First they took a GLP-1. Then they got the ‘meat ick.’

Merris Taylor has never loved a fatty ribeye or New York Strip steak. She prefers leaner cuts. But that preference morphed into a downright disgust after Taylor started taking Zepbound, a powerful GLP-1 weight loss medication. “If I get a weird piece of meat in my mouth — whether it has a weird texture or fat in it — I’m like, ‘oh, no,’” the dietitian tells Yahoo. “That just turns your stomach,” she adds.

This sudden loss of appetite for meat is not uncommon among people taking GLP-1s. They call it the “meat ick.” If you’re not on a weight loss medication, maybe you’ve felt a version of the meat ick if you’ve taken a first bite of salmon and it tasted too fishy, or you’ve cooked up some chicken that still tastes suspiciously gamey. But for some people taking injection weight loss drugs such as Zepbound and Wegovy, even the freshest chicken, pork, steak or salmon can lose its appeal. Researchers, patients and prescribers of GLP-1 medications are discovering that the drugs can significantly change people’s tastes in food. And losing a taste for meat is especially concerning for people on these medications because they need to consume plenty of protein to prevent muscle loss and reduce side effects.

So what’s going on, and can a case of the meat ick be cured? Here’s what we learned.

What is the ‘meat ick’ and why do people get it on GLP-1s?

The meat ick is just a more relatable version of a more technical term called food aversion. It’s a phenomenon that’s probably most familiar to people who have been pregnant and experienced the dreaded morning sickness along with appetite changes that can leave them hating their favorite foods. Food aversion can come with or without nausea and has a number of potential causes, ranging from hormonal changes, such as those in pregnancy, to certain illnesses and even mental health issues like depression or anxiety. Medications, including antibiotics and omeprazole — a common acid reflux treatment — can also cause food aversion. So the effects of blockbuster GLP-1 drugs aren’t totally unprecedented.

But something new is going on with these particular types of medications. Older diabetes medications that are also considered GLP-1s — including Victoza and Saxenda — have been around for more than a decade. “What’s very strange is that really nobody ever reported this meat ick thing to us [while taking these drugs],” Tiffany Bailey, a physician’s assistant who makes educational content about GLP-1s on social media, tells Yahoo. “What I found strange is that we started seeing this phenomenon when we started using GLP-1s for weight loss,” rather than to treat diabetes, she adds.

There isn’t much research on the meat ick or other food aversions triggered by GLP-1s — Bailey notes that it was never mentioned to her or her colleagues when they were learning how to prescribe and manage side effects — but there are some sensible theories. For one, Bailey suspects that the reason people are getting the meat ick while on, for example, Mounjaro, but not Saxenda, is that versions of drugs designed for weight loss are usually higher doses than the same medication formulated for diabetes treatment. That likely means the side effects of the weight loss versions will be stronger.

Second, these drugs help people lose weight by slowing down gastric emptying, or the process of digestion. So after someone taking a GLP-1 eats, “food just sits there longer,” helping them to feel fuller faster, explains Bailey. Heavy, dense foods, including meat and other proteins, already take longer to digest. But if they sit in your gut for too long, they can trigger nausea, a biological response designed to tell us Slow down, I’ve had enough and can’t handle more right now! Your digestive system “registers that you ate this, and it sat there and made you nauseous, so it will subconsciously tell your brain, ‘This is bad.’” So your brain gets conditioned when it tastes, smells or in some cases even sees that food to think: nausea.

It’s not just meat

Bailey estimates that between 10% and 15% of her GLP-1 patients with food aversions get the meat ick, specifically. But she says as many as 70% of people taking the injections develop some kind of food aversion. The most common culprit? Coffee, “even if they used to live for their coffee,” says Bailey. Too much caffeine from coffee can cause nausea, queasiness or stomach upset, which might partially explain the phenomenon. But Bailey says that coffee simply tastes bad to many of her patients. Plenty of GLP-1 users have reported the same breakup with their morning joe on social media. One possible explanation is that both caffeine and GLP-1s interact with dopamine, our reward chemical, in the brain. GLP-1s can make those once-rewarding food and drinks (and, researchers think, drugs and alcohol too) less so, which may explain why coffee and caffeine aren’t so appealing to those taking the drugs, Bailey suggests.

Eggs are probably the second most commonly-reported “ick” in Bailey’s family medicine practice. And they’re now 32-year-old Courtney Kline’s biggest turn-off. Since starting to take a GLP-1, “I’ve tried every which way to cook them or put them in something,” but to no avail, she tells Yahoo. “I’ve always loved eggs, but the second I started on a GLP-1 I [tried to make] some eggs, liquid egg whites and spinach, and I felt like vomiting,” she says. Her egg reaction takes one easy way to cook and consume protein off the menu. But for others with the meat ick, including Taylor, eggs are a solution. While scrambled eggs are “no-go” for her, boiled eggs are a great go-to source of protein, along with softer meats that are made in the crock pot, added to soup or in spaghetti sauce.

Cassandra Smith has the opposite problem. A day or so after the 30-year-old middle school English teacher and mother took her first injection of compounded tirzepatide, Smith had plans to go to Olive Garden with her coworkers. Smith ordered her usual: cheese ravioli with red meat sauce, topped with a layer of Parmesan. “When I got it, I was like, eww,” she tells Yahoo. “I was like, ‘I just can’t eat this — this is disgusting.” The dish didn’t smell off or look off, but “it was like my brain just said, “You’re not eating that,” says Smith. “It’s weird, I can’t really explain it.” Her best guess is simply that her brain and body have learned that all of that heavy food — the red meat, the carbs and the cheese — didn’t sit well with her anymore. (Dairy, notes Bailey, also comes up as a GLP-1 ick.)

Why the ick isn’t all bad — and how to cope with it

There’s an upside to these icks, however. Smith no longer has any desire for some of the rich foods she once enjoyed. Instead, “my cravings are completely different now. I crave salmon and brussels sprouts, and I’m wondering, ‘What restaurant has the best broccoli?’” she says. “I’m like, who craves broccoli? But my whole palate has changed.” That’s been hugely helpful to Smith. She used to love steak, but had to stop eating it because it caused flare-ups of her rheumatoid arthritis. Since starting on a GLP-1 Smith has been able to stop taking her arthritis medications under the guidance of her doctor, “and these are medications that people never come off of,” she says. Now she’s discovered a love of salmon, a healthy, nutrient-packed source of protein and good-for-you fats. Smith avoids any highly processed “manmade” foods, she says, opting instead for whole foods — and teaching her 4-year-old daughter to do the same.

It’s a common, positive effect of being on these weight loss medications, Bailey says. “Studies show that people choose a lot lighter foods in general after being put on a GLP-1,” she says, referring to a shift away from high-sugar foods and unhealthy fats found in ultra-processed foods. That’s good for weight loss and improving health metrics like cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. But this dietary change does present a problem: consuming enough protein. Fatty fish like salmon and tuna are great sources of protein, but Bailey says some of her GLP-1 patients can’t tolerate even this good fat.

So how can you hit your protein goals if you’re on a weight loss medication? Lean options like grilled chicken or turkey are less likely to trigger the ick, say both Bailey and Taylor. And, when in doubt, you might just have to hide the meat a little. Taylor and Bailey suggest going for lightly breaded chicken. Try cooking it in an air fryer or baking it in the oven, rather than deep-frying it, which bathes the chicken in fatty oil — or else you might find yourself right back in the ick.