Do GLP1 medications actually reduce our grocery spending?

kugelblitz

kugelblitz

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I came across a report saying supermarkets are under pressure because folks are consuming less and buying fewer groceries.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/10/weight-loss-drugs-grocery-bills-glp-1s

https://www.newsweek.com/ozempic-costing-grocery-stores-billions-2099920

https://www.mjemcgill.com/articles/vhlei566e9xnm86weq3jtxudjcwacv

http://archive.today/2026.06.25-052...cle/glp-1-weight-loss-pill-shopping-sntdn9hcr

(paywall, so archive link)

So I started thinking about how my retatrutide use affects my own wallet. I worked out what I spend on food each month and what I spend on treatment each month, then figured my monthly food savings by presuming my intake is 25% lower (this figure is very arguable, I just saw it somewhere online, and it matches what I've experienced with retatrutide, if you think otherwise, please suggest a better one), and subtracted my monthly treatment cost from my grocery savings.

The result was net grocery savings of 22.88% at my current monthly dose, and 12.30% savings at max dose of 12mg per week (48mg per month).

That's quite something. Has anyone else done this sort of math?

EDIT: If I also factored in the cost of Janoshik GLP1 test (one per 10 vials), and the cost of a comprehensive blood panel every 3 months, at my current dose of 2mg, I'm still saving 7.95%. If I go up to 12mg per week, I am no longer saving, in fact my total cost of diet (food + treatment cost) is 24.41% up.

(Disclaimer: I am a liberal arts graduate, I couldn't mathematically model my way out of a paper bag. My model can be validly criticised on many axes, and likelihood of logic or arithmetic errors is very high. This is just a back of an envelope number. Anyone who wishes to propose a more robust model, please do so, I'd love to plug in my numbers.)
 
It isn't so straightforward. My partner and I now go out to eat less often, which does free up some cash, but that gets offset because we shop for groceries with greater frequency—and beyond that, the food we buy is healthier, which tends to cost more. When I add up what we spend across all our cards, the reduction comes to roughly 13%, though I lack sufficient pre-GLP1 data, given that we began tracking our expenses more carefully at about the same point.
 
Maokai makes a good point, and I'm with them. Going out to restaurants has become rare for me, and I've stopped grabbing snacks, coffee, and similar items. Even before I began dieting, junk food wasn't a big part of what I bought. Smaller portions have led to a modest drop in what I spend, though it's far from dramatic. I keep a close eye on my spending but never worked out the precise percentage. How much you save really comes down to your habits before and after.
 
Honestly, my grocery bill feels pretty much unchanged. That said, my whole diet is different now, and the healthier options cost way more $$$$$. Protein powder and decent protein bars aren't cheap either.
 
maokai said:

It isn't so straightforward. My partner and I now go out to eat less often, which does free up some cash, but that gets offset because we shop for groceries with greater frequency—and beyond that, the food we buy is healthier, which tends to cost more. When I add up what we spend across all our cards, the reduction comes to roughly 13%, though I lack sufficient pre-GLP1 data, given that we began tracking our expenses more carefully at about the same point.
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Yeah, that figure is super imprecise. I won't base any choices on it—it's really just something I'm curious about.

As for us, my wife and I tracked our grocery spending closely for 6 months before we began, and the whole time we were prepping our own meals and rarely ate anything else, so I feel pretty sure our eating habits stayed about the same; it's just that the total quantity consumed went down in a fairly even way.

testyonenow42 said:

Maokai makes a good point, and I'm with them. Going out to restaurants has become rare for me, and I've stopped grabbing snacks, coffee, and similar items. Even before I began dieting, junk food wasn't a big part of what I bought. Smaller portions have led to a modest drop in what I spend, though it's far from dramatic. I keep a close eye on my spending but never worked out the precise percentage. How much you save really comes down to your habits before and after.
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How can you separate the food savings from everything else? Are you able to do that?
 
Food costs have dropped by an absurd amount for me, particularly because my old habits included delivery orders 2-4x weekly, fast food 4-5x weekly, and finishing far more of what I bought at the store. Fig bars—my biggest temptation—used to disappear in a matter of hours; these days a single pack stretches across 1-2 weeks. Alcohol intake is also way down: previously 1-2 six packs each week, but now roughly one sixer per month. All told, I’m keeping about $400-$600 more in my pocket every month, and that’s while paying for healthier and pricier groceries. It ended up covering the compounded medication expense and then some, which I never expected! With gray sourcing now in the picture—testing included—the amount I save stands to grow even larger!
 
kugelblitz said:

I came across a report saying supermarkets are under pressure because folks are consuming less and buying fewer groceries.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/10/weight-loss-drugs-grocery-bills-glp-1s

https://www.newsweek.com/ozempic-costing-grocery-stores-billions-2099920

https://www.mjemcgill.com/articles/vhlei566e9xnm86weq3jtxudjcwacv

http://archive.today/2026.06.25-052...cle/glp-1-weight-loss-pill-shopping-sntdn9hcr

(paywall, so archive link)

So I started thinking about how my retatrutide use affects my own wallet. I worked out what I spend on food each month and what I spend on treatment each month, then figured my monthly food savings by presuming my intake is 25% lower (this figure is very arguable, I just saw it somewhere online, and it matches what I've experienced with retatrutide, if you think otherwise, please suggest a better one), and subtracted my monthly treatment cost from my grocery savings.

