How Ozempic is changing the way America eats, travels and lives

The owners of Plus Bus Boutique, a consignment store in Los Angeles that buys and sells plus-size clothing, noticed something odd last summer.

“We’re getting an alarming number of plus-size models,” says co-owner Marcy Guevara-Prete.

Jen Wilder, another Plus Bus owner, isn’t entirely surprised that customers are emptying out their wardrobes.

“There was a lot of talk (among their clients) about going smaller,” she says. And the reason, in their opinion, is most likely Ozempic. “The drug has a big effect,” says Guevara-Prete.

There was similar news in the retail trade.

Poshmark, a platform for used fashion clothing, announced in August that they had a 103% increase in plus size clothing listings and 78% more new products with the phrase “weight loss” included somewhere in the description.

Impact Analytics, a retail forecasting company, proposed that a 12 percent increase in sales of sizes XXS, XS and S and an 11 percent decrease in sales of sizes XXL, XL and L can only be explained by the “Ozempi phenomenon.”

Ozempic—or any of the other GLP-1 diet drugs that include Vegovi and Muniaro—didn’t just change our nation’s waistlines.

It has changed the way we eat, celebrate, exercise, travel, dress and talk about health and beauty.

Just last year Ozempic sponsored Olympic Games in Parisbecame a sensation at the July fashion week in Berlin: the model walked the catwalk inT-shirt “I love Ozempic” – and the reason why a large chain of stores Walmart claims that food sales have fallen. Injecting drugs send the message that ultra-thin models are back in fashion, a return to “nothing tastes better than feeling skinny» era of the 1990s.

GLP-1 drugs existed in one form or another. since 2005originally introduced as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.

But how July report The number of patients taking drugs like Ozempic for weight loss more than doubled between 2011 and 2023, while the number of patients taking the diabetes drug fell by 10%, according to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

The number of prescriptions for GLP-1 is increasing among young people. almost 600% from 2020.

Based on 2024 data. Gallup poll6% of Americans, or 15.5 million people, have used or are using injectable drugs for weight loss.

We’ve come a long way since Jimmy Kimmel teased audiences on Oscar 2023 c: “I can’t help but wonder if Ozempic is right for me?”

Over the past year, celebrities from Rebel Wilson And Tori Spelling To Kelly Clarkson And Tracy Morgan publicly admitted that they took drugs to lose weight.

Katy Perry, who denies using the drug, handed out mini-syringes with OzempiKP marking (jokingly) at his recent 40th birthday.

Even Oprah Winfrey came out of the Ozempic closet, declaring that she “the shame is over”

The advent of Ozempic—a name that has become so ubiquitous that it is now to GLP-1 drugs what Coca-Cola is to soft drinks—has given rise to its own language.

Eat “Ozempicmaxxing” when weight loss occurs at an alarming rate; “food noise“, constant thoughts about food, which are relieved by Ozempic; “Ozempic burp»sulfur-smelling burps reported by many users including Elon Musk; And “Ozempian face» sunken eyes and gaunt cheeks that often accompany sudden weight loss.

As Ozempic became more normalized, it changed the shape of the fashion industry. Size inclusivity is on the decline: Only three of 65 fashion brands have hired at least one plus-size model this season, according to Vogue Business Report.

(That’s a drop of more than half since 2023.) Even those who stayed noticed a less welcoming atmosphere.

Candice Huffine, a plus-size model for Victoria’s Secret and Lane Bryant, claims her doctor accidentally suggested Ozempic to her even though she hadn’t talked about losing weight at all. “I was shocked,” Huffine said in an interview. interview.

They were the next to feel the influence of the Ozempic culture of selling food.

2023 Study of Morgan Stanley found that over the past year, patients taking GLP-1 drugs visited fast food restaurants 77% less often and pizzerias 74% less often.

They also drank 62% less alcohol, and 22% said they had stopped drinking altogether.

With the firm predicting that 24 million people could be using diet drugs by 2035, those losses could soon become catastrophic.

Restaurants that continue to serve overpriced portions won’t last long as Ozempic continues to change the way Americans eat, says Hank Cardello, a former food corporation executive who now teaches consumer health at Georgetown University and author of “Scarecrow: An Inside Look at Who’s (Really) Making America Fat.

