As party invitations fill our calendars and chocolate ads take over our screens during the holiday season, temptations to indulge can feel omnipresent and all-powerful. But this year a neologism is taking over social media that puts a name to this kind of distraction: “food noise.”
This trendy term could transform the way people see weight loss, turning what for decades has been an internal battle of willpower into an external problem with biological and psychological roots that scientists are only beginning to understand.
Contributing to this shift is the widespread adoption of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. Given the way these drugs work, it’s not surprising that they quiet thoughts about food: they imitate the hormone GLP-1, which makes people feel full, in addition to slowing the emptying of the stomach and increasing insulin production to control blood sugar. As a result, many users report fewer urges to eat …