- Drunk Delta Airlines passenger downs 11 drinks, sexually assaults minor and her mom on 9-hour flight: lawsuit Fox Business
- Drunk Delta passenger who was served 11 drinks sexually assaulted mom and teen daughter on 9-hour ‘nightmare’ flight: lawsuit New York Post
- Southwest passenger who tried to kiss flight attendant is federally charged The Independent
- Airline offered free miles to mother, daughter after drunk allegedly groped them inflight: lawsuit PennLive
- Drunk flyer given 11 drinks groped mum and daughter on ‘nightmare’ flight, suit says The Mirror
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: drinks
Starbucks customers say olive oil-infused drinks have laxative properties: ‘You’ll run to it and from it’ – Fox Business
- Starbucks customers say olive oil-infused drinks have laxative properties: ‘You’ll run to it and from it’ Fox Business
- Starbucks Olive Oil Coffee Review (With Video) Parade Magazine
- ‘A legit laxative’: Starbucks customers are complaining about stomach issues from new olive oil-infused coffee KPRC Click2Houston
- Starbucks’ Oleato coffee drinks are reportedly causing ‘gurgling stomachs, burning throats’ ConsumerAffairs
- ‘A legit laxative’: Customers weigh-in on Starbucks brews infused with olive oil KTLA Los Angeles
- View Full Coverage on Google News
My first Oscars – from barefoot on the sidewalk to drinks with Daniel Kwan – The Guardian
- My first Oscars – from barefoot on the sidewalk to drinks with Daniel Kwan The Guardian
- ‘These are teachers that changed my life’: Watch Daniel Scheinert honor Alabama educators in Oscar acceptance AL.com
- Director Daniel Kwan’s Oscars look pays tribute to ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Mashable
- Westborough’s Daniel Kwan wins big at Oscars for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Worcester Telegram
- ‘Everything Everywhere’s Dan Kwan & Jonathan Wang On Meeting Moment Of “Mental Health Crisis” With “A Shotgun Blast Of Joy And Absurdity And Creativity” – Oscars Backstage Deadline
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Illinois’ Matthew Mayer says he had ‘caffeine poisoning’ after drinking six Monster energy drinks – CBS Sports
- Illinois’ Matthew Mayer says he had ‘caffeine poisoning’ after drinking six Monster energy drinks CBS Sports
- Illinois F Matthew Mayer cites ‘caffeine poisoning’ from video game binge for missed practice: ‘I like a caffeine-induced euphoria’ Yahoo Sports
- Illinois’ Matthew Mayer Back at Practice After ‘Caffeine Poisoning’ Sports Illustrated
- Illinois’ Matthew Mayer returns to practice after ‘caffeine poisoning’ FOX Sports
- Illinois’ Matthew Mayer got ‘caffeine poisoning’ from energy drink-fueled gaming session New York Post
- View Full Coverage on Google News
3M to Cut Jobs as Demand for Its Products Weakens
3M Co.
said it is cutting 2,500 manufacturing jobs globally as the company confronts turbulence in overseas markets and weakening consumer demand.
The maker of Scotch tape, Post-it Notes and thousands of other industrial and consumer products said Tuesday that it expects lower sales and profit in 2023 after demand weakened significantly in late 2022, pulling down quarterly performance.
The St. Paul, Minn., company forecast sales this year to slip from last year’s level with weak demand for consumer products and electronic items, particularly smartphones, tablets and televisions, for which 3M provides components. Fourth-quarter sales for 3M’s consumer business dropped nearly 6% from the same period a year earlier.
“Consumers sharply cut discretionary spending and retailers adjusted their inventory levels,” 3M Chief Executive
Mike Roman
said during a conference call. “We expect the demand trends we saw in December to extend through the first half of 2023.”
3M shares were down 5.2% at $116.25 Tuesday afternoon, while major U.S. stock indexes were little changed.
The company said demand for its disposable face masks is receding, as healthcare providers spend less on Covid-19 measures, and mask demand returns to prepandemic levels. 3M said it expects mask sales to decline between $450 million and $550 million this year from 2022.
