As weight-loss drugs reduce appetites, US restaurants cut portion sizes
Some New York restaurants are offering smaller portions at lower prices to appeal to those on hunger-reducing GLP-1 weight-loss medications
A foodie, social butterfly and New Yorker for 20 years, Lina Axmacher has loved exploring the city’s famed restaurant culture for a long time.
Then she started the GLP-1 weight-loss drug semaglutide. She lost her appetite – “my desire for cocktails and desserts and anything sweet” – and more than 9kg in less than two months.
“I still wanted to maintain my social lifestyle, and I still wanted to be included in dinners,” she said.
One of her favourite restaurants, Manhattan’s Le Petit Village, made that easier: it is among the dining establishments in the city offering smaller portions at lower prices, as the prevalence of GLP-1 medications that reduce hunger grows.
The West Village restaurant decided to shrink a corner of its brunch menu, including French toast and a smoked salmon tartine, to accommodate diners on GLP-1s who wanted to go out but could not eat much.
Roughly one in eight American adults are currently taking drugs from the class of GLP-1 agonists, according to a November poll by the non-profit health policy tracker KFF.