The Products GLP-1 Patients Say They Can't Live Without

27 GLP-1 patients named 68 brands they could not imagine living without, and 18 of them named a protein product.

By Amanda Bonello and Kim Carlos, Co-founders, The Butter Place. 2026-10-20

We asked the GLP-1 community, Cozy Butter, one open question: what is one product you use regularly on a GLP-1 that you could not imagine living without? The post listed product types as examples (protein powder, supplements or electrolytes, water bottles, meal delivery, fitness equipment, skincare or hair, clothing) and named no brands. 27 members answered. Most named more than one product, and together they named 68 brands.

At a glance

Type: Community Pulse, an exploratory study of one open question
Sample: 27 members of the GLP-1 community Cozy Butter (n=27). GLP-1 use is self-reported and was not verified
Question: "What is ONE product you use regularly on a GLP-1 that you could not imagine living without?" Open-ended, with product types as examples and no brands suggested
Dates: October 11 to 20, 2026
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23547579, archived on Zenodo
Method: an open post in the community's Announcements space. Members chose whether to answer and could name as many products as they liked
Counting: each brand counted once per member, including replies agreeing with another member's pick. Brands are counted as members named them, not combined by parent company, so Core Power and Fairlife are counted separately

Key findings

The Loaded Tea Shop was named most often, by 5 of the 27 members.
Barebells, Fairlife and Owala followed, each named by 4 members.
Protein led every category: 18 of the 27 members named at least one protein product.
Drinks and supplements came next, each named by 11 members.
Preferences were fragmented, with 47 of the 68 brands receiving a single mention. Those single mentions came from 17 of the 27 members.

What members named, by category

Members who named a product in each category, out of 27
Protein shakes, bars, powders and snacks	18 of 27
Drinks, teas and electrolytes	11 of 27
Vitamins, fiber and supplements	11 of 27
Water bottles and tumblers	8 of 27
Lower-carb and high-fiber foods	5 of 27
Fitness equipment and scales	4 of 27
Beauty, hair and clothing	3 of 27
Services and subscription boxes	2 of 27

We placed each brand in one category, based on the product the member named. Answers with no brand name, such as "water bottle," count toward their category but not toward the 68 brands. Members could name more than one product, so the counts add up to more than 27.

The most-named brands

Members who named each brand, out of 27
The Loaded Tea Shop	5 of 27
Barebells	4 of 27
Fairlife	4 of 27
Owala	4 of 27
Alani Nu	3 of 27
Built	3 of 27
Nurri	3 of 27
Quest	3 of 27
BelliWelli	2 of 27
BruMate	2 of 27
Clean Simple Eats	2 of 27
David	2 of 27
Goodles	2 of 27
Legendary Foods	2 of 27
MaryRuth's	2 of 27
Merach	2 of 27
Mission Carb Balance	2 of 27
Premier Protein	2 of 27
Vitafusion	2 of 27
Vital Proteins	2 of 27
Wilde	2 of 27

Members could name more than one brand, so the counts add up to more than 27. Brands named by one member are in the full list below.

Every brand, in order

5 members: The Loaded Tea Shop
4 members: Barebells, Fairlife, Owala
3 members: Alani Nu, Built, Nurri, Quest
2 members: BelliWelli, BruMate, Clean Simple Eats, David, Goodles, Legendary Foods, MaryRuth's, Merach, Mission Carb Balance, Premier Protein, Vitafusion, Vital Proteins, Wilde
1 member each: Arboleaf, Barilla Protein+, Benefiber, BiOptimizers, BioCare, Bloom, Catalina Crunch, Chobani, Cira Hydration, Coffee and Chaos Water, Core Power, Democracy, Devotion Nutrition, Doritos Protein, Dove, Fit & Lean, FlavCity, Flybird, Good Culture, Hero Bread, HydroJug, La Banderita, La Roche-Posay, Levels, Liquid I.V., LMNT, Micro Ingredients, My Companion Box, Nuun, Oath, Omnilux, Optimum Nutrition, Paul Mitchell, Pure Kick, Rotten, Ryse, SEEQ, Silk, Skittles sugar-free drink mixes, Sola, Transparent Labs, Vitaminwater, WellFit, Wellah

Three more brands, each named by one member, are counted in the 68 but not listed. See Disclosures.

