After suffering sluggish snack sales, “Big Food” brand Nestle has turned to selling collagen and protein powders to counteract the side effects of weight-loss drugs.
Despite their apparent slimming benefits, injections of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are associated with a range of side effects, including muscle loss, hair loss and “Ozempic face.”
The maker of KitKat, Yorkie Bar and Häagen-Dazs ice cream brands predicts that patients taking GLP-1 drugs will eschew chocolate bars in favor of more nutritious, less filling meals.
In response, the Swiss food giant this week launched a website aimed at slimming injection consumers, called GLP-1Nutrition, selling vitamins, collagen and protein powders for up to $59.92 (£47.21).
Nestle also plans to launch its “Vital Pursuits” food line this year, which includes 12 portioned frozen meals that are high in protein and fiber, Bloomberg reported.
The website features curvaceous models and promotes the idea that Nestle’s products can help “feed your gut” and “lose fat, not muscle.”
Taking drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic doesn’t just make overweight patients lose weight – they can also lose muscle.
That’s because weight loss injections induce weight loss by affecting appetite, rather than specifically targeting fat.
As a result, patients may not consume as much protein, the building block of muscle, as they did before taking the drug, and they may lose muscle mass.
Fat is not only lost from the abdomen but also from the face, leaving many people looking haggard and known as the “Ozempic face.”
Facial fat keeps your cheeks smooth and plump and your forehead smooth, so losing it too quickly can make you look older.
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Several patients have reported hair loss while taking semaglutide, with alarming thinning and hair falling out in clumps.
The first clinical trials of Wegovy showed this effect among people who took the drug.
Three percent of people taking the drug reportedly suffered from hair loss, compared with just 1% of those in the placebo group of the study.
Hair loss and thinning are not listed as official side effects of the drug semaglutide because they are rarely reported in clinical trials and are not serious from a medical emergency perspective.
But eating less can lead to nutritional deficiencies – a side effect that, combined with hair loss and the haggard look of “Ozempic face”, is set to be countered by Nestle’s new product.
These new weight-loss-friendly products include hair growth supplements, strawberry lemonade-flavored electrolyte tablets, and collagen peptides to improve skin elasticity.
Nestle, the maker of Smarties, is focused on helping customers “maintain muscle mass, manage digestive problems and get the right amount of micronutrients every day,” Anna Mohr, chief executive officer of Nestle Health Science, told Bloomberg.
Nestle is not alone in the shift to selling GLP-1-friendly products; healthcare company Abbott also offers nutritional shakes to customers on weight loss treatments.
