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I am not American, but I think you are unfairly dismissing the massive benefits GLP-1s have for people who struggle to maintain a healthy diet. It really feels

I am not American, but I think you are unfairly dismissing the massive benefits GLP-1s have for people who struggle to maintain a healthy diet. It really feels like a miracle drug. > It's insane to me that so many people need these to get off the processed foods killing them in the US. Your comparison of your friends in Germany vs "insanity" in the US doesn't feel relevant

carlmr 9mo ago
I didn't dismiss any benefits. But so many people needing an anti-addiction drug to get off addictive foods IMO should raise alarm bells. The food producers need to be sanctioned. It's unsustainable for a whole nation to be on these expensive drugs. If you think an outside perspective is irrelevant I'm also not sure why you don't just move on and not comment.
- wjnc 9mo ago
  True, but what would sanctioning producers do? I think it's not even the availability of fresh products in the supermarket, but the willingness of customers to prepare food themselves? I agree it's postmodern funny that you need to continually buy something (a medicine) to not buy somethings (fast food) that are bad for you. I've got co-workers who only eat out. Guess what? What I think are salt and fat related health issues. Sugar, salt and fat are too easy and too nice not to be everywhere. We used to make baby food ourselves. That was like twenty portions of baby food in ten minutes, for pretty much no cost (all basis fresh staples are pretty much free: fresh carrots, potatoes, rice, onions, pumpkin). Chop some vegetables and perhaps add little leftover meat, steam it, blend it, freeze it. Philips had a great machine for that. But we were somewhat 'out there' here too. Most people give babies food from glass pots. Then I see [1]. Got healthy teens now who eat pretty much everything. We still cook most of the stuff ourselves, although time constraints are a bit harder now than a decade ago. Same as for walking. That is the most basic instrument for health. But if you cannot go out for a good walk because your environment is car only, what can you do? You can sanction the car makers for not making us walk. But that's a bit silly? (You are not saying that, trying to make an analogy with the food producers.) I'm blessed with lots of forests nearby, with separate paths for walking, cycling, MTB-ing and horseriding. Going outdoors is trivial here. Point I'm trying to make is that an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle is a lot of factors working combined. That's why international comparisons are so hard (or impossible). I think the 'Boulder, Colorado'-lifestyle is comparable with my local EU-lifestyle. But all environments are different on many vectors. [1] Nearly two-thirds of baby foods in US supermarkets are unhealthy, study finds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXyVJpTe8NQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXyVJpTe8NQ
- carlosjobim 9mo ago
  Food is addictive because all animals including humans are by our very genes instructed to be addicted to it. Even the most healthy food is addictive. Just like water and air is addictive.
  - aucisson_masque 9mo ago
    No you can’t say that. Fat people don’t get fat on eating vegetables and water.
    - carlosjobim 9mo ago
      French fries are vegetables ;)
      - napkinartist 9mo ago
        [dead]
  - SketchySeaBeast 9mo ago
    I don't think "addictive" is the right term, but we have an evolutionary imperative towards eating to excess when there is food in excess, which wasn't maladaptive until recently.
- rootusrootus 9mo ago
  > It's unsustainable for a whole nation Unless I've been horribly misled, it is the whole world that has very steadily increasing obesity rates. Framing this as a US problem is deluding yourself.
thunfischbrot 9mo ago
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.
- Mashimo 9mo ago
  > 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?
  - Ensorceled 9mo ago
    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-consumption-by-country/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ultra-processed-food-consum... https://nutri.it.com/who-eats-the-most-processed-food-a-global-perspective https://nutri.it.com/who-eats-the-most-processed-food-a-glob...
Ensorceled 9mo ago
I think you are misreading the comment you are replying to: > Your comparison of your friends in Germany vs "insanity" in the US doesn't feel relevant It's incredibly relevant, why are GLP-1s less needed in Germany vs. US (and other countries like Canada)? This is the insanity they are talking about, not the users of the medication.
- westpfelia 9mo ago
  American here who lived in Germany for 3 years and now Scandinavia. Its what makes up the food. Most of the food served in America cant be served in the EU. Its straight up poison designed to make you addicted to it. Couple that with a very car centric lifestyle and yea. Its not great.
  - rootusrootus 9mo ago
    > Most of the food served in America cant be served in the EU. I'd love to hear any sort of actual facts backing that claim. It sounds truthy.
- sarchertech 9mo ago
  If you look at the increase in overweight and obesity rates in Germany over the last 50 years, it’s clear that far more of the population “needs” GLP-1 than is using it. The rate of use will almost certainly increase dramatically.
- rootusrootus 9mo ago
  > It's incredibly relevant, why are GLP-1s less needed in Germany vs. US Aside from whether the local healthcare coverage will pay for it, and the rate of GLP1 usage probably being proportional to the obesity rate, what is the basis for assuming there is disproportionately fewer people in Germany using these medications? Most people don't announce it.
- roel_v 9mo ago
  You seem to be misreading his comment. Some guy making some observation biased comment is irrelevant. It's flat out wrong that Germans 'need' it less. The obesity curve in Europe trails that of the US a generation or two, yes (and several Asian ones trail it more). But the numbers and trends don't lie.

