{"id":51,"date":"2017-10-03T06:20:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T06:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/healing-health-wellness\/?p=51"},"modified":"2019-10-10T16:59:50","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T16:59:50","slug":"good-food-bad-food-the-forbidden-food-chewing-on-the-problem-of-moralizing-food-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/healing-health-wellness\/2017\/10\/good-food-bad-food-the-forbidden-food-chewing-on-the-problem-of-moralizing-food-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGood\u201d Food, \u201cBad\u201d Food, the \u201cForbidden Food\u201d: Chewing on the Problem of Moralizing Food Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I counsel a lot of women with many digestive issues, autoimmune disorders, and hormonal imbalances. Underlying many of their health concerns, I\u2019ve found, are hidden eating disorders and shame-based behaviors around how they nourish their bodies.<\/p>\n

If food is medicine, which I do believe it can be, then the message that the public is getting at large is that they can poison themselves with one bite of a \u201cforbidden\u201d fruit.<\/p>\n

As a result, I\u2019ve been diving into learning more about the HAES movement<\/a> (Health At Every Size).<\/p>\n

Although I am still learning about the science of this approach, I do have clinical experience and direct observation of people of all different shapes and sizes eating the same amount of food with different results in weight regulation and health outcomes. Furthermore, I\u2019ve seen how body size determined whether the same dietary behavior pattern was deemed acceptable or unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Let me illustrate with an example.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cousin Karen and Aunt Betty- The Size Decides the Response<\/p>\n

You probably know the type\u2026the \u201cskin-and-bones\u201d person that can\u2019t gain a pound and devours every morsel of food that isn\u2019t pinned down. Let\u2019s call one of these \u201clucky ones\u201d cousin Karen. She is not only gifted with a slim ideal body, but also applauded and envied for eating enormous quantities of food.<\/p>\n

At the other end of the table is Aunt Betty. She is a chronic dieter who has will powered through several borderline starvation diets and keeps restricting more and more. She eyes Karen with curiosity and confusion as she stares at her salad, not able to lose a pound.<\/p>\n

Some may say the difference is that Betty is going home to secretly eat while watching \u201cThe Real House Wives.\u201d In the past I may have made the same error of judgement, now I feel it is highly unlikely the cause of aunt Betty\u2019s body size. I will get into the science of that more in a future blog.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, if \u201cskin-and-bones\u201d Karen were to go on a food plan of 1200 calories, like aunt Betty, many would be concerned.<\/p>\n

Bottom line is this: Same behavior, different body types, different societal judgements.<\/p>\n

If Aunt Betty was engaged in the same behavior as Karen, she would be scolded, not applauded.<\/p>\n

If Karen was engaged in Betty\u2019s behavior, she may be confronted with an eating disorder\u2026.<\/p>\n

I tend to get the Betty\u2019s in my practice.<\/p>\n

Working with them reminds me every day that there are so many aspects to body size and health. For example, genetics plays a role on weight. If you want an alphabet-soup load of fun with the genetic polymorphisms involved, check out this article<\/a>! There\u2019s also environmental toxin influences<\/a>, hormones, and more.\u00a0 I\u2019ve explained many of the factors affecting weight here<\/a>.\u00a0 Furthermore, underlying problems with nutrient<\/a> depletion can occur in the obese, contributing to metabolic dysregulation.<\/p>\n

Many of the same risk factors above occur in those who are \u201cskinny fat.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0These are individuals who are \u201cmetabolically obese normal weight.\u201d In other words, they look fit and healthy, but aren\u2019t.\u00a0 These individuals, because of their thinness, are not ostracized and penalized for their food choices.<\/p>\n

This is why I\u2019ve started to look into how our obsession for thinness is not only shaping our nation\u2019s dietary industry, but also influencing medicine.<\/p>\n

I have found that a lot of my clients have very disordered relationships with food and intense fear of doing something \u201cwrong.\u201d This is creating a fixation on food as harmful not a means of nourishment and health.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Many have heard of the placebo effect, but have you heard of the nocebo effect? According to a 2016 article<\/a> in the Journal of the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry:<\/em><\/p>\n

A growing body of evidence is emerging for a phenomenon known as the nocebo effect. This is when a person is conditioned to expect a negative response, or to anticipate negative effects from an experience. These findings highlight the importance of effective communication with patients and the influence that good anxiety and pain management control can have in improving treatment outcomes. The placebo effect has been widely researched, but new studies have shown that nocebo can have a greater effect than placebo. The nocebo effect is prevalent in interactions between patients and healthcare workers. Research has demonstrated that if a patient deems a healthcare professional not to understand or believe them, this can cause distress, and the physiological effect can reduce the prognosis of treatment. It has also been demonstrated that patients who are anxious or expect pain during a procedure, feel more pain because of this negative expectation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another concern I have with our preoccupation with food perfection is many eager and\u00a0 \u201ccompliant\u201d clients will literally isolate themselves from social affairs or hide in shame during a family dinner with their fermented pickles and broccoli dish.<\/p>\n

Being in community<\/a> has many health benefits. It boosts oxytocin<\/a> and makes us feel more at ease, while decreasing stress. Other research shows that connections have positive effects on cognition, health, and emotional well-being, as shown in these articles:<\/p>\n