Something that makes me absolutely NUTS is the "clean eating" influencers who are always starting their vlogs and reels with a mirror shot of their tiny bodies.... then talking about how they don't prioritize thinness or dieting, only "wellness." If you start every video about your eating plan with images of your small body size, your eating plan is about your body size. Full stop.
Well if they are influencers, I would assume they do that to catch your attention, which in the end means more views/engagement. If they earn money with influencing, they most likely do that for „business reasons“
such a great video, Lucy!! The 2010s food culture online was so so toxic, but especially as a teenager, I didn’t even really notice HOW bad it was. And you’re totally right, unfortunately these same restrictive, “clean” ideals are just repackaged over and over
My ex was absolutely obsessed with "clean eating", he's a CrossFit cultist and sometimes goes completely off carbs too. He expected me to follow this bullsh*t and would ask me for a list of what I ate every evening and would go nuts when I ate just a tiny square of chocolate. Worst thing is I survived anorexia and imposing restrictions really puts me at risk of a relapse.
My mum has been mostly eating a keto diet for the last couple of years, and really feels a lot better about her health, BECAUSE SHE'S DIABETIC so she finds it easier to safely control her blood sugar levels if she eats fewer carbs and more fat. Sometimes I find myself thinking I should eat fewer carbs for the vague reason that "it's probably healthier..." and I have to remind myself that I *have a fully working pancreas* and don't need to inject myself with insulin several times per day so I should probably just chill out and stop worrying.
Uhhh, you realize that most diabetics got that way from eating junk food (specifically tons of sugar) in the first place. You’re correct that your pancreas is better able to deal with the punishment you are giving it, but in a decade or two, you’ll be in the same place as your mum if you keep eating junk.
My one thing with carbs is that I feel hungry earlier if I'm eating more carbs. So if I cut back then I can maintain my weight a lot easier. Carb hunger for me is hangry hunger, too. I get light-headed and almost nauseous. This is also why I'm not a fan of calorie density diets like what Noom promotes. Less calorie dense foods tend to be high carb foods with a lot of water in them like apples and I get more hungry after eating an apple than when I started it. But I can eat a handful of nuts and feel fine for hours
As a vegan it honestly makes me sad how many people stopped being vegan because of this. No wonder some of them were deficient in protein while avoiding soy, lentils and beans. That's why I don't like the raw vegan diet. Only drinking green smoothies is not healthy at all.
Same. Health is so important and attainable eating legumes, grains, fruit, and veg, but is separate from animal welfare. If just eating babies was the healthiest diet on earth I still wouldn't do it because my health is not worth exploiting others. I hate how these two concepts are so intertwined. Always love and appreciate a fellow vegan
Its really the lack of animal fat that hurt me on the vegan diet. I got tons of protein and ate really well but from week 2 to week 6 felt like I was dying. I was literally craving fish oil.
@@chrishnah Are you sure you were getting enough omega-3 fatty acids? That could have caused that craving. Another thing could be that you cut everything out too fast. If you eliminate a meat at a time it can be a lot easier to transition. And then some people really can't be healthy on vegetarian or vegan bodies due to their specific dietary needs and there's nothing wrong with that. Again, you can try cutting out a meat at a time until you start feeling bad and then you know where to stop. That way you still reduce meat and animal product intake
As an older viewer, I can say I wasn’t really surprised by the clean eating craze. I remember my mom doing the “low-fat diet” and she said her skin was so dry and her hair started to fall out. I personally was affected by the heroine chic trend of the early 90’s. This was such a good video! Well done! And thank you for commenting on men’s health fads as well. Teen boys are getting hammered with all of this harmful “expert advice” too! I know we have it bad as women, but I’m watching my sons go through it and it’s the same crap wrapped up with a pretty new bow.
Exactly what I was going to comment. I’m old enough to have seen all kinds of diet/nutrition trends come and go. The only thing I would recommend to anyone is to write down what you eat/drink and how it affects your sleep, mood, hair, skin for a week or two.
I'm also 'older'. As I was watching this I was thinking about what eating was like in my family growing up. We cooked most things from scratch at home, but we did eat 'convenience foods' like TV dinners or 'junk food' like chips and cookies. We were healthy, we were not overweight and our elders lived long healthy lives. I've tried many of these eating healthy fads and I've come to the conclusion that it's all about marketing and not substance. So I went back to eating like my grandparents did--including bread!--and I've lost 25 pounds. Eat good quality food, not too much, incorporate lots of movement into your day and get a good night's sleep. And a little bit of anything isn't likely to hurt you, so eat an ice cream cone now and then. Stop worrying about what not to eat and just enjoy your life!
