Let Them Eat Kale

Our world today is becoming more fast paced than ever, and diet cultures have been keeping up, becoming more prevalent in everyday life. Foods are going in and out of style like fast fashion. Our peers walk around with the word “Kale” printed across their chests, an apparent proclamation of their healthy lifestyle as loud and proud as someone broadcasting the school they attended.

Unlike long term dieting, diet culture and fad diets lure people in with the promise of losing weight or becoming healthier in a short amount of time, often by doing something obscure like only eating cabbage soup or cutting out food groups like carbohydrates entirely. And while some of these diets seem to work, as extremely low caloric intake or losing water weight will make a person see results, the effects are only temporary. Many people who start fad diets will often gain back the weight they had lost, if not more, within a few weeks.

Newer dietary trends tend to be more focused on “wellness” than weight loss exclusively. Celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow all swear by gluten-free diets (in spite of not having a gluten intolerance), claiming that going gluten-free has helped them stay in shape. Celebrity endorsements like this make significantly heighten the diet craze. We trust that when Victoria Beckham, who is considered beautiful by public opinion, tells us that going gluten-free has helped her look the way she does, we will do it too because we want to look like her. Subsequently, gluten free or dairy free products and options are continuously popping up at restaurants and supermarkets, despite there being insignificant evidence that these products are actually healthier. It is one thing to have a diagnosed gluten allergy. It is another thing to eat gluten free products because society, not nutritionists or medical professionals, say it’s unhealthy.

If fad diets aren’t proven to work, then why are they so popular? For one, diet companies use advertising and marketing to target collective pressures to fit the societal standards of beauty that are presented to us in the form of things like the US Weekly swimsuit issue, and the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. People want to believe in quick solutions to lose weight quickly, and advertisers eagerly feed into the frenzy. In the age of social media, it is becoming increasingly difficult to resist the influence of diet culture and advertising. Instagram and Facebook feeds are flooded with celebrity sponsorships of weight loss supplements, diets, and protein powders. It is extremely effective and cost-efficient to advertise on social media through celebrity endorsements, which is one reason for this phenomenon. Health professionals are especially concerned about celebrity weight loss endorsements, because they are mostly advertised without health warnings. This gives people who view the post a false impression that the celebrity is actually using this product, and it carries with it the assumption that it is safe. An increase in the amount of advertisements like this also further exacerbates problems with body image.

Social media further perpetuates unrealistic beauty standards. This often leads to insecurity and depression, especially in young people. 92% of teens and young adults have a smartphone and between 2010 and 2015 rates of teen depression went up by 30%. A study at the University of South Australia revealed that women who use social media mostly for posting and viewing photographs were more likely to be insecure about their bodies than those who used social media more generally. It’s so easy to get sucked into a stream of pictures, all of seemingly perfect looking people with seemingly perfect lives. It’s easy to forget that what we see online is an extremely one sided version of someone’s life, or what marketers want you to try to “aspire” to be by buying their products. People edit their pictures to make themselves look thinner, curvier, stronger, or more toned. You end up comparing yourself to what you see online, and this is extremely dangerous. Research has shown a positive correlation in the expansion of social media and a rise in eating disorders.

Diet culture combined with social media, like smoothies mixed with “weight loss powder”, is a toxic concoction. Their results don’t reveal healthier lifestyles, but rather mental illnesses, low self-esteem, and a perpetuation of unrealistic beauty standards. This culture equates success and happiness based on how a person looks, which is an unhealthy variable to judge your overall well-being on. We should, as a society, learn to view social media and advertising more transparently, and collectively say no to weight loss culture.