Diet Culture: A Sneaky Little Thing

Hi! I am so excited to dive in to today’s conversation because I want to talk about something that affects all of us. It’s a big one…and it cuts deep. It’s a thief of our thoughts, actions, time, conversations, money, and for some, health. And anything that I see stealing my peoples’ joy is something I have issues with! Ya feel me?

I’m talking about diet culture. Dun dun dun. Ever heard of it? It’s a pretty hot topic in the wellness space these days. I couldn’t put a name on this idea until about 2 years ago. When I heard “diet culture” I thought, “Oh my gosh! YES! That’s it.” That’s what that sneaky little thief was called!­­ Since then, I’ve thrown myself into this discussion in a big, and unexpected, way.

ICYMI, I work at an eating disorder treatment center. I see diet culture “in the trenches,” in full swing, in full control, taken to extremes on the daily. Calling out diet culture and scurrying to repair the damages are on my daily agenda. I’ve seen how diet culture can wreak havoc in the most life-threatening ways. But I’ve also seen it *quietly* wreak havoc in the lives of people that do not have eating disorders. I’ve seen and heard diet culture’s most enticing and brilliant lines from family members, best friends, podcasts, Target isles, the people sitting beside me at a brewery, and even in church sermons! It’s everywhere guys.

Diet culture has been around for a hot minute and it’s a growing multi-billion-dollar industry. A quick google search will tell you that much. Think about the first time you heard your mom, school teacher, or some lady at church say they were eating less of this, losing weight to fit into that, getting in shape for this event. DIET CULTURE. How about eating low carb, no carb, low fat, no fat, lean protein, superfoods? DIET CULTURE. I’m talking Weight Watchers, South Beach, Nutrisystem, Atkins, military diet, and everyone says “duh.” People are starting to believe “diets are bad for you” and because of that, diet culture is getting harder and harder to spot. It’s beginning to use phrases like, “clean eating,” “raw,” “whole foods,” etc. Friends- anything that tells you what you should eat, how much you should eat, when you should eat, labels foods as good and bad is a diet. This also includes Whole 30, paleo, gluten-free (for illegitimate reasons), and my personal worst nightmare – keto, juicing, cleansing, and detoxing. I’m sure there are many that I’m missing and many more to come. The truth is that none of them are new. They’re all renamed, slightly altered versions of the same diet. There’s only so many ways you can reinvent the wheel here. These “new,” “holistic” diets are held to the highest standard of health. They’re perceived to boost energy, trim down, tone up, improve sleep, detox, and make you feel like you FINALLY have control over something and this is going to be when you get it right and get the results you’ve always dreamed of. Sound familiar? The reality is though that these are rooted in diet culture and diet culture is rooted in restriction and fleeting control.

You see, diet culture is pretty smart. Like I said, it’s a growing multi-billion-dollar industry. If most people understand that dieting has health consequences and they’re moving away from dieting, then how does the diet industry continue to make money and grow? Diet culture knows your fears and insecurities. It knows you hate the dimples on your legs and the feeling of your stomach sitting over the top of your jeans. It knows this because it idolized a body that has no leg dimples or belly fat for us to compare ourselves to. It validates your insecurities and markets them. And it says, “If your body is not meeting the standards of our desirable body, your body is wrong and needs to be fixed.” So, it creates keto-friendly foods, 100 calorie snack packs, juice cleanses, 0 calorie artificially sweetened foods, and manufactured vegetable replacements for starches to help you on the journey of “clean eating” and fixing your wrong body. With that said, I’m not demonizing coconut flower, cauliflower crust, paleo crackers, chickpea pasta or any other foods. I believe that all foods can be enjoyed and can find a place at the table. However, I am also saying that lower calorie/carbohydrate/fat/sugar foods can be used in a “dieting” way to manipulate the way our bodies look because we think our bodies need fixing. Which in turn creates this cycle deprivation leading to food rules leading to shame and guilt- has anyone been there? That’s a topic for another day.

Before you freak out and say “Desa, you’re crazy! What about vegetables?!” – hear me out. I’m not saying that colorful fruits and vegetables, exercising, including the main food groups, fiber, whole foods, farm-to-table, and lots of variety, are bad. I’m pro all of those things- I am a dietitian after all. However, I’m also pro bread, pasta, birthday cake, French fries, and wine. I’m pro no food rules. I’m pro no food guilt. I’m saying that diet culture takes foods and attaches feelings of guilt and failure, labels of “good” and “bad,” and just plain takes the fun out of eating! So, yeah, I’ve heard a diet culture line or two come out of every human’s mouth that I’ve ever known BUT I don’t blame or judge any of them. It’s no one’s fault. It’s so ingrained and normal in our culture that some would argue that diet culture IS our culture. More often than not, it’s how we think, how we define our goals, and how we define our happiness. When we’re talking to our girlfriends, don’t we say “I need to be tan for,” “I need to start Whole 30 for,” “I need to hit the gym for,” “Your body looks so good! That workout class is doing you right, girl!” We’ve all said those things, without eating disorders and with good intentions. To be real though, they all stem from a dissatisfaction with our bodies and appearances based on single type of culturally glorified body. And I think that women deserve to know where these thoughts and comments come from, how to recognize them, and how to change them – if they want to. You’re already half way there. You’re aware of where the thoughts and comments come from. You have the power to recognize them. In part 2, we’ll discuss a call to action- how you can go to bat for yourself and your people to take back control from diet culture.