Most of us have heard the message that food is medicine. Studies have consistently shown that the way you eat can affect your health. But somewhere along the way, many of us have stopped seeing food as something that nourishes, satisfies, connects us with others, and gives us pleasure. Instead, nutrition has become more of a combination of protein grams, fiber targets, antioxidants, and micronutrients for optimization. This way of thinking is called nutritionism.
Developed by Australian sociologist Giorgi Skrinis and later popularized by journalist Michael Pollan, nutritionism describes the tendency to reduce food to individual nutrients while ignoring the complexity of how people eat and live. Health is something we believe we can achieve by optimizing nutrients rather than looking at the whole picture. While food science can fully inform our understanding of health, nutrition science often rejects this contextual science.
The illusion of control
Health is defined by more than what appears on our plates. Sleep, stress, geneticsrelationships, mobility, financial resources, access to health care, and emotional health all affect how we feel and function. However, food marketing often suggests that if we eat only the right foods, avoid the wrong ingredients, and optimize each meal, we can take control of our health and eliminate uncertainty.
This post is interesting because the certainty is reassuring. The health industry often capitalizes on it anxiety. There is always another nutrient to optimize, another ingredient to optimize fearAnother supplement to buy, or another eating strategy promises better health.
Social media only increases these messages. Diet myths often simplify complex biological processes or present rigid habits as universal truths. Algorithms reward confidence, not subtlety. “Never eat after 7 p.m.” or “This food causes inflammation” will spread much faster than “The answer depends.”
When healthy eating compromises mental health
As a psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders, I rarely see people whose struggles begin with a desire to become unhealthy. Often they start with a desire to eat “better”. Over time, these intentions can become more and more strict. Food is carefully calculated. Food labels are checked. All food groups are eliminated. Eating out stress. Social events are avoided because food is unpredictable. Thoughts about eating can consume hours of the day.
For some people, these patterns are mixed with anxiety. obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or an eating disorder. The problem is not nutritional knowledge itself. The problem is that when food becomes a source of fear, self-esteemor perceived control.
Context is more important than food
A single dietary recommendation can have very different effects depending on the person taking it. A recommendation that is neutral or even useful for a person can be fear-mongering, harshness or compulsive behavior in someone with one eating disorderobsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or health anxiety. The context in which it is given is important. For example, one may choose to eat simple rather than complex carbohydrates before exercise because they are digested more quickly and provide more readily available energy. By itself, it’s just a food choice.
When food choices are driven primarily by fear, the picture changes. If someone is afraid of weight gain, follows strict dietary rules, eliminates entire food groups, carefully tracks macronutrients and micronutrients, or is forced to optimize every food decision, the logic of nutrition may not serve a psychological function. Nutrition can be a way to justify restriction, reduce anxiety, reinforce compulsive behavior, or create a sense of reassurance and control.
There is a special impression here. One can focus on optimizing nutrition for building muscle and improving nutrition sports maximizing health and at the same time fearing weight gain so much that eating becomes increasingly difficult and consuming. Hunger and satiety are ignored in favor of numbers. Foods are judged by whether they are “the best”, not whether they are nutritious or satisfying. Food becomes something to manage rather than something to enjoy. In that time, the search for the “best” food has shifted away from health.
Health involves mental flexibility
It’s surprising that the relentless pursuit of perfect nutrition can wreak havoc on mental and physical health. chronic anxiety around food, social isolationStrict limitation and permanent self-control all have their own consequences. For most people, good health doesn’t require managing every macro- and micronutrient or eating with mathematical precision. The consistent adherence to a varied and flexible diet is supported by more evidence than efforts to improve nutrition.
Eating disorders are essential reading
As a therapist, I often remind people that a healthy relationship with food involves flexibility. It makes room for pleasure, culture, connection and trust in our bodies. Health is not defined by how well we eat. This is reflected in whether food supports our life rather than consumes it.
