How to Fight Diet Culture: Stop Moralizing Food

When was the last time you heard someone say they were “bad” for eating a piece of cake or french fries? If you can’t remember, keep an ear out during your next holiday or social gathering. These conversations are a way for people to let others know how disciplined they are with their eating—but what does it really mean to be “disciplined” with our food?

Statements like “I’m so bad for eating this on my diet” and “I’m going to regret this indulgence later” give the food power over us, instead of it being a source of different nutrients. Sure, we all have different nutrition needs and require different things from our food based on our personal health and any conditions we may have. But ultimately, food is something we should enjoy—not something we should feel preoccupied with. Diet culture has warped how we view our food.

Understanding the Dangers of Diet Culture

We know diets don’t work. In fact, most diets fail, with only a handful of people successfully keeping the weight off after 2-5 years. Once weight loss efforts end, the body is going to hold on to what it can to prevent future famine. Weight loss attempts typically result in weight regain since the body isn’t meant to be able to sustain itself during a lack of energy long term. When the weight returns, the person often feels a sense of failure.

Promises of weight loss from trends like the keto diet or intermittent fasting may sound great, but they typically aren’t sustainable. Diet culture and weight stigma are ingrained in all of us, and it can be easy to feel guilty for not eating the “right” foods. However, when we feel guilty after making a specific food choice and label a food as “good” or “bad,” we’re inadvertently labeling ourselves as good or bad as well. 

One of the negative effects of diet culture is that it has tainted food’s purpose to nourish us physically and emotionally. Because of this, your clients may be resistant to changing their thought patterns at first. So as a clinician, it’s important to validate clients’ feelings first, and then dig deeper into why they feel that way about food. 

Reframing Our Thoughts on Food 

The phrase “clean eating” has gained popularity in the past few years, as it brings to mind food that is simple and will provide maximal fueling efficiency to your body. However, eating clean implies that other foods are dirty or perhaps unable to be utilized in our bodies. Clean eating is just another way of labeling foods as good or bad. If you want to eat clean, wash your hands.

When any of us use moralizing words to talk about food, it has ripple effects on the people around us. If someone you’re with is eating a salad while you eat a burger, and they say they’re being “good” for eating that salad, it’s likely going to make you question your choice of lunch. In reality, the burger could be just as energizing and nutritious as the salad, but thanks to the impact of diet culture, that seemingly unremarkable comment has implied that you’re less than good for the food on your plate. 

It’s true that using “good” and “bad” have become our default ways to refer to food—it’s fast, and we’re used to it. But changing our language can help our clients reframe how they think about food. Replacing “good” and “bad” with more specific words like “nutritious,” “filling,” “rich,” “dense,” “satisfying,” or “energizing” still describes food, but neutralizes the power it holds. When we use this kind of descriptive language, we help reinforce the purpose of food to our clients—to nurture and provide energy. 

The Negative Effects of Diet Culture 

So what happens when we repeatedly use polarizing words, either with other people or internally? They start to become part of who you are, and they start to influence the people around you. If children or young adults always hear that certain foods are “bad,” they’ll start to actually view those foods as harmful, which can lay the foundation for their relationship with food in the future. 

Even if this kind of talk is only internal, there are long-term impacts for that person too. Your client’s mental energy would be spent on deciding which foods are good, and therefore make them a better person for making those choices. They could start to have anxiety over social gatherings where they’re unsure of what foods will be available and whether or not there will be “safe” options. If these feelings go unchecked, it can lead to orthorexia, which is an obsession with proper eating and a risk for malnutrition, or other forms of disordered eating. 

The slippery slope of thinking about foods as a virtuous object can eventually lead to eating being a transactional activity. If you have a slice of “sinful” cheesecake after dinner, then you may think you need to compensate by eating something “guilt-free” the next day. There could also be a transaction between food and exercise. We’ve all seen the articles or infographics about how many miles you would have to run to equal X slices of pizza. Let this be clear: you don’t need to earn your food, now or ever.

Putting It Into Practice 

When working with clients, you’ll be able to pick up on how they feel regarding certain foods and whether or not they moralize those items with the words they use. As clinicians, we can help clients recognize the negative effects of diet culture. For instance, we can reinforce that they don’t have to eat any certain foods or food groups with every meal to have a balanced intake. If your client feels guilty about a specific meal, it may be helpful to review the individual components of that meal and point out its strengths. This can help illustrate how they are still able to get nutrition and energy from meals they may previously have considered “bad.” 

If you’re working with someone who is exhibiting symptoms of disordered eating, such as orthorexia or another eating disorder, don’t be afraid to discuss it with them. Use the approach you think is best for the client based on your therapeutic relationship, but the sooner disordered eating is identified, the sooner treatment can be re-assessed or escalated. If you feel you need more support to treat an eating disorder, make sure to have a care team you can work with to best support your client. If you’re a dietitian, have a therapist in your network who specializes in eating disorders to refer to if needed, and vice versa.

Removing labels isn’t necessarily a pass to eat less nutrient-dense foods all day long. Instead, the purpose is to show clients that foods that are deemed “bad” by diet culture still have macro and micronutrients that the body will use. The goal is to help clients see that eating a certain food doesn’t make them immoral—and it doesn’t make them superior, either.

When we can help our clients make peace with what they eat in a world of diet culture and demonization of foods, we can help them lead more fulfilling lives by discovering the enjoyment in eating. When they’re not preoccupied with their meal and snack choices, it leaves them with the energy to thrive in all the other areas of their lives.