3M executives said the spread of Covid infections in China is weighing on sales there, and sporadic plant closings are interrupting industrial production. China also is reducing production of consumer electronics because of weakening consumer demand, they said, and 3M’s exit from its business in Russia last year will also contribute to lower sales this year.
The 2,500 layoffs represent roughly 2.6% of the company’s workforce, which a regulatory filing said was about 95,000 at the end of 2021. Mr. Roman declined to specify where the job cuts will take place, or whether the company might make further reductions as it reviews its supply chains and prepares to spin off its healthcare unit.
“We’re looking at everything that we do as we manage through the challenges that we’re facing in the end markets and we focus on driving improvements,” he said.
The company said it would take a pretax restructuring charge in the first quarter of $75 million to $100 million.
Mr. Roman said the job cuts were unrelated to litigation facing the company. 3M is defending against allegations that the so-called forever chemicals it has produced for decades have contaminated soil and drinking water. It is also involved in litigation over foam earplugs its subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC sold to the military. About 230,000 veterans have filed complaints in federal court alleging the earplugs failed to protect them from service-related hearing loss.
3M has said the earplugs were effective when military personnel were given sufficient training on how to use them. In litigation over firefighting foam that incorporated forms of forever chemicals, 3M is expected to argue that the products were produced to U.S. military specifications, granting the company legal protection as a government contractor.
In both cases, Mr. Roman said the company is focused on finding a way forward.
3M said the strong value of the U.S. dollar continues to erode sales from other countries when foreign currencies are converted to dollars.
The company forecast that sales for the quarter ending March 31 will be down 10% to 15% from the same period last year. For the full year, the company projects sales to fall between 6% and 2%, and expects adjusted earnings of $8.50 a share to $9 a share. The company earned $10.10 a share in 2022, excluding special charges, and analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting the company to earn $10.22 in 2023.
For the fourth quarter, the company posted a profit of $541 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with $1.34 billion, or $2.31 a share, a year earlier.
Stripping out one-time items, including costs tied to exiting the company’s operations making forever chemicals, adjusted earnings came to $2.28 a share. Analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of $2.36 a share, according to FactSet.
Sales fell 6% to $8.08 billion for the quarter, slightly topping expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Mr. Roman said there were promising signs for some of 3M’s businesses, including in biopharma processing, home improvement and automotive electrification, the last of which he said grew 30% in 2022 to become a roughly $500 million business.
“There’s more to it than consumer electronics, but certainly the consumer-electronics dynamics are the story of the day,” he said.
Write to John Keilman at john.keilman@wsj.com and Bob Tita at robert.tita@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Health Canada recommends limiting alcohol to just 2 drinks per week | Canada
New alcohol guidelines recommending that Canadians limit themselves to just two drinks a week – and ideally cut alcohol altogether – have prompted intense debate over risk versus enjoyment in a country where the vast majority of adults regularly consume alcohol.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) this week called for a substantial reduction in consumption, warning that seemingly moderate drinking poses a number of serious health risks, including cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The new guidelines, funded by Health Canada, represent a dramatic shift from previous recommendations issued in 2011, when Canadians were told that low-risk consumption meant no more than 10 drinks a week for women and 15 drinks a week for men.
“We wanted to simply to present the evidence to the Canadian public, so they could reflect on their drinking and make informed decisions,” said Peter Butt, a professor of family medicine at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the panel that drafted the guidelines. “It’s fundamentally based on the right to know.”
In its measurements, the CCSA considers a standard drink to be a 12oz (355ml) serving of 5%-alcohol beer, a 5oz (148ml) glass of 12%-alcohol wine or a shot glass of 40% spirits.
In the UK, the NHS recommends no more than six 6oz glasses of wine or six pints of 4% beer per week – ideally spread across three days or more. Health officials in the United States recommend no more than two drinks per day for men and only one for women.
But Canadian experts say that new research suggests three to six drinks a week should be considered moderate risk for both men and women, and seven or more drinks a week is high risk. In addition to elevated risk of colon and breast cancer, as well as heart disease and strokes, the CCSA also identified both injuries and violence as negative outcomes from drinking alcohol.