Implications for brands

Protein was the most common need, and 18 of the 27 members named a protein product.
Hydration was the next most common need, and 15 of the 27 members named a drink, an electrolyte or a water bottle.
Preferences are fragmented: 47 of the 68 brands received a single mention, and members often named an exact product, flavor or style.
Members recommend products to each other, and several answers drew replies from members who use the same product or wanted to know more about it.
Members also named products beyond food and drink, including fitness equipment, clothing, skin care and hair care.

"I have my own small resistance gym in my room and LOVE their soft kettlebells."
Cozy Butter member, on Merach

"Democracy Ab Solution jeans (have about 10 pair)."
Cozy Butter member, on Democracy

Butter Health recruits GLP-1 patients for research studies and interviews, and runs custom surveys and at-home product tests for brands. Contact us to talk about a project.

Limitations

This is a small group of members who chose to answer one open question, so it is not a random or representative sample of GLP-1 patients, and the results should not be projected to all GLP-1 users.

We suggested no brands, but answers were posted in the open, so members could see earlier picks before answering, and some answers are replies agreeing with another member. The product types listed in the question may also have influenced which products members thought of.

A mention shows that a member uses or recommends a product. It does not measure how often they buy it, how much they spend, market share or long-term loyalty. With 27 members, a difference of one or two mentions between brands is not meaningful.

We did not collect age, gender, location or which GLP-1 medication members take. We sorted the open-ended answers into brands and categories.

Disclosures

No brand paid to be included or saw this Community Pulse before publication. As of publication, none of the brands named is a client or sponsor of The Butter Place or Cozy Butter. The question was posted in part to learn which brands members already use, as possible sponsors of the free community, and members were told their answers would be shared anonymously. One of the 27 answers came from Amanda Bonello, one of the authors, who is a member of the community. We do not list services that prescribe GLP-1 medications, products sold as GLP-1 alternatives, or members' own businesses, so three brands, one of each kind, are counted but not named. Quotes are shared with each member's written permission.

About the authors

Amanda Bonello is a patient advocate, ACE-certified health coach and GLP-1 brand consultant. She co-founded The Butter Place and the GLP-1 community Cozy Butter, and founded the GLP-1 Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working for affordable access to GLP-1 medications. She has been featured in Politico, USA Today and CNBC. See her press coverage or connect with Amanda on LinkedIn.

Kim Carlos is an obesity care advocate and the host of The Plus SideZ, an award-winning GLP-1 podcast. She co-founded The Butter Place and the GLP-1 community Cozy Butter, and her patient story is featured in a 2025 Medscape education program for primary care clinicians. She has been featured by Good Morning America, Bloomberg News, ABC Nightline and the New York Post. Listen to The Plus SideZ or read more about Kim.

About Butter Health

Butter Health is the research arm of The Butter Place, home of the GLP-1 community Cozy Butter. It keeps the Cozy Insiders research panel, Cozy Butter members who have opted in to be contacted for surveys, interviews, product testing and study recruitment, and it also runs open surveys with the whole community. Members self-report their GLP-1 use and other criteria, and Butter Health pre-screens everyone against a study's criteria before they are invited. Butter Health does not verify medical records for everyone who joins the community or the panel. When a study requires verification, the organization running that study handles it, whether that is a research partner or Butter Health. For research or partnership inquiries, contact Butter Health. Press: hello@cozybutter.com. The Butter Place, Cozy Butter and Butter Health are part of Cozy Butter LLC.

Suggested citation: Bonello, A., & Carlos, K. (2026). The Products GLP-1 Patients Say They Can't Live Without [Community Pulse]. Butter Health, The Butter Place. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23547579

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