.
“At current adoption rates, even relatively modest changes at the
household level can have meaningful aggregate effects,” Hristakeva
said. “Understanding these demand shifts is therefore important for
assessing food markets and consumer spending.”
* diet control
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* diet
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* GLP-1
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* appetite drugs
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* diabetes
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