Diet Culture & Health

𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟏 - 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐⁣

TW: mention of diets/dieting/health factors⁣

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Diet Culture tries to convince us that it exists to improve our health. One of the main ways many of us are taught to respond to diet culture is through dieting (limiting calorie intake, limiting certain foods/food groups, completely cutting out certain food/food groups, going on specific diet programs like Atkins, WW, Keto, etc.). We are told this is to improve health. But in reality diets often have a goal of weight loss - that’s it. And research is clear that being thin does not mean that someone is healthy (Gaesser, 2002; Flegal, 2005; Flegal, 2007; Orpan, 2009; Tamakoshi, 2009; Campos, 2004).

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So, to understand the toxicity of diet culture, we have to be aware of some facts.⁣

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Today I want to demonstrate that diets are not about health and do not lead to improvement in health (𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 important 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐬).⁣

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Dieting is not about improving our lives. It is a system that oppresses and limits many. And it has allowed many companies to profit from the values and beliefs that it feeds us - the US weight loss market alone is worth over $68 billion/year.⁣

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45 million Americans go on a diet each year, yet diets have a success rate of 5%. Diets can result in short-term weight loss, however, it is not sustainable (that is where the 5% success rate comes from). Dieting often leads to weight cycling, high blood pressure, increased risk for osteoporosis, increased chronic cortisol (stress hormone) production, eating disorder behaviors, weight gain (Kruger et al, 2004; Strohacker & McFarlin, 2010; Bacon et al, 2004; Van Loan & Keim, 2000; Tomiyama et al, 2010; Daníelsdóttir et al, 2007; Neumark-Sztainer et al, 2006)⁣.⁣

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Research conducted by Bacon et al. (2002 & 2005) found that a non-diet approach to health (focusing on body acceptance/self-worth, techniques to focus on internal cues vs. external cues, nutrition- effects of food choices on well-being, activity that allowed them to enjoy their bodies) led to:⁣

•Significant improvement of depression, body image, and self-esteem at 2-year follow-up⁣⁣

•Significant changes in total Cholesterol, LDL, and systolic BP at 2-year follow-up⁣⁣

•8% drop out rate⁣⁣

•Maintained weight⁣⁣

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A diet approach (focusing on calorie restriction and food diaries, read food labels/fat grams, benefits of exercise, encouraged to walk at certain intensity) led to:⁣⁣

•Calorie restriction and food diaries⁣⁣

•No significant improvement of depression, body image, and self-esteem at 2-year follow-up⁣⁣

•No significant changes to any lab work (cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) at 2-year follow-up⁣⁣

•41% drop out rate⁣⁣

•Lost weight, then gained⁣⁣

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So, the non-diet group had no change in weight but showed significant improvement in mental and physical health. The diet group, even though they lost weight, had no changes to other mental or physical health factors.⁣⁣

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𝗪𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧/𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲.

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