In a survey of people currently taking GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, 25% of respondents agreed that they had wasted more food since taking these drugs, compared to 61% who were not All right. People nauseated by medications were more likely to report increased food waste. Taking medication for a longer period and eating more vegetables were associated with less food waste.

Ohio State University scientists view this study of consumer behavior as a first effort to consider the effects of these increasingly popular anti-obesity drugs on food production and waste domestically and globally.

“This was a pilot study to begin to look at the implications of these medications and understand which broad food categories are more or less preferred after treatment begins,” said lead author Brian Roe, professor in the Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Development Economics at The Ohio State University.

“The fact that food waste appears to decrease as patients become acclimated to the medication suggests that there may be a fairly simple remedy: informing patients who are new to these medications about the possibility of throwing away food as their diet is changing, which could reduce food waste and reduce their expenses.”

The research was recently published in the journal Nutrients.

In the United States, about a third of food is wasted, and about half is attributable to consumers who waste an average of 1 pound of food per person per day, according to National Academies estimates.

As of spring this year, 6% of U.S. adults reported taking GLP-1 agonists, which treat type 2 diabetes and obesity by acting on a hormone in the small intestine to lower blood sugar, slow emptying of the stomach and signal satiety to the stomach. brain. In the study, almost 70% of respondents were taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy) and almost a quarter were taking terzepatide (Mounjaro).

Researchers surveyed 505 U.S. adults currently taking obesity medications using an online questionnaire focused on sociodemographic factors, personal characteristics, and questions regarding changes in eating habits, weight, and food waste since the start of treatment. Data analysis looked for various influences on participants’ level of agreement with a key statement: “Since taking this medication, I have noticed that I waste more of the food I buy.”

Participants represented a range of ages, household incomes, and education levels, and most had insurance. On average, the group lost 20% of their weight if they had been taking the drug for at least a year.

A quarter of participants who had been taking the drug for a year or more were less likely to report wasting food than people who had been taking the drug for 90 days or less, or about 30% of those surveyed.

Although nausea is the main cause of food waste, the findings suggest another possible influence: changes in preferences and habits that lead people to throw out foods that have fallen out of favor. Overall, participants reported adding produce, protein, fish and healthy fats to their diet and consuming less alcohol, pasta and other carbohydrates, fried foods, sweets and dairy products.

“Meat is neutral in terms of consumption more or less after starting this medication,” Roe said.

Adding vegetables to the diet—the most commonly wasted food group in the United States—was linked to a lower likelihood of food waste, another sign of changing habits that, in this case, involved eating more meals rich in vegetables.

Roe plans another paper examining changes in household finances related to taking anti-obesity medications – in terms of pharmaceutical and food costs. Given the steady increase in the prescribing of GLP-1 agonists, there are broad local and global economic and environmental impacts at stake, he said.

“People who take these drugs will likely spend less on food, but it remains to be seen whether there is a chance of offsetting the cost of the drug by reducing food spending,” he said.

Other research labs have used simulations to show that reducing food consumption at the population level can reduce energy costs, conserve land and water resources, and reduce the creation of greenhouse gases. by preventing discarded food from going to landfill. But given the relative newness of anti-obesity drugs, there is not yet enough data to predict the extent of their societal effects.

“I think it is clear that new obesity drugs have a chance to impact global public health, and research suggests that changes in food consumption may affect indicators of environmental impacts.” , Roe said. “Many critical questions arise when we think about the sustainability of the food and health care systems. »

The first author, Jamil Mansouri, an agricultural economics student at Purdue University, completed this work as a summer intern at Ohio State through the Big Ten Summer Research Opportunities Program Academic Alliance.

This research was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Van Buren Fund at Ohio State, which supports Roe’s chair in the College of Science. food, agriculture and the environment.