As a Registered Dietitian, I am always learning new information from my clients. Unfortunately when it comes to nutrition information, much of this information is exaggerated, skewed, or totally inaccurate.  It is no secret that misinformation surrounding nutrition has been being spread for a very long time, but with social media information is being spread at high speed all over the world. The misrepresentation of nutrition information and the strong presence of fad dieting information on social media can seriously damage an individual’s relationship with food and body. It can damage self esteem and body image. It often promotes being “thinner” as a pathway to gaining love, acceptance, & respect.  Striving to become “healthy” can become very “unhealthy” and much of the information presented on social media, promotes external induced changes versus internal changes. Sustainable changes require us to explore why we eat, how we eat, and who we are as an eater. 

Food is energy, food is culture, food is comfort. Food has always, and will always, be an integral aspect of life. If you’re feeling stuck in the mindset of “good foods” and “bad foods” I encourage to widen your lens. What other values can you see in food outside of nutritional value? It is undeniable that foods hold sensory values, emotional values, and environmental values. Intentionally incorporate variety in your intake and see what happens when you view food from the context of all of its values. What values feel important to you? By shifting our focus we are able to widen food acceptance and reduce guilt. Who doesn’t want that?!

Many of us live with societal pressures around food. We are told that our character is molded by the foods we choose to eat. Diet culture equates a persons level of morality or “goodness” with the foods they eat. You are “good” because you ate veggies and you are “bad” because you ate ice cream. The social idealization of thinness and pressures around food are contributors to the development of eating disorders. THIS is the problem. Food is not the problem.