Diet culture is powerful, pervasive, and addictive. It is easy to get bamboozled with the glitz and glimmer of weight loss, the promise of body shrinkage, and the rewards it seems it entail from a society that worships thinness as a status and power symbol. However, these lies of obtaining a better life through making one smaller leads to more harm than good.
Whereas food can be used to provide our bodies with nourishment and promote health, this is not the case with dieting and weight loss programs. Rather than viewing food as a means to support the body, diet culture moralizes foods as “good” or “bad.”
Last week, I discussed the dangers and harmful impact of diet culture messages. These damaging memes promote:
- dietary obsessions
- external and restrictive food rules
- nutritional and body size shaming
- stigmatization
- a weight-centric versus health-focused medical care system
In my latest post, I continue to discuss why diet culture has no place in healthcare and naturopathic medicine. Topics I cover include:
- the dangers of dishonoring body diversity
- how mistaking associations found with “obesity” as the causes of most chronic diseases results in poor health outcomes and substandard healthcare
- how to obtain holistic health without focusing on body shrinkage
I believe everyone deserves to feel the freedom of making peace with food and have their body respected, by themselves and others. In today’s entrenched diet culture, this is not an easy task, but it is possible.
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This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)
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