The culture of diets and the danger of choosing your food thinking only about losing weight

Throughout my adolescence I was jumping from one restrictive diet to another, looking for a way to stay thin, because I thought it was a way to fit into society, to look good and feel good. But it was not like that; Even when I weighed less, I was not satisfied with how my body looked, and that happens because the value we place on our weight is not related to our self-esteem or health. Also, I had a very bad relationship with food, with guilt and fear; until I understood that body diversity exists and that, although weight is a factor that predisposes to non-communicable chronic diseases, it is not the only thing that we must take into account. What do I mean? That it is better to have healthy habits such as eating nutritiously and doing physical activity, without giving much importance to weight, than eating only lettuce to look good; following a nutrient-deficient diet. Today we will talk about the relationship between diet and food culture, to lead a healthy life without falling into restrictive diets that put our hormonal and mental health at risk.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of infirmity or disease”. To achieve it, of course, you have to eat healthy, reduce stress and exercise; but many people – especially women – are capable of following diets that promise magical results instead of following a balanced diet or doing physical activity; sometimes due to social pressure, foolish comments or simply because we live in a pesocentric society.

diet culture

Nutritionist Yamile Zureyma Barrera-Carranza in her article “Ideal of a female body and diet culture: challenges and recommendations for today’s woman” defines diet culture as one that “It does not promote a healthy lifestyle, but promotes health as something reductionist, immediate and temporary.”

“Chen society bases health solely on caring for the body, it leaves aside the rest of the individual and collective factors that also determine it and must be addressed in a multidisciplinary way: psychological, spiritual, social and environmental”, is read in the ‘paper’.

Currently, the diet culture is very present in our society. Social networks, such as Instagram and Tiktok, show people with hegemonic and normative bodies, who look thin and symmetrical; advertising has always done the same. Movies, series or traditional media tend to have less body diversity; generating stereotypes when someone plus size appears. They graph it as people without willpower, who eat a lot, sedentary, among other qualities that are not necessarily like that.

The state of health and nutrition of a person is not only based on body composition, other points must be evaluated such as biochemical tests, physical and clinical findings, food and nutrition history, patient history, sleep quality, among others; And with all that, a diagnosis can only be made about how healthy he is; and not only be guided by the so famous BMI.

No restrictive diets

Losing weight in a short time is something that many people seek, and the media and influencers know it and generate content that indicates that doing this or that diet will achieve their goal. But in the long run, it can do more harm than good.

We can define restrictive diets as those that limit the amount of nutrients and calories so that the body is in caloric deficit and loses weight. When a very large and prolonged restriction is made, muscle mass and water will be lost. Maybe you could think: “but it doesn’t matter as long as I get into that dress”; however, losing muscle mass is dangerous. Muscles support our bones, having low muscle mass is related to mortality.

Some examples of restrictive diets are detox diets, low-carbohydrate diets, thousand-calorie diets, single-food diets, prolonged fasting, among others. Many of them have no scientific evidence and are contradicted by nutrition organizations.

One of the consequences of restrictive diets for health is that they can generate a negative impact on mental health; Because people who follow these diets often have a bad relationship with food, having obsessive behaviors and triggering eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

Another consequence is that people’s energy level is reduced and can bring nutritional deficiencies. These diets eliminate food groups or are poor in energy and nutrients. For example, low-carbohydrate diets could lead to micronutrient deficiencies because not enough fruits and vegetables are consumed, as well as constipation because not enough fiber is consumed. In the case of detox diets, it could cause fatigue, loss of muscle mass, and hormonal imbalance.

Restrictive diets are not sustainable in the long term, and when a way of eating cannot be maintained over time, it does not generate adherence and people will eat again as before, generating the rebound effect. People on a restrictive diet will experience initial weight loss, but as time passes, the body is able to adapt to the caloric restriction, and weight loss may slow or stop. This can generate frustration and when leaving the diet the lost weight is recovered. Instead of following restrictive diets, it is important to adopt a lifestyle that is balanced in both diet and physical activity, without neglecting mental health.

Health in all sizes

A few years ago, the HAES (Health at Every Size) model emerged, a movement that increasingly has more health professionals, patients and activists following it and rejecting the use of weight, height and BMI as sole indicators of health. In addition, they consider that it is wrong to think that weight is the result of personal choices, without taking into account genetic and uncontrollable or involuntary factors, such as environmental ones.

In the academic journal “International Journal of Obesity”, an article indicates that the HAES model, “it addresses the broad forces that support health, such as safe and affordable access to care.” It promotes not falling into the stigma of weight and that health professionals not only send their patients to lose weight, without considering that there are other factors that they must evaluate to understand their health in a comprehensive way.

In the review, the authors explain that the HAES, or health at all heights, “it also helps people find sustainable practices that support individual and community well-being. Based on a framework of social justice. The HAES model honors the healing power of social connections and evolves in response to the experiences and needs of a diverse community.”.

This no-diet model is more oriented towards intuitive, evidence-based eating, which encourages people to attend to and respond to physiological signals of hunger and satiety; as well as how to determine how much and when to eat. All this understanding that there are foods that can affect the body. For example, knowing that there are some that can cause health problems, such as diabetes, food allergies, high cholesterol, among others. It is not eating for eating’s sake, therefore, the function of a nutritionist with this approach is to teach which foods are richest in nutrients, while achieving a balance that helps the person to be healthy.

In the article “Non-weight centered interventions and principles of health in all sizes in the approach to overweight and obesity. Narrative review of the literature” of the Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, the author explains that “throughout the academic training of health professionals, especially nutrition, great emphasis is placed on measuring the Body parameters as indicators of the success of various treatments. Non-weight-centric approaches focus attention on the person and not on the number when promoting food and nutrition education for making choices based on quality, self-regulation and empowerment”.

When talking about health in all sizes, many times it is questioned as if obesity were being encouraged or as if bad habits were being celebrated; And it is not like that. It is understanding that body diversity exists, and that there are people with different somatotypes, that is to say that someone due to the size of their bones (measured with a pachymeter in anthropometry), could be a large person, but could modify their habits so that they are as healthy as possible, have good muscle mass, normal cholesterol levels, and no non-communicable chronic diseases. We must remember that the health professional will be the one who decides – according to his patient – ​​which approach to use, because he is the only one who really knows the patient’s clinical history. Finally, it should be clear that you are not against weight loss, but rather how everything has been done for years to achieve a thin body, putting your health at risk.

More information:

We share data from nutritionists who have a non-weight centered approach:

• Alejandra Izquierdo Saona. Instagram: @ale.integrale
• Melissa Paz. Instagram: @melipaznutrition

We share data from psychologists with a non-weight centered approach:

• Daniela Alvarez. Instagram: @vivirenbalance Mafer Ravello: @psicobalance.pe