The result was net grocery savings of 22.88% at my current monthly dose, and 12.30% savings at max dose of 12mg per week (48mg per month).

That's quite something. Has anyone else done this sort of math?

EDIT: If I also factored in the cost of Janoshik GLP1 test (one per 10 vials), and the cost of a comprehensive blood panel every 3 months, at my current dose of 2mg, I'm still saving 7.95%. If I go up to 12mg per week, I am no longer saving, in fact my total cost of diet (food + treatment cost) is 24.41% up.

(Disclaimer: I am a liberal arts graduate, I couldn't mathematically model my way out of a paper bag. My model can be validly criticised on many axes, and likelihood of logic or arithmetic errors is very high. This is just a back of an envelope number. Anyone who wishes to propose a more robust model, please do so, I'd love to plug in my numbers.)
Click to expand...
My food intake has dropped a lot, but I've added protein shakes and they aren't inexpensive. I'm also buying leaner beef and pork, which costs more per pound. Here's how I see it: I burned through a huge amount of cash eating and drinking my way to being overweight. I haven't touched alcohol since April 24th — that was 3 light beers, and I didn't even enjoy the taste anymore. My hope is that getting healthier will mean lower medical expenses down the road.
 
Once I factored in a Jano GLP1 test plus bloodwork every 3 months, my savings at the dose I'm on dropped to 7.95%. Now that I'm at 12mg per week, the savings are gone — my combined food and treatment spending is 24.41% higher.
 
We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
 
lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
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Before I ever touched reta, we'd already made that same change: meal prep replaced takeout, and delivery has been off the table for 6 months now. Our spending on food has been cut in half, plain and simple.
 
lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
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I'm in the same boat — eggs are basically my entire diet at this point
 
kugelblitz said:

lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
Click to expand...
Before I ever touched reta, we'd already made that same change: meal prep replaced takeout, and delivery has been off the table for 6 months now. Our spending on food has been cut in half, plain and simple.
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That's great to hear!
 
StanNorth said:

lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat — eggs are basically my entire diet at this point
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Hard to argue with that 😋
 
lemoncrisp said:

StanNorth said:

lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat — eggs are basically my entire diet at this point
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Hard to argue with that 😋
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Unfortunately, that's not true. Eggs do contain a lot of cholesterol. Eating just 7 a week might actually hurt your heart health.
 
StanNorth said:

lemoncrisp said:

We've absolutely cut costs in our household! Previously, we'd order through DoorDash around 3-4 times each week (due to long work hours and being lazy 😆), but after I began Reta (my husband doesn't require it), we've dropped to only 1-2 times per week, and those orders are placed by him.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat — eggs are basically my entire diet at this point
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Sounds like a Carnivore!
 
The money I no longer spend on beer is significant on its own....Honestly, it's a shock Anheuser-Busch hasn't sent someone to check I'm still alive 😉 All joking aside, for more than a decade I've prepared over 99% of what we eat, since I'm located far from any town, and although I don't keep precise records of grocery expenses, our portions are roughly half what they once were, so I purchase far less and make far fewer trips to the store — yet the total we spend each month has climbed because of peptide and supply costs, vitamins/supplements/protein shakes/electrolytes, buying clothes, and more frequent bloodwork and dr visits to tweak other medication we used to take.
 
Even counting the 2 non-GLP-1 muggles living under my roof, my food expenses have dropped a lot...That only holds, though, when I spread the peps cost across the lifespan I expect them to have...If instead I compare straight month over month from the past 3-4 months with peps factored in, my costs are up by something like a million point five percent... 😳
 
The main thing I've cut back on is takeout. That used to be a daily habit for me.

Still, fresh produce and similar items carry a hefty price tag.

Cigarettes and Monster Energy drinks are still eating up plenty of my cash. Quitting those would make sense as well.
 
flipperdosan said:

The main thing I've cut back on is takeout. That used to be a daily habit for me.

Still, fresh produce and similar items carry a hefty price tag.

Cigarettes and Monster Energy drinks are still eating up plenty of my cash. Quitting those would make sense as well.
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I got a good laugh out of that... 😎
 
maokai said:

It isn't so straightforward. My partner and I now go out to eat less often, which does free up some cash, but that gets offset because we shop for groceries with greater frequency—and beyond that, the food we buy is healthier, which tends to cost more. When I add up what we spend across all our cards, the reduction comes to roughly 13%, though I lack sufficient pre-GLP1 data, given that we began tracking our expenses more carefully at about the same point.
Click to expand...
That's a fair observation. On top of that, whenever my wife and I go out to eat, we usually split one dish or simply order an appetizer apiece. So we save even more, since we're also dining out less often.
 
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