“I don’t believe Ozempic will destroy the food industry, but it could still hurt companies that don’t adapt.”

Some are adapting, like snack and beverage company Smoothie King, which just introduced “GLP-1 Smoothie Support» to your menu.

In September, Nestlé introduced a line of products called “Vital Pursuit”, which includes cauliflower pizza and chicken fajita. sold to GLP-1 users.

Frozen Meals Inspired YouGov Research shows that 36% of Ozempic users prefer frozen options—high in protein and low in portions.

GNC, a health and nutrition retailer, announced that the company will soon devote entire sections in its 2,300 stores nationwide to vitamins, protein shakes and supplements created specifically for customers taking GLP-1 medications.

As some new store displays teased: “You’re dealing with the side effects of GLP-1. So what now? We can help.”

This type of marketing can be a minefield, especially if companies don’t want to run afoul of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says Lauren Handel, a food, beverage and dietary supplement attorney.

“The FDA considers products to be drugs if they are intended to relieve the side effects of drugs,” she says. The idea that a food or supplement can be used as part of a treatment program can be “risky,” Handel says.

But that hasn’t stopped GNC or Herbalife from selling their protein shakes. on Facebook as nutritional support for people “using a GLP-1 weight loss drug.”

In January, vegan food delivery service Daily Harvest started selling a line of “calorie-divided meals” for Ozempic users with the not-so-vague name “GLP-1 Support.”

Another health market that has received support from Ozempic is gyms and health clubs. A Morgan Stanley Research found that people’s commitment to weekly exercise jumped from 35% to 71% in the post-Earth world.

Some fitness chains do more than just attract new members.

Lifelong Fitness opened a weight loss clinic last year with doctors who can prescribe GLP-1 drugs.

And the Equinox company, which unites more than 100 clubs throughout the country, presented GLP-1 protocol for participants, promising to help them “maintain and build muscle mass during the process.”

Travel has also taken a hit, according to Ozempic, and not just because airlines could save $80 million a year in fuel costs if passengers lost 10 pounds of weight. recent analysis.

Beginning in 2022, bookings for vacations in the U.S. that prioritize physical activity over eating, drinking, or sitting are on the rise.

Hiking and camping trips are up 52%, nature excursions are up 55% and bike tours are up 46%, according to TripAdvisor’s Viator report. consolidation of the trend to the boom in weight loss drugs.

Even the negative side effects of GLP-1 use, such as the dreaded “Ozempian Face”, have led to their own cottage industry.

Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank, the cosmetic dermatologist who coined the term, says biostimulating fillers are usually enough to solve the problem, but notes that this has stopped the growth of companies selling supplements and vitamins to Ozempia patients by promising more than they can. deliver.

And then there will be an operation.

“Over the past year, I have seen a 30 percent increase in the number of surgical procedures performed on the body due to GLP-1,” says New York City plastic surgeon Dr. Darren Smith.

It’s becoming a separate branch of cosmetic surgery, he says, called Moonjaro Makeover, named after the GLP-1 brand and designed to help patients using weight-loss drugs who have lost skin laxity in “aesthetically sensitive areas,” Smith says. .

However, the most problematic changes cannot be measured in profits.

Crass, the podcast host, noted that “the pendulum has swung again toward toxic food culture.”

A body positivity and “weight-neutral” approach to health and fitness that became mainstream just a decade ago—even Weight Watchers was rebranded as a “wellness” company. called WW in 2018, the “thin beauty standards” of the early 2000s are being replaced, Crass says.

It is no coincidence that the New York Times list of newspapers The most stylish people of 2023 does not include any overweight people. (2022opposite, there were Lizzo and Beanie Feldstein.)

Some health watchers aren’t surprised.

“The diet culture fire has been burning all around us for decades,” says Jessica Setnick, a registered dietitian and eating disorder expert.

“These drugs didn’t create the fire, they just kept it burning.” While it’s tempting to place the blame on big pharmaceutical companies, Setnik says the long-standing cultural lie that “hunger and depopulation solves all our problems” is the real culprit in creating Ozempic culture.

Guevara-Prete, co-owner of Los Angeles boutique Plus, isn’t particularly worried about Ozempic. “We’ve seen people have weight loss surgery and wear smaller clothes, and they almost always gain the weight back,” she says. “Fat people have been around since the beginning of time and there always will be.”