Appetite Redefined

Are we in a post-appetite world?" Author, food ethnographer, and keynote moderator June Jo Lee posed this question to panelists gathered at IFT FIRST on Tuesday to address “The Desire Dilemma: How GLP-1 Agonists Shape Behavior and Future Research Opportunities.”

Analyzing the ways in which the increasing use of GLP-1 medications are changing eating patterns and thus food purchases were panelists Lydia Alexander, chief medical officer at Enara Health and president of the Obesity Medicine Association; Nicole Avena, associate professor of neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and visiting associate professor of health psychology at Princeton University; David Despain, senior principal nutritionist at Nestlé Health Science; and Bruno Didier, head of B2B at CookUnity meal delivery service.

First of all, the answer is a resounding no, panelists agreed. But there is so much more to this story of food.

Panelists shared nostalgic stories of their upbringings, and how favorite foods and food traditions played an important role in their families and emotional lives. "There's so much tied to what we eat. We eat for nourishment, we eat for calories, but we also eat for pleasure," and GLP-1 agonists do not eliminate that pleasure, they moderate it, Avena explained.

GLP-1 drugs "have this really unique ability to promote our satiety. People feel full easier [and] have slower gastric emptying." The drugs enable people to not need to eat quite as much food in order to feel satisfied and reduce the "food noise" or "chatter” that leads people to seek out food—sweets, for instance—for non-hunger purposes, Avena added.

Eating tasty things is pleasurable, but GLP-1 users find a new pleasure in not overeating—they feel better, said Avena. Further, "these drugs affect the brain in interesting ways. They can actually dampen that dopaminergic response that we typically get to pleasurable things like food. So people don't feel as much desire for those foods they used to eat for pleasure.

GLP-1 drugs are helping people differentiate between hedonic hunger and homeostatic hunger, and to recognize nutritional need and true hunger, Alexander explained. "When the noise dies down, we can hear and listen to what we need."

Though they may be consuming fewer calories, their nutritional needs remain the same, so it is important for GLP-1 users to make every calorie count, ensuring they are getting enough protein to preserve muscle mass, as well as fiber and hydration to avoid potential gastrointestinal side effects, Despain pointed out.

Another potential growth area are foods designed for weight maintenance, to help support consumers in their health journey, Alexander said.

Healthy, nutritious foods that are of high quality, taste good, and are satisfying can help people maintain a healthy weight, added Didier. "We already see [our] chefs being excited by the opportunity" to fill this need in the marketplace.ft