{"id":6233,"date":"2022-02-11T10:26:06","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T10:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/nutrition\/diet-culture-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-so-toxic\/"},"modified":"2022-02-11T10:26:06","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T10:26:06","slug":"diet-culture-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-so-toxic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/nutrition\/diet-culture-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-so-toxic\/","title":{"rendered":"Diet Culture: what is it and why is it so toxic?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<p><strong>Today it is difficult to find a person, especially a woman, who has not undergone a diet at some point in their life<\/strong>.  Alkaline diet, paleo diet, intermittent fasting, detox diet... Without a doubt, the range of options for those who are considering starting a diet is more than diverse.  Although diets have been offered in recent years as the key to losing weight (since it is assumed that thinness and health are always synonymous, of course), they imply numerous risks for people's physical and mental health.<\/p>\n<h2>Diets: science or magic?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Science Has Determined That Ultimately Diets Rarely Work<\/strong>.  About 95% of people who follow a diet regain their weight, often exceeding the weight they had before starting it, between the first and fifth year after completing it.  Living in a cycle that continually alternates periods of weight loss with periods of weight gain (what is popularly known as the \u201cyo-yo\u201d effect), can significantly increase the risk of metabolic problems and heart disease.  TO<\/p>\n<p>Added to this, diets restrict the amount of energy that the body receives, so it tends to slow down its metabolism in order to maintain its homeostasis.  If the consequences of diets on a physical level do not seem like enough reason to remove this practice from your life, you should know that the impact of this dynamic is also observed in mental health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Many people dissatisfied with their body decide to seek a solution to feel better in diets.<\/strong>.  However, far from improving the situation, these act as a powerful trigger that initiates the so-called Eating Disorders (EDs) in those people who start from great body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, need for control, high perfectionism... among many other predisposing factors.<\/p>\n<p>The danger of diets is that, once they are started, it is highly likely that they will be sustained over time thanks to maintenance factors.  Dieting is reinforced by the weight loss itself that is being achieved by restricting food, but also by the positive comments of others about the changes in the body, the increase in the subjective perception of control, the diversion of attention from other problematic aspects in the person's life, etc.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"\"><picture>\n    <span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:relative;max-width:100%\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;max-width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display:block;max-width:100%;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%272507%27%20height=%271673%27\/%3e\"\/><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"diet-myths\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"diet-myths\" src=\"https:\/\/medicoplus.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplustatic.com%2F7200%2Fmitos-dietas.jpg&amp;w=1280&amp;q=75 1x\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/noscript><\/span><\/p>\n<\/picture><figcaption>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That is to say, <strong>the diet becomes a false refuge and little by little the person ends up plunged into a spiral based on the pathological relationship with food<\/strong> which is extremely hard to get out of.  In this way, what initially began as a diet to \"eat healthier\", ends in a severe caloric restriction, where there are rigid rules on how to combine or cook food, with an intense fear of gaining weight again, compensatory behaviors (self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diuretics...) and social isolation.<\/p>\n<p>Risks are scary, right?  You may be wondering why people fall into this dangerous trap, in some cases repeatedly.  The answer is found in the so-called diet culture.  This is defined as a belief system that venerates thinness, considering that this is always a synonym of health.  Consequently, anyone who is far from the established ideal is insane and is even perceived as someone lacking in moral virtue.  In this article we are going to talk about diet culture, what it is and why it is so harmful to people.<\/p>\n<h2>What is diet culture?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Diet culture is defined as a belief system that worships thinness above all else.<\/strong>.  This is associated with health and moral virtue, so that any person who does not fit the established beauty ideal is condemned to feel like someone insane, lacking sufficient will and virtue to be a \"healthy\" person.<\/p>\n<p>According to this logic, weight loss is openly promoted as the only means to achieve a supposed superior state.  Of course, falling into this dynamic of continuous struggle with one's own body supposes a significant waste of time, energy and also money (we will not talk about miracle products, such as meal replacement shakes, detox infusions and other atrocities, since it would give for another article).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"\"><picture>\n    <span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:relative;max-width:100%\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;max-width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display:block;max-width:100%;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%271920%27%20height=%271280%27\/%3e\"\/><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"what-is-culture-diet\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"what-is-culture-diet\" src=\"https:\/\/medicoplus.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplustatic.com%2F7201%2Fque-es-cultura-dieta.jpg&amp;w=1280&amp;q=75 1x\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/noscript><\/span><\/p>\n<\/picture><figcaption>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Why is diet culture toxic?<\/h3>\n<p><strong>This system relentlessly demonizes certain ways of eating, extolling others as the summun of health<\/strong>.  This implicitly carries the message that, in case of eating in a certain way considered unhealthy, you should feel shame, guilt and a deep sense of failure with yourself.  Food is no longer lived as a palatable and pleasant experience, to be an object of control and restriction.  In this way, only the ways of eating in which careful attention is paid to what is chosen are approved, leaving in the background the psychological and cultural components linked to the enjoyment of what we eat.<\/p>\n<p>This culture leaves out, of course, all those people who do not fit the prototype considered healthy and correct.  