Harms of diet culture

Tips & Resources

Apr 25

Diet culture is extremely prevalent in this day and age. It’s everywhere we turn, and many of us have unknowingly internalised these ideas. We go to the gym to lose weight, and we pick salads over burgers because they seem healthier. While these may seem innocuous, diet culture can be harmful in the long run, both to our mental and physical health.

What is diet culture?

It’s really straightforward: it’s a diet when the aim involves losing weight. It’s the intentional act of eating or moving with the goal of becoming smaller, usually cloaked by the guise of health and wellness. Think of the keto or “clean eating” diets, where people are told to leave out “the bad stuff”: carbohydrates, pre-packaged foods, and snacks. Problem is, eating something that you’re told should be avoided brings feelings of shame and guilt if you’re not “strong enough” to stick to the plan.

How does diet culture harm us?

1. Disordered eating becomes normalised

An example of disordered eating is the avoidance of certain foods because they are “bad”; another instance is the act of eating less, which can be dangerous to our physical health. The promotion of such ideas can also lead to “food shaming”, where we value certain foods over others for how useful they would be in our diets.

Diet culture can increase feelings of low self-worth in people who think they don’t have the “ideal” body type. When disordered eating is taken to the extreme, it can result in eating disorders such as anorexia, or orthorexia, where people obsess over healthy eating and foods to an excessive degree. Feelings of low self-worth and shame can also lead to depression and anxiety as well. In some cases, people can also start binge eating, or withdrawing from social events that include eating.

2. It becomes a moral obligation to be thin

Thinness becomes associated with the idea of health and wellness, which in turn is seen as “good” and “correct”. The concept of goodness is then prescribed to certain body types, resulting in the coupling of one’s weight with their worth and value. When this happens, fat people are seen as having less willpower because thinness is celebrated, and this results in emotional distress from feelings of shame and guilt.

This then affects not only how we view others, but ourselves as well, when we start prescribing different values to our own bodies too. Negative self-talk and self-image can start when we think that we can only be “successful” when we attain a certain body type.

3. It makes us forget the other social aspects of food and exercise

Food brings us together –– think of the act of cooking for a loved one, or coming together for a meal. And so does exercise, too, with group sports, or going for a jog with a friend. Diet culture ignores all of these and reduces food to merely being calories and nutritional content, and exercise as a form of “punishment” to rid one of the excess calories. Food and movement ought to bring us joy, and they should help us reconnect with our bodies and stay grounded.

What’s more, diet culture tends to ascribe certain cultures’ foods as an “unhealthy guilty pleasure”, and some other cultures’ foods as “healthier” and hence “better”. The connotations of the words we use to describe foods can be harmful and unwelcome to the people who belong to that culture.

Body positivity

Body positivity, as opposed to diet culture, is focused on taking care of your body and being compassionate with yourself. It results in being able to respond to your needs for food and movement with love and mindfulness, instead of shame and anxiety. Here are some ways we can cultivate body positivity whilst fighting diet culture:

1. Reframe thoughts around food and body types to avoid food shaming

Every body has its own nutritional needs, and everyone has their own eating choices. Know that health does not equate to thinness, and avoid using labels such as “clean” or “guilt-free” to describe food. Use labels such as “nutritious” or “satisfying” instead. Recognise that you aren’t “good” or “bad” for eating something!

Likewise, don’t judge what other people are eating: avoid saying that their food looks unhealthy, or that they’re eating too much or too little.

2. Be more mindful when it comes to food and exercise

Movement doesn’t have to have a goal –– like weight loss –– tied to it; it can be fun, rewarding, and energising in itself. At the same time, understand that your body requires both exercise and rest to feel its best. Listen more attentively to your body and its needs, and respond to them when they arise. When it comes to food, slow down, and investigate your hunger and fullness when savouring a meal. Every body has internal wisdom with regards to food, exercise, and rest, and listening to what your body needs at a certain time is the best way to take care of yourself.

3. Respect your body and all bodies

Remember that what you say can carry connotations. For example, praising somebody for losing weight can make it seem like you’re saying they’re a better person for being smaller.

Lastly, be kind to yourself! Develop your own personal affirmations to show love and gratitude to your body every day. Be grateful for your body, and give thanks for what it does to keep you alive.

Remember, you aren’t what you eat!

References

Yuri Yamanouchi