Self-described foodie, social butterfly, and 20-year New Yorker, Lina Axmacher has long loved exploring the city's famed restaurant culture.
She then founded Ozempic.
She lost her appetite – “my desire for smoothies, desserts and everything sweet” – and also lost more than 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms) in less than two months.
But “I still wanted to have my social lifestyle and still wanted to be invited to dinners,” a 41-year-old Swede who works in the tequila industry told AFP.
One of her favorite restaurants, Le Petit Village in Manhattan, has made it easier: It is among a number of restaurants in the city offering smaller portions at lower prices as hunger-reducing medications such as Ozempic grow in popularity.
The West Village restaurant has decided to cut parts of its brunch menu, including French toast and smoked salmon tartine, not least to cater to GLP-1 diners who want to eat out but can't eat much.
About one in eight American adults now takes a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which are becoming increasingly popular for weight loss, according to a November survey by the nonprofit health policy tracker KFF.
And one in five say they have at some point taken drugs whose brand names include Ozempic and Wegovy, which are also prescribed to treat chronic conditions such as diabetes.
On Monday, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced that US authorities have approved Wegovy in diet pill form, potentially making it even more accessible.
Some representatives of the restaurant business are paying attention to this.
“I would go out and see people eating a lot less, one bite of food and one sip of drink, and that’s it,” said Aristotle Hatzigeorgiou, owner of Clinton Hall, which has five locations throughout New York.
In addition, most of the food prepared in his kitchen ended up in the trash – “a huge amount of waste,” he said.
So he created the “mini mini meal”—for $8, diners get a small hamburger, a small side of fries and the choice of a 3-ounce beer, martini or glass of wine.
This is in stark contrast to some of the taproom's other offerings, including “grilled cheese donuts” and “fondue burger” (which is exactly what they sound like).
But according to Hatzigeorgiou, the mini-meal has proven successful not only for those losing weight, but also for those cutting costs.
“I think people are definitely concerned about rising rents and inflation,” the restaurant owner said.
Offering a “cheaper exit option,” he said, “worked.”
– “A huge experiment on people” –
For now, GLP-1 for weight loss remains too expensive for many Americans.
But experts expect the situation to change; even US President Donald Trump promised affordable options.
And researchers are beginning to study how increased use of GLP-1 is disrupting cultural ties to food.
“Is food your enemy, not your greatest pleasure in life? I mean, it's completely different,” Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition at New York University, told AFP. “I think the jury is out on all this.”
Side effects of GLP-1 can include unpleasant gastrointestinal problems, but for some people, Nestle says the drugs have worked “miracle.”
The nutritionist said it was too early to understand the long-term effects, physiological or sociocultural: “This is an extensive human experiment.”
Axmacher told AFP she took Ozempic periodically.
When she first decided to take a break, “I was ready to feel like I could enjoy life a little more again.”
“I really enjoy the feeling of hunger and satisfaction when I eat what I'm in the mood for,” she said, adding that on Ozempic, “I missed that.”
But using the medication also helped her develop positive, sustainable habits, she says: Axmacher cut back on her drinking, exercised more and focused on eating enough protein.
According to Nestle, the trend toward fewer restaurant meals that emerged in America in the 1990s and 2000s can only be positive.
Le Petit Village management told AFP they are considering expanding the half-portion menu to dinner service, and Clinton Hall is working on developing a mini chicken dish.
Some customers, according to Hatzigeorgiou, comment that “the food used to look like this.”
“We think it’s something different, but maybe it’s not that different,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe this is the right size food.”
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