I do think surgical/medical interventions are somewhat cheating but not in the sense of "you should struggle" but that (general) you may be treating a symptom rather than the problem itself.
I'm coming at it from "in recovery" of a longtime eating disorder, though. The question of morality is definitely a big one especially in those circles.
I'm not sure which my most extreme restrictive diet was; chicken and eggs only or raw vegan?
Ah, the seining pendulum. I grew up with a mom who in addition to making us baby food (instead of buying store bought) would later in toodlerhood give us carob cookies instead of chocolate.
She was described as a “health-nut,” back then.
In 2024 I’m kind of surprised that carob isn’t being touted as a “super food.” Whatever that means.
Orthorexia and increased rates of allergies in wealthy Western countries may be causally connected. Increased exposure to foods as a small baby radically reduces the risk of developing allergies to those foods. This is contrary to what Western medicine thought for years--teaching parents, for instance, that they should avoid feeding babies peanuts to avoid their babies developing peanut allergy, when in fact the opposite is true. This makes sense mechanistically, since very early, heavy exposures to any antigen drive immunological tolerance to that antigen. Additionally, there's the now well-established "hygiene hypothesis," which is an explanation for the inverse relationship between parasitic worm infections and the development of allergies. The mechanism proposed by the hygiene hypothesis is that some level of exposure to parasitic worms helps to regulate the immune response, by providing an evolved immune pathway (the Th2/IgE pathway) an appropriate target, without which it can end up targeting benign things like foods instead. But Western orthorexics keep babies both clean and away from "potential allergens," they deprive them of both routes of protection against developing allergies later in life.
It also strikes me that orthorexia is peculiar to anti-social cultures, such as dominate in the USA right now. I read this piece just after reading this later one, with its eerie photograph of the contactless delivery only apartment door: https://fieldnotes.katrinagulliver.com/p/under-and-over-thinking
Where I live now--and, how people have lived in almost all places, for almost all of human history--at least one meal every day is social, eaten at least with one's family members. At least one meal per week is more broadly social, a dinner party or a potluck. Of course the people bringing food to a party are cognizant of real food allergies, and at a potluck there's usually an effort made to provide at least one dish that is compliant with all religious food restrictions, but someone refusing to eat things at a party because they're avoiding MSG/GMOs/carbs/whatever would just be considered rude. I understand that in America now, many families don't even eat the same things, or even at the same times, for mealtimes, making it a lot easier for each individual to demand to eat only exactly what they want in every single instance.
I am truly shocked by that photo and article about Maria Carey. I just absolutely cannot imagine a time where someone believed her thighs to be fat.
I wonder if it's possible to go back and find all the journalists who wrote spiteful articles like that one and encourage them to make an apology. I have to imagine that they would now be ashamed.
Honestly was quite surprised to read that it was the late Ms. Tangsuan who was allergic to peanuts.
As you wrote, Southeast Asians may see food allergy as a white people or rich people problems - a sign of weakness. Religious requirements, on the other hand, are everything.
Finally, yeah, anyone here would say that rojak is vegetarian. The logic is no one gets full from eating sauce, and no religion forbids shrimp.
Yes I noted that the victim was apparently Thai - but the allergy thing is interesting: Asians who are born/raised in the West have Western levels of allergy.
(On the rojak, actually Judaism forbids shrimp... ).
I completely disagree with Kat Rosenfeld about Ozempic being a form of cheating.
It's a medication like any other. Is it cheating when I take an Aleve for my tension headaches? I could meditate, take a bath, look into candles, pray... but why do that when I can just pop an Aleve and get on with life?
I don't take Ozempic for one reason, well, two: it's for the obese and I only want to lose a few pounds, and I fear side effects.
If I could be assured of zero side effects I'd ask for a script, for a temporary period.
After losing two precious days of a trip to recover from an exposure to a food allergen, I do wish people would not pretend they had allergies.
I do think surgical/medical interventions are somewhat cheating but not in the sense of "you should struggle" but that (general) you may be treating a symptom rather than the problem itself.
I'm coming at it from "in recovery" of a longtime eating disorder, though. The question of morality is definitely a big one especially in those circles.
I'm not sure which my most extreme restrictive diet was; chicken and eggs only or raw vegan?
