An open letter to foodies... stop labelling things as "guilt free"
punkrockgoth
Posts: 534 Member
Dear food bloggers, manufacturers, food instagrammers and Internet nutritionists etc,
Please, please, please stop labelling food as "guilt free". There are a lot of reasons why people eat and choose the foods they do. There are a lot of reasons why people struggle with their weights.
But food is food and a healthful diet includes everything in moderation. But to worship or demonize food only encourages obsessive thinking and failure in long term health management. To label something as "guilt free" tells people that they need to feel guilty for eating some foods, but it's okay to binge on others. That approach is not conducive to balance and total health. This creates taboos which serve to perpetuate stigmas and encourage shame and deviation from a healthy lifestyle.
Food is food and it is okay to love food. It's okay to love spinach and kale and Oreos and peanut butter and nachos and anything else under the sun. There is no need to feel guilty for loving any of it.
So please, food bloggers, manufacturers, Instagrammers and Internet nutritionists, please in the future, try to focus on encouraging moderation, maximizing satisfaction to portion size ratios of your dishes or create smaller portion sizes of foods high in sugars, fats and salt. With your co-operation, we can make the world a better and all around healthier place.
Sincerely,
Sarah
Please, please, please stop labelling food as "guilt free". There are a lot of reasons why people eat and choose the foods they do. There are a lot of reasons why people struggle with their weights.
But food is food and a healthful diet includes everything in moderation. But to worship or demonize food only encourages obsessive thinking and failure in long term health management. To label something as "guilt free" tells people that they need to feel guilty for eating some foods, but it's okay to binge on others. That approach is not conducive to balance and total health. This creates taboos which serve to perpetuate stigmas and encourage shame and deviation from a healthy lifestyle.
Food is food and it is okay to love food. It's okay to love spinach and kale and Oreos and peanut butter and nachos and anything else under the sun. There is no need to feel guilty for loving any of it.
So please, food bloggers, manufacturers, Instagrammers and Internet nutritionists, please in the future, try to focus on encouraging moderation, maximizing satisfaction to portion size ratios of your dishes or create smaller portion sizes of foods high in sugars, fats and salt. With your co-operation, we can make the world a better and all around healthier place.
Sincerely,
Sarah
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Replies
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Oh YES!!! And they also need to stop labeling foods as "bad".0
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I especially loved this part:Food is food and it is okay to love food. It's okay to love spinach and kale and Oreos and peanut butter and nachos and anything else under the sun. There is no need to feel guilty for loving any of it.
The sooner the human race realizes this, the better off we will be.0 -
The only reason to feel guilty about eating food is if you stole it from someone.0
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It's just a label. Perhaps you are reading too much into it.0
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Well, if your name is Jean Valjean, you can steal some food without guilt. But if you, say, come to my house and finish my last tub of Talenti? You'd better feel guilty.
And afraid. Very, very afraid.0 -
My main gripe with that label is that it's often not even accurate. Just because something has less fat than the original doesn't mean it still doesn't have a crazy amount of calories. Sometimes I look at what people call 'guilt free' and just shake my head. 20% less calories is just not worth losing so much taste most of the time.0
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Well, if your name is Jean Valjean, you can steal some food without guilt. But if you, say, come to my house and finish my last tub of Talenti? You'd better feel guilty.
And afraid. Very, very afraid.
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Can I add to this
"I'm a foodie- I love food- you wouldn't understand"
I hate when people tell people that, as if I eat cardboard and hate real food just because I'm fit.
<rollseyes> I can't even with you people. Grump.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »It's just a label. Perhaps you are reading too much into it.
I disagree. It's labels like "clean," "guilt-free," "junk food," "healthy," etc., that make people so confused these days about nutrition and overeating. If people weren't thrown so many terms all the time about what they eat, and understood calories and how they relate to their bodies, people might not find it so difficult to eat in moderation.
Food is food, and I think that glamourizing and demonizing different types of foods is contributing to the obesity epidemic by overcomplicating things.0 -
Foodie, that's such a stupid label, something a toddler came up with.
I really dislike it.0 -
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If you're a bookie...
what's the spread on the 4th race at Santa Anita today? lol.0 -
Four. Your answer is four.
I think I have a knack for this.0 -
I agree 100%. These labels add an emotional dimension to food, when we need to start looking at food more objectively. Yes, certain foods will release feel-good hormones, but we shouldn't feel guilty for enjoying something. Moderation is the key...something that everyone's probably sick of hearing.0
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So wait, what you're saying is it bothers you when I go to a great restaurant and eat a nice looking meal, or cook something awesome or eat an incredible ice cream and I post it online somewhere that bothers you? How exactly does my love of food affect you?
I think she's saying that she doesn't like when someone labels a lower-calorie (and lower-taste) version of a food as guilt-free, like when someone makes a cauliflower pizza crust and calls it a guilt-free pizza crust, insinuating that one should feel guilty for eating real pizza.
She's saying that we shouldn't feel guilty about eating any food, period. She's one of the good guys.
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^^this^^0
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