Interest in weight-loss drugs ‘turbo-charged’ food as medicine, but is the industry ready?

“The weight loss products and GLP-1 [drugs] that have been launched have actually drawn the attention of the entire country around, ‘Hey, food is relevant. Food is medicine. Food should be an important part of any therapy,’” Matt Beebe, a former divisional VP with Abbott Nutrition turned strategic and operational business leader and advisor at Drift Rock Advisors, told FoodNavigator-USA.

During a panel about cross-sector collaboration to navigate the impact of GLP-1 prescriptions on the food and agriculture industry coordinated by FleishmanHillard to align with IFT FIRST Annual Event & Expo in Chicago, he explained, “Over the last many years, this concept of food is medicine … is starting to come together and it is coming together for lots of reasons, one of which is … the GLP-1 space, which has turbocharged it so that we are now crashing into each other a little bit and we have not had time to really prepare for that.”

He explained consumers and patients are fervently looking for advice about their diets while on these drugs or for how certain foods might mimic the drugs if they are unable or unwilling to obtain and fill a prescription.

In response, he said, many companies across industries and influencers of varying expertise are jumping in and creating a “very noisy space that is confusing to consumers,” and which ultimately “very few winners in this market” will emerge.

“Those [companies and stakeholders] that truly understand the clinical needs of the patient, as well as their needs from a food standpoint, and their interests, can hit a homerun and do it progressively,” but this will take time and likely playout over the next 10 years, rather than just selling a product immediately, he said.

Where is there room for food to support GLP-1 patients?​

The lowest hanging fruit for the food industry that addresses the clinical needs of patients taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss is around providing sufficient, high-quality protein, Beebe said.

“We know the medications that are out there for weight-loss have issues with them from a malnutrition and nutrition standpoint. As you lose weight, you lose a lot of the nutrients that you need to be healthy. And that is where the food companies can step in,” he said.

Bebee continued, “We know that loss of protein with dramatic, immediate weight loss is the biggest issue right off the bat. So, I think, protein improvements and opportunities to grow back that protein is the place to start. And then as we get better at that, you can start to wrap in the other nutrients that are going to be required to live a healthier life – and so fiber becomes important, and all the other nutrients." 

But, he cautioned, “the solution is not going to be just immediately pushing more protein.”

Rather, the food industry needs to work with healthcare professionals to ensure that patients and consumers understand the role of food and their diet in their health.

“There is a gap around nutrition within healthcare professionals, doctors, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants – the ones who are treating these patients. And so what needs to happen is a real kind of broader education around that to understand why protein is important, why these other nutrients are important and why they play a role in overall health. Not just the drug, but also the food intake that happens,” he emphasized.

“What we do not want to have happen is the food industry communicating one thing and then patients going to their doctors and hearing something different. … The food companies need to bring along and educate the healthcare professionals,” he added.

Collaboration will be key​

Given the complex relationship between nutrition and health, and the innate challenges surrounding consumer education in an era of distrust and disinformation, Beebe stressed that companies across industries must work together to address consumer needs.

“One company may not be the answer,” he stressed. “A partnership, as a food company, potentially with a retailer, or potentially with the pharma company, [may] help solve some of those challenges for these patients together as a collaboration, versus just me as an ag company or a food company or a pharma company. Can we actually do this together to ultimately come together to create a bundle of products that is clinically better, healthier for the patient or the consumer, and then ultimately ... as these products advance – drugs advance – can we advance the food that goes along with those products?"

He added the opportunity far exceeds weight loss: “GLP-1s in weight loss have opened the aperture so that now all of a sudden, if you are diagnosed or have … any of these chronic conditions, so not just weight but also diabetes, cardiovascular issues, gut metabolism issues – for all of those now, we should be taking a step back and saying, ‘OK, how does food fit into this solution or treatment?’”