“This isn’t about prohibition. This is simply about reducing the amount one drinks,” said Butt.
The guidelines also warn that no amount of alcohol is safe when pregnant or trying to get pregnant. While abstinence during breastfeeding is the safest option, a standard drink occasionally does not significantly elevate risk.
The new guidelines were met with skepticism by some health experts.
“This type of research often marginalizes other considerations of health and wellbeing from alcohol,” said Dan Malleck, a professor of health sciences at Brock University.
“With their job as the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse and Addiction, there’s no space in there for considering there might be benefits. Their job is to find harm.”
Malleck described the guidelines as “irresponsible”, and said they risk creating “anxiety and stress” among Canadians who once saw themselves as moderate drinkers but now occupy a “high-risk” category.
“The research they’re using also ignores the enjoyment and pleasure and stress relief and collegiality associated with alcohol. None of those things are in the calculation whatsoever,” he said. “We aren’t just machines with inputs and output of chemicals or nutrition. We actually exist in a social space. And that has a significant impact on our health.”
Others, however, see the guidelines as an attempt to help Canadians better understand the realities of alcohol consumption.
“Alcohol is a psychoactive drug. Occasional use isn’t going to have really significant effects. Even if you occasionally use something like heroin, you probably wouldn’t see significant effects on your life. But that’s the thing: people aren’t using alcohol occasionally – they’re using it every day,” said Taryn Grieder, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.
“The hope is that people will moderate their usage and not drink every day, because we’ve seen research that has shown that alcohol is a carcinogen.”
Grieder says that there are components in alcohol that can be beneficial, but are typically only found in certain drinks.
“A glass of red wine a day might have some benefits. But not beer, not a shot of hard alcohol. I think people took this idea of alcohol possibly having health benefits and really ran with it.”
The CCSA also suggested there could be benefits in mandatory labelling of alcoholic beverages – warning of possible health risks and including guidance on consumption standards.
“It might help change the perception for people, with labels showing cirrhosis of the liver and the possible long-term effects that drinking can have,” said Grieder. “Everyone is different and some people metabolize alcohol differently.
“But these guidelines are for the average person, and the hope is that people will recognize the risks associated with use – and especially long-term use.”
6 foods and drinks to choose in the New Year to improve mood, energy, and longevity
Every New Year comes with a slew of nutritional campaigns. It can often feel overwhelming when you’re looking to make a few dietary changes. Rather than get caught up in what not to eat or trying to follow a complicated plan, a simple strategy of incorporating more foods and drinks with big nutritional benefits can be a much simpler and more sustainable approach.
Experts recommend the six nutrient-rich foods below, which are proven to help promote brain health and improve mood, longevity, and energy.
Dairy and plant milk for brain health
Vitamin D, which we mainly absorb through the sun, has several health benefits, including bolstering the immune system and strengthening bones. A new study released last December found vitamin D may also help improve brain function. The researchers found higher vitamin D levels in the brain were associated with better cognitive function, including a stronger memory.
While the study’s authors couldn’t give specific dietary recommendations, “research reinforces the importance of studying how food and nutrients create resilience to protect the aging brain against diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias,” says Sarah Booth, an author on the study and director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in a press release.
Along with the sun, a host of fish, as well as dairy milk, soy milk, and orange juice fortified with vitamin D are rich in this nutrient.
Beans for longevity
Beans have an array of beneficial properties, including being rich in protein and fiber. Beans are glorified in the blue zone diet, which was researched by best-selling author Dan Buettner as part of an in-depth look into what people eat in the blue zones—the areas across the globe where people live the longest.
The Blue Zone diet consists of plant-based foods, and beans stand out as an important source of protein to substitute animal protein. In Buettner’s new book, The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100 from National Geographic, he recommends eating beans daily and says they “reign supreme in the blue zones and are the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world.”
Tea for heart health
This year, researchers found that a cup of tea does more than make you feel warm and cozy or help you nod off. Tea was found to have an association with a “moderately lower risk of dying.” Specifically, black tea was associated with a decreased risk of dying from heart disease.
