Intuitive Eating vs Diet Plans

There are many new diet plans out there nowadays, which are consuming people’s well being and changing the way they view food and nutrients. Eating intuitively with healthy foods and not getting overtaken by diet culture is a lot better for your body. Diet culture is very toxic nowadays, and can lead to many things like eating disorders and malnutrition. 

When someone starts a new diet thinking it will improve their health or help them lose weight, they are often uneducated on the full effects the diet will have on their body. For example, one of the most popular diets people are following right now is the ketogenic diet, more commonly known as the keto diet. This diet plan involves eating little to no carbs and eating high amounts of fats. Essentially, the keto diet replaces carb intake with fat intake. 

Although there are many potential health benefits to the diet, it is very hard to master and make sure you are getting the substantial amounts of nutrients needed. When trying to eat healthier, people tend to want to eat only healthy foods, which ruins the point of the keto diet. By not consuming carbs, an essential source of energy, and being afraid to eat fats to make up for the lack of carb intake, the body is stripped of essential nutrients, which can lead to multiple health and metabolic issues. 

Following strict diet plans can also lead to social isolation. Eating out is a popular enjoyable activity among friends and family. People following strict diet plans could make them feel like they can’t eat out at a restaurant, because the food there is “unhealthy” or won’t there won’t be any food options that fit their diet. This leads to them simply choosing not to go, and missing out on quality time spent with loved ones. 

When people become so obsessed with following their diet plan, they often get in a mindset where all they can think about is what and when their next meal will be. This is the start of developing a disordered eating mentality. These people may starve themselves when they don’t have any food that falls into their diet plan, or at a restaurant. Anorexia disorder can result from this, which is very hard to treat and often sticks with a person for a very long time. 

Overall, intuitive eating debunks all of the problems and downsides of diet culture. Intuitive eating is eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you are full, and consuming nutrients and foods that fuel your body and make you feel good. The goal of intuitive eating is to be “guilt-free” with everything you eat. Eating intuitively has been seen to be much better for the body than strict diet plans, and can even make a person lose more weight than they would while dieting. It also prevents one from the inevitable while dieting, which is binge eating. Intuitive eaters do not face the problem of having to refute their cravings. They also are happier overall and less stressed, because they do not have to worry about what they eat and restrictions. 

#HealthyEating #Produce