Diets and ideological eating disorders
11/23/2016
It seems these days that every year brings with it its own "new diet". The holy grail, the new discovery ... This is it this time. Eat more of this, never eat that, combining this food and that food could send you to the hospital, you need this much of this or you will risk that ... It all seems exhausting! Whatever happened to just eating and enjoying our food without the constant FEAR of what could happen next?
The answer is found in every way we live our life other than just eating but we seem to want to avoid the painful conversation about our stress level, emotion, depression and anxiety and instead , we pick an "outside" substance and blame it for everything that happens to our bodies.
Don't get me wrong, what we put in our bodies is of course crucial but it seems we took the conversation too far and not in the right direction. I know people who moved from a vegan and raw diet over night to a Paleo diet and vice versa! What could make someone make such a huge switch in the way they consume food over night? These people were the same people that would lecture us about animal rights and how horrible we are because we consume meat, the same people who switched a Paleo diet over night and now swear by it and its effect on their bodies, their mood and their entire life!
This brings me to wonder if diets these days are not just another ideological eating disorder. Think about it, most people struggle keeping their weights down and they would do anything to get that "ideal weight" moving from one of diet to another every year and every time they change diets, they will preach the pros and lecture everyone they know about why they should all go Raw or Paleo ... only to find them eating completely differently or the opposite of what they were preaching just a year later! So whenever they start a new diet, a new struggle starts to fit in the guidelines and restrictive rules of this new "eating disorder" and instead of talking about the true reason they are now eating this way which is most of the time superficial and has more to do with weight loss than health, they start talking about the environmental and ethical reasons they are now eating this way!
Again, please don't get me wrong, I am quite aware of the environmental consequences of our eating habits and strongly believe the way we eat today is quite damaging to the world we live in but what I am talking about here is the hypocrisy of those adopting these diets. There is a lack of integrity not only in the way these diets are sold to those who follow them but mostly a lack of integrity in the way they are adopted.
In some cases, some diets are pushed by companies selling the products they preach in their amazing diet. Paleo products are a big business and the blogs, books and podcasts preaching these diets are also benefiting from them. I am not saying people should not eat this way, I am simply saying that people should question why these diets are pushed by some writers and media outlets because, not always, but in many cases they are sponsored by companies that sell products aligned with these diets.
Just look at these best selling diet books!
It is more important than ever to start questioning why diets come in trends with products and who pushes them and instead of buying into the dogmas of these diets and their ideological mantras, ask yourself why you are falling for these ideas and using them as a justification of a much deeper problem that only you and no diets or ideological mantras could fix.
Have the difficult conversations with yourself, question your stress level and lifestyle and find the answer of what is causing your eating struggles and challenges instead of following whatever comes along and promises to be your next savior and helping other financially benefit from your emotional struggles and desperation.
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