The lead author explained that the polyphenols in tea can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, and therefore, may decrease the risk of mortality. The researchers found this association was true even if the tea drinker also consumed coffee.
Fish for happiness
Eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon and sardines, can reduce the risk of heart disease. Diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids have also been associated with improved brain health and a reduced risk for depression. These fish are also swimming in vitamin B12, which is associated with positive mood.
Greek yogurt for energy
To feel more productive as the day rolls on, especially when hitting that midday slump, some snacks may provide you with longer sustained energy as opposed to a quick sugar boost.
Rich in protein, a cup of greek yogurt will provide you with energy and make you feel fuller longer than something ultra-processed or high in sugar which gives a spike of energy followed by a more dramatic downfall.
Spices for stress
Spices like garlic, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and cayenne have anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation over a long period of time can cause a stress response in the body, both physically and mentally. Foods that curb inflammation in the body, therefore, are beneficial.
“Garlic is a prebiotic that helps balance your gut by stimulating healthy bacteria growth,” Dr. Uma Naidoo, a Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist and author of This Is Your Brain on Food, previously told Fortune. “And turmeric impacts the hippocampus, which is a part of the brain that helps regulate stress hormones.”
Lastly, while food choices can help with various physical and mental health goals, eating with one another and slowing down to enjoy company over a meal—what the blue zone researchers talk about as the power of a shared meal—remains a cornerstone of health and longevity.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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20 dividend stocks with high yields that have become more attractive right now
Income-seeking investors are looking at an opportunity to scoop up shares of real estate investment trusts. Stocks in that asset class have become more attractive as prices have fallen and cash flow is improving.
Below is a broad screen of REITs that have high dividend yields and are also expected to generate enough excess cash in 2023 to enable increases in dividend payouts.
REIT prices may turn a corner in 2023
REITs distribute most of their income to shareholders to maintain their tax-advantaged status. But the group is cyclical, with pressure on share prices when interest rates rise, as they have this year at an unprecedented scale. A slowing growth rate for the group may have also placed a drag on the stocks.
And now, with talk that the Federal Reserve may begin to temper its cycle of interest-rate increases, we may be nearing the time when REIT prices rise in anticipation of an eventual decline in interest rates. The market always looks ahead, which means long-term investors who have been waiting on the sidelines to buy higher-yielding income-oriented investments may have to make a move soon.
During an interview on Nov 28, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, discussed the central bank’s cycle of interest-rate increases meant to reduce inflation.
When asked about the potential timing of the Fed’s “terminal rate” (the peak federal funds rate for this cycle), Bullard said: “Generally speaking, I have advocated that sooner is better, that you do want to get to the right level of the policy rate for the current data and the current situation.”
In August we published this guide to investing in REITs for income. Since the data for that article was pulled on Aug. 24, the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.50%
has declined 4% (despite a 10% rally from its 2022 closing low on Oct. 12), but the benchmark index’s real estate sector has declined 13%.
REITs can be placed broadly into two categories. Mortgage REITs lend money to commercial or residential borrowers and/or invest in mortgage-backed securities, while equity REITs own property and lease it out.
The pressure on share prices can be greater for mortgage REITs, because the mortgage-lending business slows as interest rates rise. In this article we are focusing on equity REITs.
Industry numbers
The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) reported that third-quarter funds from operations (FFO) for U.S.-listed equity REITs were up 14% from a year earlier. To put that number in context, the year-over-year growth rate of quarterly FFO has been slowing — it was 35% a year ago. And the third-quarter FFO increase compares to a 23% increase in earnings per share for the S&P 500 from a year earlier, according to FactSet.
The NAREIT report breaks out numbers for 12 categories of equity REITs, and there is great variance in the growth numbers, as you can see here.
FFO is a non-GAAP measure that is commonly used to gauge REITs’ capacity for paying dividends. It adds amortization and depreciation (noncash items) back to earnings, while excluding gains on the sale of property. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) goes further, netting out expected capital expenditures to maintain the quality of property investments.
The slowing FFO growth numbers point to the importance of looking at REITs individually, to see if expected cash flow is sufficient to cover dividend payments.
