I want to write about retatrutide carefully, for two reasons. The first is that it remains an investigational drug at the time of writing, not an approved medication, and nothing here is medical advice or a recommendation. The second is that, as someone who runs a food brand, I have no interest in pretending these medications do not exist or in dismissing them. They are among the most consequential developments in metabolic medicine in a generation.
The more interesting question is not whether drugs like this can be powerful. The evidence says they can. The deeper question is what they reveal about the relationship between food, bodies, medicine and culture.
What retatrutide is.
Retatrutide is a once-weekly injectable medicine being developed by Eli Lilly. It is described as a triple-hormone receptor agonist because it acts on GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors. The glucagon component is one reason researchers are interested in its potential effects on energy expenditure and liver fat, although the full clinical meaning of that mechanism still needs careful long-term study.
Phase 2 data published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed substantial weight loss over 48 weeks, with the highest tested dose producing average weight reductions of about a quarter of baseline body weight. A Phase 2 liver-fat substudy published in Nature Medicine reported very large reductions in liver fat, as measured by MRI-PDFF. In May 2026, Lilly also announced pivotal Phase 3 obesity trial results, reporting an average 28.3% body weight reduction at 80 weeks with the 12 mg dose. Those are large numbers, and they should be described accurately.
What the evidence does and does not show.
The liver-fat findings are remarkable, but they should not be overread. Reducing liver fat is clinically meaningful, yet liver disease is not measured by fat alone. The harder questions include whether inflammation improves, whether scarring or fibrosis resolves, how durable the response is, and what the long-term benefit-risk profile looks like across more diverse populations.
That is why the responsible posture is cautious interest rather than celebration. Retatrutide may become an important medical tool if regulators approve it and if ongoing studies support its safety and efficacy. It should not be framed as a wellness product, a cultural shortcut, or a reason to abandon the ordinary foundations of metabolic health.
The cultural question.
What interests me most is what the arrival of these drugs says about our current health and wellness-social landscape. We are developing extraordinary pharmacological tools for conditions shaped not only by biology, but also by food systems, work patterns, stress, poverty, marketing, urban design, sleep loss and the erosion of communal eating. None of that means individual people are to blame. It means metabolism lives inside culture.
There is something worth sitting with in the fact that we can engineer a molecule that dramatically reduces liver fat more easily than we can rebuild the food culture that might help prevent metabolic dysfunction in the first place. The drug does not make the cultural question disappear. It arguably makes it more urgent.
Why this matters for how we eat.
For most people, most of the time, the foundations remain ordinary and non-punitive: enough food, a varied plant-rich pattern, adequate protein, fibre, sleep, movement, and some rhythm around meals. Where medication is clinically appropriate and prescribed by a qualified professional, it may sit alongside those foundations. It does not replace them.
At Kurami, we are in the business of the foundation. We make the daily work of eating well easier, because health is not built only in moments of medical intervention. It is also built in repetition: the meals, textures, plants, proteins and routines that hold a person through ordinary life.
Camilla Pigozzi Garofalo studied social anthropology and the anthropology of food before founding Kurami, a gut-health meal delivery company focused on plant diversity, balanced nutrition, and sustainable ways of eating. She writes about food culture, eating rituals and the relationship between nutrition and everyday life.
Medical note
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Retatrutide is investigational and is not approved for use at the time of writing. Decisions about weight, liver health, metabolic disease or any medication should be made with a qualified healthcare professional.
FAQs
What is retatrutide?
Retatrutide is an investigational once-weekly injectable drug being developed by Eli Lilly. It acts on GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors and is being studied for obesity, type 2 diabetes and related metabolic conditions.
How does retatrutide affect liver fat?
In Phase 2 research, retatrutide produced large reductions in liver fat measured by MRI-PDFF. However, liver fat is only one marker. Longer-term trials are needed to understand effects on inflammation, fibrosis, safety and clinical outcomes.
Is retatrutide approved?
At the time of writing, retatrutide is investigational and not approved for routine clinical use. It should not be purchased, used or promoted outside proper medical and regulatory channels.
Sources and further reading.
3. Eli Lilly investor release: retatrutide Phase 3 obesity trial TRIUMPH-1, 21 May 2026.