Anyone with a non-normative body will experience strong pressure to try to change it through impossible diets, whatever the cost.  The most vulnerable people to this phenomenon are women, trans people, people with large bodies and also those with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Overcoming this set of pressures is really difficult, because <strong>diet culture sells a very attractive promise, which is that when you get thinner you will get everything you want and don't have<\/strong>: feel happy, loved, get promoted at work, etc.  Although it may seem credible, the reality is that no one has felt happier for the mere fact of dieting.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, people experience a temporary euphoria, the result of having achieved that goal they had set for themselves and having obtained the consequent praise from society.  This is not happiness, it is an empty joy that hides a very dangerous dynamic for health.  The alarm that the culture of the diet awakens is especially pronounced in the adolescent population.  A minor should never start a diet if it is not prescribed and supervised by a health professional.<\/p>\n<p>As we mentioned before, <strong>diets can serve as a false refuge<\/strong>.  For a teenager, the expectations that he places in the process of losing weight can be an obstacle to developing resources that really allow him to gain confidence and self-confidence.  Examples of this are communication skills or coping strategies and emotional regulation.  Dieting can provide a false sense of security and create the false hope that by losing weight, all problems will be solved.  However, this will only contribute to body dissatisfaction, social isolation, and an obsession with food.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"\"><picture>\n    <span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:relative;max-width:100%\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;max-width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display:block;max-width:100%;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%271170%27%20height=%271126%27\/%3e\"\/><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"toxic-diet-culture\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"toxic-diet-culture\" src=\"https:\/\/medicoplus.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplustatic.com%2F7202%2Fcultura-dieta-toxica.png&amp;w=1280&amp;q=75 1x\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/noscript><\/span><\/p>\n<\/picture><figcaption>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Diet culture and eating disorders<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Although adolescents are a population group that is especially vulnerable to the development of eating disorders, adults are not exempt from suffering them.<\/strong>.  An adult who makes diet the center of her life inevitably neglects other areas of life such as social relationships, work, family, etc.  As we mentioned above, diets involve an exorbitant waste of time, energy and money.  This can create the fertile ground for various mental health problems to begin to debut.<\/p>\n<p>In the vast majority of TCA cases, the factor that has acted as a trigger has been a diet or weight loss for other reasons (for example, due to illness).  Many people find themselves in a complicated situation, with family problems, a tendency to be very perfectionistic or seek control, low self-esteem, a family history of psychopathologies, low tolerance for frustration... so the diet becomes an apparent life jacket that It allows you to obtain that desired control in the midst of chaos, feel the euphoria of achievement, seek that perfection, etc.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, <strong>any change in diet should be carefully monitored by a healthcare professional<\/strong>.  The particularities of each person should always be taken into account, otherwise a doctor may prescribe dietary guidelines for someone with a high predisposition, which would trigger an eating disorder with high probability.<\/p>\n<p>The pandemic situation that we are experiencing is a factor that, without a doubt, has constituted an added factor of vulnerability.  This scenario is especially dangerous for those people who suffer from emotional instability, who are very self-demanding or who tolerate frustration poorly.<\/p>\n<p>Any guideline and change in diet should always be indicated by a doctor or nutritionist when considered pertinent for health reasons.  Special caution should be exercised with covert forms of food restriction and control that have become popular in recent years, such as the realfooding movement or intermittent fasting.  Demonizing food, adopting rigid eating habits, seeing food from a dichotomous perspective (good-bad) <strong>These are some warning signs that may indicate that the first foundations of a possible future TCA are being built<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"\"><picture>\n    <span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;position:relative;max-width:100%\"><span style=\"box-sizing:border-box;display:block;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0;max-width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display:block;max-width:100%;width:initial;height:initial;background:none;opacity:1;border:0;margin:0;padding:0\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%271024%27%20height=%27989%27\/%3e\"\/><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"tca diet culture\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"tca diet culture\" src=\"https:\/\/medicoplus.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplustatic.com%2F7203%2Fcultura-dieta-tca.jpg&amp;w=1024&amp;q=75 1x, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplustatic.com%2F7203%2Fcultura-dieta-tca.jpg&amp;w=1280&amp;q=75 2x\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"intrinsic\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;bottom:0;right:0;box-sizing:border-box;padding:0;border:none;margin:auto;display:block;width:0;height:0;min-width:100%;max-width:100%;min-height:100%;max-height:100%\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/noscript><\/span><\/p>\n<\/picture><figcaption>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Conclusions<\/h2>\n<p>Diets have been presented for years as the panacea to lose weight.  Losing weight is the desire of the majority of the population, since the diet culture has been responsible for associating thinness with health.  This culture constitutes an entire belief system that venerates thinness and puts pressure on those who do not conform to the imposed aesthetic ideal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-center kksr-valign-bottom\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;6233&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;Rate this post&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Diet Culture: what is it and why is it so toxic?&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 4px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">Rate this post<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today it is difficult to find a person, especially a woman, who&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}