Screen of high-yielding equity REITs
For 2022 through Nov. 28, the S&P 500 has declined 17%, while the real estate sector has fallen 27%, excluding dividends.
Over the very long term, through interest-rate cycles and the liquidity-driven bull market that ended this year, equity REITs have fared well, with an average annual return of 9.3% for 20 years, compared to an average return of 9.6% for the S&P 500, both with dividends reinvested, according to FactSet.
This performance might surprise some investors, when considering the REITs’ income focus and the S&P 500’s heavy weighting for rapidly growing technology companies.
For a broad screen of equity REITs, we began with the Russell 3000 Index
RUA,
-0.18%,
which represents 98% of U.S. companies by market capitalization.
We then narrowed the list to 119 equity REITs that are followed by at least five analysts covered by FactSet for which AFFO estimates are available.
If we divide the expected 2023 AFFO by the current share price, we have an estimated AFFO yield, which can be compared with the current dividend yield to see if there is expected “headroom” for dividend increases.
For example, if we look at Vornado Realty Trust
VNO,
+1.01%,
the current dividend yield is 8.56%. Based on the consensus 2023 AFFO estimate among analysts polled by FactSet, the expected AFFO yield is only 7.25%. This doesn’t mean that Vornado will cut its dividend and it doesn’t even mean the company won’t raise its payout next year. But it might make it less likely to do so.
Among the 119 equity REITs, 104 have expected 2023 AFFO headroom of at least 1.00%.
Here are the 20 equity REITs from our screen with the highest current dividend yields that have at least 1% expected AFFO headroom:
| Company | Ticker | Dividend yield | Estimated 2023 AFFO yield | Estimated “headroom” | Market cap. ($mil) | Main concentration |
| Brandywine Realty Trust |
BDN, +1.82% |
11.52% | 12.82% | 1.30% | $1,132 | Offices |
| Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. |
SBRA, +2.02% |
9.70% | 12.04% | 2.34% | $2,857 | Health care |
| Medical Properties Trust Inc. |
MPW, +1.90% |
9.18% | 11.46% | 2.29% | $7,559 | Health care |
| SL Green Realty Corp. |
SLG, +2.18% |
9.16% | 10.43% | 1.28% | $2,619 | Offices |
| Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. |
HPP, +1.55% |
9.12% | 12.69% | 3.57% | $1,546 | Offices |
| Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. |
OHI, +1.30% |
9.05% | 10.13% | 1.08% | $6,936 | Health care |
| Global Medical REIT Inc. |
GMRE, +2.03% |
8.75% | 10.59% | 1.84% | $629 | Health care |
| Uniti Group Inc. |
UNIT, +0.28% |
8.30% | 25.00% | 16.70% | $1,715 | Communications infrastructure |
| EPR Properties |
EPR, +0.62% |
8.19% | 12.24% | 4.05% | $3,023 | Leisure properties |
| CTO Realty Growth Inc. |
CTO, +1.58% |
7.51% | 9.34% | 1.83% | $381 | Retail |
| Highwoods Properties Inc. |
HIW, +0.76% |
6.95% | 8.82% | 1.86% | $3,025 | Offices |
| National Health Investors Inc. |
NHI, +1.90% |
6.75% | 8.32% | 1.57% | $2,313 | Senior housing |
| Douglas Emmett Inc. |
DEI, +0.33% |
6.74% | 10.30% | 3.55% | $2,920 | Offices |
| Outfront Media Inc. |
OUT, +0.70% |
6.68% | 11.74% | 5.06% | $2,950 | Billboards |
| Spirit Realty Capital Inc. |
SRC, +0.72% |
6.62% | 9.07% | 2.45% | $5,595 | Retail |
| Broadstone Net Lease Inc. |
BNL, -0.93% |
6.61% | 8.70% | 2.08% | $2,879 | Industial |
| Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. |
AHH, -0.08% |
6.38% | 7.78% | 1.41% | $807 | Offices |
| Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. |
IIPR, +1.09% |
6.24% | 7.53% | 1.29% | $3,226 | Health care |
| Simon Property Group Inc. |
SPG, +0.95% |
6.22% | 9.55% | 3.33% | $37,847 | Retail |
| LTC Properties Inc. |
LTC, +1.09% |
5.99% | 7.60% | 1.60% | $1,541 | Senior housing |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Click on the tickers for more about each company. You should read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
The list includes each REIT’s main property investment type. However, many REITs are highly diversified. The simplified categories on the table may not cover all of their investment properties.