Yes it's odd isn't it, how we feel about these things. (I had a period as a teen of only eating apples, or only eating every other day....).
As usual, Katrina, you've summed up my feelings about diet and food culture to a tee. How do you deal with the taboo on discussing weight control?
I've noticed that I bridle at women who shut it down AND those who talk about it despairingly. It seems like nobody can get it right for me!
I can't remember if you listen to Smoke Em, but Sarah Hepola and Chaya Leah has a discussion about dieting that made me love them both even more.
Ah, the seining pendulum. I grew up with a mom who in addition to making us baby food (instead of buying store bought) would later in toodlerhood give us carob cookies instead of chocolate.
She was described as a “health-nut,” back then.
In 2024 I’m kind of surprised that carob isn’t being touted as a “super food.” Whatever that means.
Ah those fucking carob drops! (I also had a childhood where I was not allowed gum or white bread).
A couple of observations:
Orthorexia and increased rates of allergies in wealthy Western countries may be causally connected. Increased exposure to foods as a small baby radically reduces the risk of developing allergies to those foods. This is contrary to what Western medicine thought for years--teaching parents, for instance, that they should avoid feeding babies peanuts to avoid their babies developing peanut allergy, when in fact the opposite is true. This makes sense mechanistically, since very early, heavy exposures to any antigen drive immunological tolerance to that antigen. Additionally, there's the now well-established "hygiene hypothesis," which is an explanation for the inverse relationship between parasitic worm infections and the development of allergies. The mechanism proposed by the hygiene hypothesis is that some level of exposure to parasitic worms helps to regulate the immune response, by providing an evolved immune pathway (the Th2/IgE pathway) an appropriate target, without which it can end up targeting benign things like foods instead. But Western orthorexics keep babies both clean and away from "potential allergens," they deprive them of both routes of protection against developing allergies later in life.
It also strikes me that orthorexia is peculiar to anti-social cultures, such as dominate in the USA right now. I read this piece just after reading this later one, with its eerie photograph of the contactless delivery only apartment door: https://fieldnotes.katrinagulliver.com/p/under-and-over-thinking
Where I live now--and, how people have lived in almost all places, for almost all of human history--at least one meal every day is social, eaten at least with one's family members. At least one meal per week is more broadly social, a dinner party or a potluck. Of course the people bringing food to a party are cognizant of real food allergies, and at a potluck there's usually an effort made to provide at least one dish that is compliant with all religious food restrictions, but someone refusing to eat things at a party because they're avoiding MSG/GMOs/carbs/whatever would just be considered rude. I understand that in America now, many families don't even eat the same things, or even at the same times, for mealtimes, making it a lot easier for each individual to demand to eat only exactly what they want in every single instance.
I am truly shocked by that photo and article about Maria Carey. I just absolutely cannot imagine a time where someone believed her thighs to be fat.
I wonder if it's possible to go back and find all the journalists who wrote spiteful articles like that one and encourage them to make an apology. I have to imagine that they would now be ashamed.
Honestly was quite surprised to read that it was the late Ms. Tangsuan who was allergic to peanuts.
As you wrote, Southeast Asians may see food allergy as a white people or rich people problems - a sign of weakness. Religious requirements, on the other hand, are everything.
Finally, yeah, anyone here would say that rojak is vegetarian. The logic is no one gets full from eating sauce, and no religion forbids shrimp.
Yes I noted that the victim was apparently Thai - but the allergy thing is interesting: Asians who are born/raised in the West have Western levels of allergy.
(On the rojak, actually Judaism forbids shrimp... ).
Ah right, it happens to some immigrant children, interested to know what happens.
Also just remember about Jewish restriction, although the Malays and the Indonesians won't care.
I completely disagree with Kat Rosenfeld about Ozempic being a form of cheating.
It's a medication like any other. Is it cheating when I take an Aleve for my tension headaches? I could meditate, take a bath, look into candles, pray... but why do that when I can just pop an Aleve and get on with life?
I don't take Ozempic for one reason, well, two: it's for the obese and I only want to lose a few pounds, and I fear side effects.
If I could be assured of zero side effects I'd ask for a script, for a temporary period.