Body Liberation

10 Dangerous Diet Culture Myths Part 1

Hi Musers. One of my main aims when I started CMooMuses, was to dispel a lot of the bullshit out there that perpetuates fatphobia. So let’s explore 10 dangerous diet culture myths that need to end now.

Myth No 1 – Our Weight Is Entirely Under Our Control

If I hear “Move more and eat less” one more time, then shit is gonna get real! It is such a stupid and harmful oversimplification of a tremendously complicated issue. Weight control cannot be defined by the formula of calories in vs calories out.

The National Institute of Diabetic and Kidney Diseases in America lists twelve factors that can affect your weight, and none of these is nutrition-related. They are:

Family History or Genes
Race or Ethnicity
Age
Sex
Eating and physical activity habits
Where you live, work, play, and worship
Family habits and culture
Not enough sleep
Certain medical conditions
Certain medicines
Binge eating disorder
Stress

You’ll note none of these factors suggests people are fat because they’re all greedy, lazy slobs who live on chocolate, fries and pizza and take no exercise.

Myth No. 2 – There Is An “Obesity” Epidemic

I am not disputing that the population in western countries is now fatter than it used to be. High-calorie foods and their almost 24-hour availability, as well as high levels of car ownership and more sedentary jobs, have meant that the average weight has risen. Saying weight is solely responsible for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a whole host of other illnesses is just plain wrong. It’s one of the biggest and most widely accepted dangerous diet culture myths.

Diet companies sponsored many of the existing studies into the dangers of “obesity”, so we must take their findings with a barrel full of salt. When researchers outside of the medical profession analyse studies, the story is very different. They conclude that overweight people tend to live as long and sometimes longer than individuals in the healthy weight bracket.

Myth No. 3 – BMI

BMI is a formula that takes your weight in kg and divides it by your height in cm squared. It was created in the 1800s by Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, a mathematician, astronomer, statistician and sociologist. He was trying to calculate the weight of the average man and used this equation to split weight into groups for analysis. Only French and Scottish males (i.e. white males) were included.

No mention of weight loss or acceptable human weight was ever mentioned, and it was never designed for this purpose. The fact that it has been accepted as a measure of health is scientifically wrong and fatphobic. Enough said.

Myth No. 4 – There are “Good” and “Bad” foods

No, No, NO!!!! Food is food. End of story. Some food is high fat and high calorie, some have lots of fibre, some has a lot of fat, but it’s fat that is good for you. Whatever its makeup, it’s just food, and it will provide nourishment for your body. Unless it has literally spoiled or been poisoned, no food is bad. The only morality food has is what we give it, and it needs to stop. I’ve included my favourite meme about this below 🙂

Myth No 5 – That, That, Or The Other Food Is Toxic!

Hmmmm! I’m pretty sure if any food was toxic, as in poisonous, and will make you ill or kill you, then it wouldn’t be allowed to be sold. Plus, why would a food company want to sell toxic food? Killing your customers is an awful business model!

Ok, I’m being silly, but do you see my point? So many things from skincare, to food, to relationships, are described as toxic nowadays that the word has lost all meaning. There have been vocal supporters of sugar addiction, for example, but in properly conducted scientific studies, it has been proven it’s not true.

Yes, sugar can cause your limbic system to light up in a similar way to drugs; however, it does not have the dangerous, addictive properties drugs do or the terrible withdrawal symptoms. Anything approved by the FDA in the USA or FSA here in Britain is safe and will not harm you. You may not approve of GMO foods, highly processed carbs, sugar or gluten, but there is nothing dangerous about any of them.

Check out lots more toxic food myths here.