Knowing what a REIT invests in is part of the research you should do on your own before buying any individual stock. For arbitrary examples, some investors may wish to steer clear of exposure to certain areas of retail or hotels, or they may favor health-care properties.
Largest REITs
Several of the REITs that passed the screen have relatively small market capitalizations. You might be curious to see how the most widely held REITs fared in the screen. So here’s another list of the 20 largest U.S. REITs among the 119 that passed the first cut, sorted by market cap as of Nov. 28:
| Company | Ticker | Dividend yield | Estimated 2023 AFFO yield | Estimated “headroom” | Market cap. ($mil) | Main concentration |
| Prologis Inc. |
PLD, +1.29% |
2.84% | 4.36% | 1.52% | $102,886 | Warehouses and logistics |
| American Tower Corp. |
AMT, +0.68% |
2.66% | 4.82% | 2.16% | $99,593 | Communications infrastructure |
| Equinix Inc. |
EQIX, +0.62% |
1.87% | 4.79% | 2.91% | $61,317 | Data centers |
| Crown Castle Inc. |
CCI, +1.03% |
4.55% | 5.42% | 0.86% | $59,553 | Wireless Infrastructure |
| Public Storage |
PSA, +0.11% |
2.77% | 5.35% | 2.57% | $50,680 | Self-storage |
| Realty Income Corp. |
O, +0.26% |
4.82% | 6.46% | 1.64% | $38,720 | Retail |
| Simon Property Group Inc. |
SPG, +0.95% |
6.22% | 9.55% | 3.33% | $37,847 | Retail |
| VICI Properties Inc. |
VICI, +0.41% |
4.69% | 6.21% | 1.52% | $32,013 | Leisure properties |
| SBA Communications Corp. Class A |
SBAC, +0.59% |
0.97% | 4.33% | 3.36% | $31,662 | Communications infrastructure |
| Welltower Inc. |
WELL, +2.37% |
3.66% | 4.76% | 1.10% | $31,489 | Health care |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc. |
DLR, +0.69% |
4.54% | 6.18% | 1.64% | $30,903 | Data centers |
| Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. |
ARE, +1.38% |
3.17% | 4.87% | 1.70% | $24,451 | Offices |
| AvalonBay Communities Inc. |
AVB, +0.89% |
3.78% | 5.69% | 1.90% | $23,513 | Multifamily residential |
| Equity Residential |
EQR, +1.10% |
4.02% | 5.36% | 1.34% | $23,503 | Multifamily residential |
| Extra Space Storage Inc. |
EXR, +0.29% |
3.93% | 5.83% | 1.90% | $20,430 | Self-storage |
| Invitation Homes Inc. |
INVH, +1.58% |
2.84% | 5.12% | 2.28% | $18,948 | Single-family residental |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. |
MAA, +1.46% |
3.16% | 5.18% | 2.02% | $18,260 | Multifamily residential |
| Ventas Inc. |
VTR, +1.63% |
4.07% | 5.95% | 1.88% | $17,660 | Senior housing |
| Sun Communities Inc. |
SUI, +2.09% |
2.51% | 4.81% | 2.30% | $17,346 | Multifamily residential |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Simon Property Group Inc.
SPG,
+0.95%
is the only REIT to make both lists.
Wegovy is making people repulsed by their favorite food and drinks
The groundbreaking weight-loss drug Wegovy is causing users to hate the taste of their favorite treats.
Americans prescribed the once-a-week injection say they have become suddenly repulsed by coffee and certain candies and fast food.
Wegovy and its sister drug Ozempic, which both use the active drug semaglutide, work by replicating hormones that tell the brain it is full.
These hormones are meant to make a person feel full and reduce cravings. But for people like Staci Rice, 40, of Georgia, they have ruined some of their simple pleasures in life.
