A Recipe for Better Obesity Care: Integrating GLP-1s with Food as Medicine

GLP-1 receptor agonists, like Wegovy and Ozempic, have taken center stage in obesity and diabetes treatment, praised for their ability to curb appetite, reduce “food noise,” and slow digestion for dramatic weight loss results. While these medications play a strong role in chronic disease management, they’re no replacement for healthy nutrition.

Food itself is one of the best therapeutic tools for long-term health — and it’s certainly less expensive than GLP-1 therapies. In fact, a recent study reveals that nationwide use of Medically Tailored Meals (MTMs) for patients with diet-sensitive conditions, like obesity and diabetes, could prevent around 1.6 million hospitalizations and save $13.6 billion every year.

It’s time we stop treating nutrition like a side dish in healthcare. If we truly want to optimize population metabolic health, we need to integrate more ‘Food as Medicine’ approaches with pharmacotherapy for better obesity and diabetes outcomes — and cost savings…