Comments on: The Appeal of Fad Diets

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 21 May 2014 00:19:48 +0000

Ironically I never be became sick until I adopted the low-carb Paleo dogma. Now I’m dealing with a crashed thyroid and adrenals and having to work with a shrink to overcome orthorexia that actually landed me in the hospital with panic attacks! Slowly but surely coming out of it though and regaining ,y health, oh, and happily eating gluten AND dairy.

By: Share It Sunday | The Span of My Hips

Share It Sunday | The Span of My Hips — Sun, 04 May 2014 17:00:00 +0000

[…] the same vein, I liked Amber’s blog post on how fad diets prey on our fear of illness and […]

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 19:00:49 +0000

I am late to the party but this is a great post. I have come to realize (with professional help) that so many of my choices, including food, were not based in reality but in intense anxiety. I now do the “normal” things like you listed to stay healthy and don’t feel like every minor illness is a reason to get more extreme in the health/food area. Life is more enjoyable this way which is really healthy!

By: Adrian

Adrian — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 01:40:04 +0000

I appreciate your comment very, very much–thank you!

By: Robbie Knight

Robbie Knight — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 00:54:26 +0000

I love you SO MUCH for writing this.

I’m a severe asthmatic. I had my first attack at 6 hours old and spent most of my childhood in and out of hospitals and on “bursts” of prednisone, various inhalers, etc. When I was 7 years old the doctors wanted to screen me for food allergies so they put me on various extremely restricted diets on and off for months. I was starving all the time. Around this time I was also informed that they thought the asthma had to be psychosomatic. When I asked what that meant the doctor said I was “Probably faking the attacks just to get attention,”, despite the fact that mainline adrenaline shots and oxygen tents had saved my life on many occasions. Also, two people in my family have died from asthma attacks.

This “you must be making it up” attitude has haunted my life. I’ve been told I was a horrible person in a past life and I’m being punished. I’ve been told I must be repressing some horrible memory (no I remember my horrors, thank you) and I’ve been told I needed to cleanse and that the medications that saved my life were the ones actually making me sick (?!?!?!?!).

I did every cleanse. I was macrobiotic for a year and ended up in the hospital extremely anemic. I did extreme exercise, hoping to “out-condition” it or more accurately outrun it. I went to naturopaths who irradiated my blood, spiritual healers and did a 3-day vision quest in the desert drinking nothing but water for three days and not sleeping. And of course I have done EVERY diet.

I recognize that there are many causes for disease and that we don’t know all of them. But we do suffer from a cultural attitude of blaming the victim for illness. It really sucks. So I appreciate this posting very, very, very much.

Thank you!
Robbie

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 07:06:43 +0000

I meant the promise of eternal life *after death*. I should have clarified that in the post. 🙂

By: Gina

Gina — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 23:54:20 +0000

Amber, you’ve so nailed it.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 20:13:17 +0000

“This is why the diets are so appealing. They promise protection from scary things, from pain and suffering, even from death. Much like religion.”

Actually, I disagree. No religion worth its salt promises that adherents will be shielded from pain, suffering, and death. I think that religious belief can help adherents cope with the pain, suffering and death that are bound to happen to everyone. (And belief in no religion can help people cope with inevitable pain, suffering, and death, too.)

Other than that, a very good post. I get so tired of adherents of various dietary plans claiming that if someone eats X way they’ll never get sick or they will be cured from all illness, and if they do get sick, or remain sick, they’re doing it wrong.

By: tomas

tomas — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 13:41:29 +0000

FYI re mammograms

Evidence-based recommendations for mammography have recently changed from yearly starting at age 40 to every 2 years starting at age 50. But that’s for the general population. Women at high risk may still be advised to have earlier or more frequent tests.

By: Mike Gettle

Mike Gettle — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:11:25 +0000

I am kinda dissapointed. I have just bought some books on Paleo and I thought the concept was good. The no dairy and getting carbs from fruit and vegetable helps make me not feel bloated. I am a 43 y/o male 290 5’9 short stocky endomorph type body with muscle but more fat than I would like. I put weight on fast. I try to eat 6 small healthy meals a day. I carry my weight in my midsection. I am so tired of all the different things I read. There are so many theories. What does a guy do to get rid of this fat once and for all. My bmi says I should be 178. The last time I was 178 was in High School when I would drop from 220 to 178 in a month during wrestling season and you still could not see my abs. I am very frustrated and need some help and encouragement I guess. I have always been active. Three sport athlete in High School ect. but as I have gotten older it is harder to keep it off and I honestly am eating way better now. Keeping fried foods,dairy, bread, sweets out of my life for the most part. I do believe in cheating once in awhile with moderation.