carlmr 9mo ago

I didn't dismiss any benefits. But so many people needing an anti-addiction drug to get off addictive foods IMO should raise alarm bells. The food producers need to be sanctioned. It's unsustainable for a whole nation to be on these expensive drugs. If you think an outside perspective is irrelevant I'm also not sure why you don't just move on and not comment.

wjnc 9mo ago
True, but what would sanctioning producers do? I think it's not even the availability of fresh products in the supermarket, but the willingness of customers to prepare food themselves? I agree it's postmodern funny that you need to continually buy something (a medicine) to not buy somethings (fast food) that are bad for you. I've got co-workers who only eat out. Guess what? What I think are salt and fat related health issues. Sugar, salt and fat are too easy and too nice not to be everywhere. We used to make baby food ourselves. That was like twenty portions of baby food in ten minutes, for pretty much no cost (all basis fresh staples are pretty much free: fresh carrots, potatoes, rice, onions, pumpkin). Chop some vegetables and perhaps add little leftover meat, steam it, blend it, freeze it. Philips had a great machine for that. But we were somewhat 'out there' here too. Most people give babies food from glass pots. Then I see [1]. Got healthy teens now who eat pretty much everything. We still cook most of the stuff ourselves, although time constraints are a bit harder now than a decade ago. Same as for walking. That is the most basic instrument for health. But if you cannot go out for a good walk because your environment is car only, what can you do? You can sanction the car makers for not making us walk. But that's a bit silly? (You are not saying that, trying to make an analogy with the food producers.) I'm blessed with lots of forests nearby, with separate paths for walking, cycling, MTB-ing and horseriding. Going outdoors is trivial here. Point I'm trying to make is that an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle is a lot of factors working combined. That's why international comparisons are so hard (or impossible). I think the 'Boulder, Colorado'-lifestyle is comparable with my local EU-lifestyle. But all environments are different on many vectors. [1] Nearly two-thirds of baby foods in US supermarkets are unhealthy, study finds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXyVJpTe8NQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXyVJpTe8NQ
carlosjobim 9mo ago
Food is addictive because all animals including humans are by our very genes instructed to be addicted to it. Even the most healthy food is addictive. Just like water and air is addictive.
- aucisson_masque 9mo ago
  No you can’t say that. Fat people don’t get fat on eating vegetables and water.
  - carlosjobim 9mo ago
    French fries are vegetables ;)
    - napkinartist 9mo ago
      [dead]
- SketchySeaBeast 9mo ago
  I don't think "addictive" is the right term, but we have an evolutionary imperative towards eating to excess when there is food in excess, which wasn't maladaptive until recently.
rootusrootus 9mo ago
> It's unsustainable for a whole nation Unless I've been horribly misled, it is the whole world that has very steadily increasing obesity rates. Framing this as a US problem is deluding yourself.

thunfischbrot 9mo ago

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.

Mashimo 9mo ago
> 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?
- Ensorceled 9mo ago
  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-consumption-by-country/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ultra-processed-food-consum... https://nutri.it.com/who-eats-the-most-processed-food-a-global-perspective https://nutri.it.com/who-eats-the-most-processed-food-a-glob...

Ensorceled 9mo ago

I think you are misreading the comment you are replying to: > Your comparison of your friends in Germany vs "insanity" in the US doesn't feel relevant It's incredibly relevant, why are GLP-1s less needed in Germany vs. US (and other countries like Canada)? This is the insanity they are talking about, not the users of the medication.

westpfelia 9mo ago
American here who lived in Germany for 3 years and now Scandinavia. Its what makes up the food. Most of the food served in America cant be served in the EU. Its straight up poison designed to make you addicted to it. Couple that with a very car centric lifestyle and yea. Its not great.
- rootusrootus 9mo ago
  > Most of the food served in America cant be served in the EU. I'd love to hear any sort of actual facts backing that claim. It sounds truthy.
sarchertech 9mo ago
If you look at the increase in overweight and obesity rates in Germany over the last 50 years, it’s clear that far more of the population “needs” GLP-1 than is using it. The rate of use will almost certainly increase dramatically.
rootusrootus 9mo ago
> It's incredibly relevant, why are GLP-1s less needed in Germany vs. US Aside from whether the local healthcare coverage will pay for it, and the rate of GLP1 usage probably being proportional to the obesity rate, what is the basis for assuming there is disproportionately fewer people in Germany using these medications? Most people don't announce it.
roel_v 9mo ago
You seem to be misreading his comment. Some guy making some observation biased comment is irrelevant. It's flat out wrong that Germans 'need' it less. The obesity curve in Europe trails that of the US a generation or two, yes (and several Asian ones trail it more). But the numbers and trends don't lie.