Ms Rice had been a daily coffee drinker since seventh grade before using Wegovy to lose 50 pounds in six months. Now she cannot keep a cup down.
She told Insider two of her past favorite treats, a fried-chicken sandwich from Chic-fil-A and Kit-Kat bars have also become repulsive to her.
Kait Morris, a TikToker with over 6,000 followers, said that she could no longer eat a full plate of food and only wanted smoothies after using the drug.
Reddit users on a forum dedicated to discussing the drug also complain of not being able to eat their favorite snacks anymore, with one even saying that all food tastes ‘yuck’ now.
Experts these taste distortions occur because the drug alters the brain’s ability to tell what is going into a person’s mouth – causing a taste disorder called dysgeusia.
The condition causes certain food and drink to seem sweet, sour, bitter, or metallic.
Wegovy has become a highly-sought after drug since it first became available in the US last year. It showed the ability to drop a person’s body weight by around 15 per cent over 68 weeks in clinical trials.
Famous users include Elon Musk, who credited Wegovy for his body transformation on Twitter. Kim Kardashian is also rumored to have used the injections.
Staci Rice (left), 40, said that she can no longer stomach coffee or Kit-Kats after using Wegovy. Kait Morris (right) said that Ozempic hurt her relationship with food. Her issues with taste have since passed, she said
Ms Rice (pictured) lost 50pounds on Wegovy after using it for the last six months
Wegovy is a GLP-1 drug that has been heralded for its value as a weight loss supplement.
‘Every morning, I would try to make coffee, thinking that one day it would just taste good to me again,’ Ms Rice said.
She was also a fan of the the ‘Number 1’ meal at Chic-fil-A, a 440 calorie fried chicken sandwich with 1,400grams of sodium and 6grams of sugar.
The meal is no longer appealing to her, with the fast food chain’s kale salad now being her order of choice.
Kit-Kats, which she says were her previous favorite Halloween treat, have an indescribably bad taste for her. All chocolate tastes unpalatable to her now.
She cannot stomach ground beef either, removing it from the dinner lineup at home to the chagrin of her husband.
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug that mimics the effects of the hormone that is naturally produced in a person’s stomach and pancreas.
These hormones signal to the brain that it does not need to eat. This reduces a person’s appetite and reduces food cravings.
It also slows down the emptying of the stomach and increases the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.
Ozempic, the first formulation of the drug manufactured by Novo Nordisk, was initially designed to help diabetics manage their condition.
Those who used the drug also experienced significant weight loss as well, though.
This led to the Danish firm reformulating the drug into the Wegovy, which is approved for weight loss.
Common side-effects of the drug include nausea, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal issues.
It is used via weekly injection into the thigh, arm or stomach.
Some users are reporting symptoms like Ms Rice’s, though, where their relationship to food has been significantly altered.
Ms Morris has thousands of followers on her TikTok account where she discusses her use of Ozempic and shares updates on her weight loss journey.
‘I miss eating. I miss going out to restaurants. I miss ordering a normal plate of food,’ she said during a video posted in September.
She also said she could no longer eat meat and now only has cravings for smoothies.
During a video posted on October 14, Ms Morris said she skipped her weekly injection as some of her side effects were ‘really intense’. She added that she is still committed to take the weekly shot.
Over the nine months she has used the drug she has lost 65 pounds.
Ms Morris also added during a video posted last week that she is in a ‘very good place’ with food as some of her side-effects have subsided.
On the Reddit forum r/Ozempic, users have highlighted their struggles with food born from use of the drug.
‘Ozempic seems to have changed my tastebuds. Suddenly everything tastes … yuck,’ one user wrote in a thread over summer.
‘…Especially meat. It tastes really bad to me and I previously loved meat. The idea of a steak now make me nauseous. I previously loved food—I rarely ate anything I didn’t like. The taste is just … off.
‘Sweet things are way way way too sweet—almost repulsive. The only thing that is still delicious is fruit and sour things which I crave like never before.’
Another user shared that they ‘miss enjoying’ food as they now take no enjoyment out of eating.
‘Food is gross for me too. Eating is just weird. Either I am starving and everything is gross or I am sick to my stomach and can’t eat,’ another Reddit user said.
