Many individuals have been taught that there’s a “right way” to eat and that losing weight at all costs is how you should approach starting a new diet. An unhealthy obsession with eating the best possible foods for your body while sticking to a strict diet is known as diet culture and can quickly lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to support your health through your food choices. However, the wellness industry and its social media influencers market “wellness” as another form of diet culture, profiting off insecurities and promising everlasting health through supplements and rigid ways of eating. The problem is that the pursuit of so-called “healthy eating” often comes at the expense of your psychological and social well-being.
Orthorexia is when a person becomes obsessed with healthy eating. This rigid way of eating with many food rules is paradoxically unhealthy. While orthorexia is not yet recognized as an official medical diagnosis, many health professionals classify it as a form of eating disorder. Wellness influencers on social media platforms have played an important role in perpetuating diet culture and giving people unrealistic expectations for their bodies. Sadly, research indicates that a significant proportion of the healthy eating community on Instagram has orthorexic symptoms.
Unless you have a life-threatening allergy to food, like peanuts or a disease such as celiac disease, food rules generally cause more harm than good. This also holds true for the wellness trap. The pursuit of rigid so-called healthy behaviors occupies an unreasonable amount of time, energy, money, and headspace, ultimately distracting you from fully engaging in life outside the kitchen.
Licensed Dietitians
The dietitians at Behavioral Nutrition specialize in creating plans that can help support you in your nutrition goals that are sustainable long-term. Our team will work with you to develop sustainable eating habits that will help keep you happy and healthy. Identifying problematic behaviors that diet culture enables and finding ways to avoid them is one of the most effective ways to get a diet that works for you. Get in touch with Behavioral Nutrition today to learn more about how we can help you develop a healthy diet and stay away from Diet Culture.
