GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Trigger Surge in Scurvy Cases
A once-forgotten sailors’ disease is making a comeback among GLP-1 users, while Tripadvisor crowns Madeira the world’s top travel destination and Michelin inspectors reveal the bold flavors reshaping fine dining in 2026.
GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Linked to Surge in Scurvy Cases
Doctors are sounding the alarm over a troubling side effect emerging among long-term users of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy: a resurgence of scurvy, a severe vitamin C deficiency historically associated with 18th-century sailors on long sea voyages. While the drugs themselves are not directly toxic, their powerful appetite-suppressing effects are causing some users to eat as few as 600–1,000 calories per day, inadvertently crowding out nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables in favor of easy-to-digest processed foods that don’t trigger nausea.
An opinion piece published in the BMJ flagged this risk as early as mid-2025, noting that malnutrition cases were already being reported in the United States. A broader review of clinical trial data found that 95% of studies on GLP-1 drugs did not formally monitor participants’ dietary intake—meaning the scale of micronutrient deficiencies has likely been underestimated. Between 13% and 22% of long-term users are now believed to develop deficiencies in vitamins C, D, B, A, or E.
Experts stress that scurvy is entirely reversible with a simple vitamin C supplement of 100–200 milligrams per day or a standard multivitamin. Physicians are urging anyone on GLP-1 therapy to have annual bloodwork done to check vitamin and mineral levels—not just weight—and to make a conscious effort to include citrus fruits and vegetables in their daily meals despite reduced appetite.
Tripadvisor Names Madeira the World’s Top Trending Destination for 2026
Tripadvisor has released its 2026 Travellers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best Destinations, and the standout winner is Madeira, the Portuguese Atlantic archipelago known for its dramatic volcanic landscapes, mild year-round climate, and rich culinary traditions. The rankings, calculated from over 270 destinations across 60 countries using traveller reviews collected between October 2024 and September 2025, highlight a growing appetite for off-the-beaten-path adventures over predictable mass-market hotspots.
Beyond Madeira, the report reveals several compelling category leaders. Singapore topped the world’s best culture destinations, edging out perennial favourites like Bali, London, and Paris. For solo travellers, Dublin, Ireland claimed the number-one spot, praised for its walkability, iconic historic sites like Dublin Castle and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and a food scene that ranges from Michelin-starred restaurants to classic pub meals. The awards also tracked a massive 90% spike in searches for safari-style holidays between October 2025 and January 2026, with South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Garden Route corridor emerging as front-runners.
The broader travel landscape for 2026 is being shaped by a desire for meaningful, experience-led trips. Luxury rail travel is gaining momentum across Europe, and the newly launched Four Seasons Yachts vessel is capturing interest among high-end travellers. Whether it’s witnessing the Great Migration in the Serengeti, exploring Wrocław’s emerging food scene, or sipping Jameson whiskey in a Dublin distillery, the message is clear: travellers want depth, not just destinations.
MICHELIN Inspectors Reveal the Flavors Redefining Fine Dining in 2026
MICHELIN Guide inspectors from around the world have identified the culinary movements quietly reshaping restaurant menus in 2026—and the overarching theme is a return to honest, ingredient-driven cooking with a theatrical edge. Live-fire cooking over wood, embers, and binchotan (white Japanese charcoal) is rapidly gaining ground from Buenos Aires to Bangkok to Beijing, with chefs using open flames not just for flavor but as a form of performance. Stockholm’s Knystaforsen and Buenos Aires’s celebrated Don Julio parrilla represent different cultural expressions of the same impulse: to let fire do the talking.
Bitterness and umami are ascending as the flavor notes of the moment. Endive, radicchio, and fermented ingredients are appearing on menus with greater frequency, while tea—long used as a beverage—is now being deployed as a cooking medium to smoke poultry or perfume seafood, adding tannins and aroma without heaviness. Mushrooms are being elevated from garnish to star ingredient, particularly foraged varieties like porcini and matsutake in Yunnan- and Guizhou-influenced Chinese cuisine.
Inspectors also highlight a wave of “cultural identity” cooking emerging from Southeast and East Asia, with chefs at restaurants like CieL in Ho Chi Minh City and Akar in Kuala Lumpur using modern techniques to reinterpret traditional dishes as personal or national narratives. In Eastern Europe, particularly Hungary and Poland, long-standing culinary traditions are being refined rather than replaced—lighter presentations, clearer flavors, and upgraded plating of beloved classics like herring-and-potato or stuffed meatloaf.
Qué Puedes Hacer
Monitor Your Nutrition on GLP-1 Medications
If you or someone you know takes a GLP-1 drug, ask your doctor about annual bloodwork and consider adding a daily multivitamin or vitamin C supplement to guard against deficiencies.
Plan a Trip to Madeira
Explore Tripadvisor’s top trending destination of 2026—a Portuguese island paradise with year-round mild weather, levada hiking trails, and a thriving food scene.
Seek Out Live-Fire Dining Experiences
The hottest restaurant trend of 2026 is cooking over open flames—look for wood-fired, ember-cooked, or binchotan-grill menus at restaurants in your city.