Diet is a Four Letter Word

The broadest definition of the word diet is, per the Oxford Languages Dictionary: “the kinds of food that a person habitually eats.” This is straight forward and does not carry the baggage of other uses of the word. For example:

-as a noun: “a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons” OR

-as a verb: “restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.”

Our culture is obsessed with weight, body size and appearance. The use of the word diet as a form of restricted eating is a result of this obsession.

Am I diminishing the value of healthy eating habits? Certainly not. I am, however, strongly objecting to the punitive sense associated with one’s “diet”.

Much of the blame lies with the fifty plus year history of mixed messages projected by governmental agencies and the multiple food lobbies, as well as the huge influence of media advertising and the diet industries that have rendered each food choice we make a reflection of our moral character or lack thereof.

Let’s start with the original Food Pyramid, devised in Sweden in the 1970’s when food prices were on the rise. It was a framework for educating the public as to what basic elements of nutrition were needed to maintain good health. It was a far cry from the Food Pyramid adopted in the U.S. in 1992.

Dr. Luise Light, a well known Nutritionist who worked for the USDA as part of the team that developed our Food Pyramid, was reportedly shocked to see that the format eventually approved was quite different from that which had been submitted. To quote her, ”the wholesale changes made to the guide by the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture were calculated to win the acceptance of the food industry." The Ag Secretary’s office altered wording to emphasize processed foods over fresh and whole foods to downplay lean meats and low fat dairy choices because the meat and milk lobbies believed it’d hurt sales of full-fat products; it also hugely increased the servings of wheat and other grains. Where we, the USDA Nutritionists, called for a base of 5-9 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, it was replaced with a paltry 2-3 servings.” This was changed to 5-7 servings a few years later at the behest of the National Cancer Institute. “Our recommendation of 3-4 daily servings of whole grain breads and cereals was changed to a whopping 6-11 servings forming the base of the food pyramid, as a concession to the processed wheat and corn industries. Moreover, my nutritionist group had placed baked goods made with white flour at the peak of the pyramid, to be eaten sparingly. To our alarm, they were now made part of the pyramid’s base”.

Needless to say, the overall health of the populace was not improved by these recommendations.

Then, the low fat craze ushered in the era of the “empty calorie” foods. Yogurt, for example, was now non-fat and heavily sweetened, eggs were to be avoided, simple carbohydrates and sugars led to less satisfying and less nutritious food intake.

Ironically this was in parallel with the “sugar-free” push such that diet soft drinks and artificially sweetened foods were heavily marketed. There is evidence that the intake of sugar-free food and drink leads to more cravings for sweets as well as development of the metabolic syndrome.

Most food items have been crammed with so many chemicals to enhance flavor that is is easy to forget what real food tastes like.

And finally, we are bombarded with the unending list of “diets” to be followed, not for the purpose of better health but to achieve some ideal body type.

In short, we need to eat food that is in its original form or close to it: fruits, vegetables, legumes, unsweetened dairy or non-dairy products, whole grain carbohydrates and, if you choose, fish and meat. Thus will we care for the unique body we each have, with kindness and acceptance.

Nature has given us all that we need.

References:

Luise Light, 2004, “A Fatally Flawed Food Guide”

Luise Light, “What to Eat”, January 2006, MCGraw Hill Co.

Yunker, Alves, et al, “Obesity and Sex-Related Associations with Differential Effects of Sucralose vs. Sucrose on Appetite and Reward Processing” from Nutrition, Obesity and Exercise, Sept. 28, 2021