The Toxicity of American Diet Culture
Before going into the toxicity and negative effects that American diet culture has on women, it’s important to understand what exactly diet culture is. According to the Alliance for Eating Disorders, diet culture is defined as any program encouraging extreme weight loss, requiring restrictive eating, and encouraging cutting calories. Diet culture can also refer to programs advertising weight loss pills, shakes, and other supplements. All of these different programs and products are promoting a supposed definition of what healthy looks like. Society has placed a specific connotation around health, suggesting it has one certain size and look. These unrealistic standards have ultimately impacted how women view themselves and their relationship with food.
Diet culture has created an entire industry with the goal of profiting off women’s insecurities. This becomes extremely clear when we think about the motivating factors of these companies. In order to make a profit, companies have to convince us to buy their products. In order to convince us to buy their products, they must instill insecurity and body image issues within us. Society has placed a large emphasis on how skinny equals healthy, making it easy for companies to act on that insecurity when marketing flat tummy teas and skinny gummies. The success and profit of these companies directly relies on the expense of our mental health. The more insecure women are, the more these companies profit. The more these companies profit, the more advertisements and products are created, contributing to a cycle of insecurity and negative self image.
Toxic diet culture often plays into the concept of fatphobia, making women terrified of gaining weight. Fatphobia is defined as the fear and hatred of fat bodies. It is a form of bigotry and discrimination, ultimately implying people of a higher weight are inferior physically and health-wise. Many societal factors fuel and contribute to fatphobia, and it is largely associated with class, wealth, and race. For people living on lower incomes or below the poverty line, often Black people and minority groups, the accessible and affordable food options are processed and high in calories. For people living on higher incomes, often white people, healthy food accessibility is not an issue. The upper class has the privilege of being able to purchase fresh, whole, non-processed foods. Black people and minority groups are ultimately more negatively affected by fatphobia, which is due to its inherently racist and Anti-Black roots. The societal obsession with thinness ultimately stems from the historical connection between being fat and racial inferiority. This ultimately has created the societal connection between being thin and wealthy, and being fat and poor, contributing to the issue of fatphobia. Overall, fatphobia has completely warped women’s relationship with food and how they view themselves. In reality, we shouldn’t be scared of gaining weight or not looking skinny enough, and “looking fat” should not be a motivator to lose weight.
Although diets are advertised as the correct way to lose weight, they actually do more harm than good. Scientific studies have shown that weight loss diets don’t work. Dieting is biologically set up to fail, which only discourages the participants and normalizes disordered eating. Diets are clinically proven to cause eating disorders, since they often require restrictive eating. Women have been programmed to be scared of gaining weight or “looking fat.” Although difficult, resisting toxic diet culture can ultimately diminish the oppressive system of beliefs. One way to resist toxic diet culture is to attempt intuitive eating, which is an approach created by registered dietitians in 1995. Intuitive eating consists of honoring your hunger, challenging food restrictions, and being true to your emotions and treating your body with kindness. Letting your body guide what you eat and how much can be really beneficial to your relationship with food. All in all, we need to leave toxic diet culture behind in 2021.