The Far-Reaching Effects of GLP-1 Medicines at Nutrition 2025

It is fascinating. Nutrition 2025 concluded yesterday in Orlando and even though the conference is all about nutrition research, an intense interest in the interaction of GLP-1 medicines with nutrition was a theme in the meeting from its very start all the way to the end. At the end, with two distinguished obesity researchers, Randy Seeley and Gary Foster, we had the privilege of putting a bow on it with a symposium on the far-reaching effects of GLP-1 medicines on everything from nutrition to health systems, economics, and public discourse. It’s a lot.

The Brain!

GLP-1 agonists may be found in the gut, but the real center of activity for them is in the brain. Seeley, a neuroscientist, gave us a thorough explanation of how they work in the brain and why it is becoming apparent that agents targeting only GLP-1 receptors are quickly becoming old news. GIP, amylin, and glucagon receptors are on their way to being important receptor targets. Seeley pointed out that gene therapy is also becoming a subject of great interest.

Food Noise and Alcohol

Gary Foster brought a clinical perspective. He provided an insightful review of the surprising effects of these medicines on experiences that have come to be known as food noise to people living with obesity. These are persistent, intrusive thoughts about food that disrupt daily life and make healthy behaviors difficult. These newer medicines seem to quiet this noise and may do it more so than older obesity medicines do, Foster reported. Beyond food noise, he also described signals that these medicines may have an effect on alcohol use.

This is research that is very new and we have much more to learn.

Broader Insights

To close out the symposium (and the meeting), we offered a sweeping review of the effects that these medicines are having on the lives of people with obesity, social and economic behavior, food and consumer marketing, health systems, and public discourse about obesity. They are making the lived experience of obesity more visible, making it better, and, in the process, likely serving indirectly to reduce the stigma connected to this chronic disease.

Along the way, their uptake is challenging health systems to do a better job of providing obesity care at scale. Through effects on consumer behavior, they are challenging food marketers to adapt – perhaps to promote higher quality nutrition rather than higher consumption of food.

An added bonus is the possibility that these medicines are bringing the public toward a better understanding of obesity. Back to Seeley’s thesis – it’s all about the brain.

Click here for our slides on the far-reaching effects of new obesity medicines. Seeley’s slides are here and Foster’s are here. For more from Seeley’s research click here and here. For more from Foster click here and here.

Reaching for an Apple, illustration from ChatGPT 4o image generation

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June 4, 2025