Because of the relatively new nature of this class of drugs, there is no research available as to how they effect the brain in a way that would damage taste.
Sr Ed Walker, chief scientist at Plant & Food Research, a New Zealand government-funded institution, told DailyMail.com it could be related to how the drug is taken.
Because injections are taken once a week, the body will have days where its levels of GLP-1 hormones are significantly spiked.
This is unnatural – as the body only releases hormones as they are needed. Resulting hormonal imbalances could lead to odd side-effects like altered taste.
Dr Lynnette McCluskey, a neuroscience professor at Augusta University, in Georgia, told Insider that the altered signals are messing with a person’s brain.
‘Once you start messing with all those signals — and it may be different from day to day, or when you took the drug — you really have a lot of potential for dysgeusia, or taste distortions,’ she said.
2 Of The Worst Processed Drinks That Lead To Belly Fat, According To Experts
A healthy weight loss diet is about more than the food you eat; it’s also important to consider the beverages you put in your body every day. While sticking to plain old water is always your best bet for staying healthy and hydrated, you may be tempted to indulge in some sweet drinks throughout the day. However, experts warn that consuming excess sugar (even when it comes in an unassuming beverage) can lead to serious health consequences, including weight gain. For this reason, cutting certain sugary drinks out of your diet is your best option if you’re trying to slim down.
To discover some of the worst high-sugar drinks that could be slowing your weight loss, we spoke to health experts Beth Hawkes, MSN, RN-BC of Nurse Code and Dana Ellis Hunnes PhD, MPH, RD and author of Recipe for Survival. They pointed out two major culprits: store-bought fruit juice and energy drinks.
Sugary fruit juice
Although juice may seem like a healthy beverage, especially considering the fact that it’s made from notoriously healthy fruit, Hawkes says that it’s actually quite the opposite. While making your own green juice at home may be another story, buying fruit juice at the store is an absolute no-go for anyone looking to lose weight. That’s because these varieties are typically highly processed and packed with sugar. In fact, a single serving of store-bought fruit juice can even be worse for you than a can of soda in certain instances. “For example, there are about 31 grams of sugar in a 12-ounce serving of orange juice, which is more than the 22 grams found in the same amount of cola,” Hawkes tells us. Yikes!
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that all of that sugar can do some serious damage to your body and even result in weight gain over time. Hawkes explains how this happens: “When you consume such a quantity of the sweet stuff, your levels of blood glucose soar into the stratosphere. This tells our metabolism to slow down and thus burn fewer calories which leads us towards gaining weight instead.” For this reason, cutting juice (especially store-bought varieties) out of your diet is highly recommended if you’re trying to shed some pounds.
Energy drinks
Although you may love the caffeine boost and sweet flavor you get from energy drinks, Hunnes tells us they can come with a serious cost: inflammation and weight gain. Similar to the dangers of sugary fruit juice, energy drinks can take a toll on your health due to harmful, sweet ingredients. “Energy drinks have added ingredients like alternative sweeteners and sugar,” she explains, noting that “the average sugar content of an energy drink is 54 grams, an alarming rate that can cause weight gain and poor digestive health.” Yikes!
But be careful—sugar isn’t the only ingredient in energy drinks that can cause you to gain belly fat. As it turns out, sugar-free varieties that taste equally sweet can also be just as bad for you. As it turns out, that sweet flavor will still lead to an insulin response, triggering inflammation and weight gain. “Digestion begins all the way in the mouth, and sweet flavors do release some insulin whether there’s actual sugar or not,” Hunnes explains. “There might still be some response, even if it is a lower or lesser inflammatory response.” Say it ain’t so! Guess we’ll skip the Red Bull and opt for some black coffee next time we’re feeling sleepy…
The bottom line
Of course, at the end of the day, treating yourself to some sweet beverages every now and then won’t kill you. However, it’s important to be aware of the risks at hand when you indulge in sugar-packed drinks like fruit juice and energy drinks. Remember that moderation is always key, and if you want to avoid belly fat, it’s best to limit your overall sugar intake as much as possible.