I never noticed the lack of seasoning in "clean eating," but you're totally right. There seems to be a weird mentality that food isn't supposed to taste good or be enjoyed.
Lucy I LOVE this cultural commentary style video - especially surrounding a topic line clean eating, which is so popular but often masked in insidious ways. It's incredibly refreshing and helpful to have someone look at the history of it and dismantle the idea that it's purely health focused as opposed to being a way to get people to buy, feel bad about themselves and buy again.
These essay style videos are extremely validating! As an almost 21 year old who grew up with a “clean eating” parent and being surrounded by all of that propaganda all the time, and who has been healing my relationship with food, this was so incredibly validating. Thank you so much Lucy!!
I struggle with eating disorder tendencies… have since I was a teenager. I am now a 38 year old woman. I’ve definitely fallen into the clean eating trap and diets of similar structures. I’m hopeful that I’m finally getting into the groove of just eating and not worrying about the moral value of the food.
There is not a moral food based on nutrients, but there definitely is based on how they got the food. We could both agree eating babies or human remains would be immoral. It is important to support food companies that treat people well and don't harm animals. I had an eating disorder for years. An eating disorder is not an excuse to excuse bad business practices, such as companies like nestle which pollute and sell toxic products to people in places like Africa.
Hi Lucy. Kel here - Eating Disorder Therapist. It is great to see an influencer talking about these topics and looking at the information we are given with a critical lense. We are seeing more folx than ever struggling with Eating Disorders and waiting lists are at an all time high. It actually is pretty heart breaking. I've developed a low cost online portal to try and offer resources for people who are struggling to access the help they need. Thanks for touching on this topic.
YES, thank you! Fabulous points, overview, and dissection. I'd love to see this discussion/rejection extend to the "clean beauty" movement as well; it's similarly full of harmful and incorrect information that primarily functions to 1) "other" products that don't meet a wide and inconsistent criteria for "clean", 2) shame (mostly women) for their beauty choices, and 3) perpetuate the idea that if you aren't beautiful using only natural products then you simply aren't trying hard enough (soap didn't work for washing your hair? You just weren't strong enough to make though the 'transition period'-never mind that the pH of traditional soap is FAR higher than is recommended for haircare and will cause the hair to swell, resulting in coarse, tangle-prone hair...)
Raw veganism has been around way longer than the 2010s. I have a friend that was raw vegan in the early 90s. It may not have been that popular at that time, but it definitely still existed.
Any raw diet to me seems the most unnatural way for humans to eat. Yes, that's how other animals eat, but there is so much archeological evidence that humans were only able to evolve our highly developed brains because we cooked our food. Our brains require a ton of calories to remain functional, and cooked food unlocks those hidden calories and nutrients. Props to whoever can do it, because they are fighting against hundreds of thousands of years of biology.
I remember little 13 year old me begging my parents to buy me foods we couldn't afford so I could "be healthy" and lose weight like all the influencers i followed at the time. So glad I got away from that mindset!
@@TheTalomir gormet plant based stuff is expensive but I am not even necessary even saying organic either. Of course processed food lasts longer due to the preservatives but it comes at a cost to your health. It also comes with excess packaging which could be reduced by eating less of it.
This is SUCH an important video. I’m usually a silent watched but anything to boost this video is so important. Those 2013-2017 years where so damaging 😭 thank you for making such an important and informative video! You are doing the work!!
you did such an amazing job with this and raised so many good points, Lucy 👏 Shining a light on orthorexia and all of it 👏 It's such a delicate space with so much nuance, we'll all get something wrong at some point but I hope we're slowly appreciating the weight of the responsibility for people's health🤍
I’d never realised Deliciously Ella started as a clean eater, as a coeliac with dairy free parents it was a staple for us. Suddenly explains why all my allergy-free teenage friends knew who she was…
i was instantly turned off from "wellness" and "clean eating" when an old roommate of mine proclaimed that she was into 'wellness' and lost 70 pounds by eating clean - all well and good! until i found out that she ate exclusively soup for six straight months and used noom to do it. when she was telling me about noom she looked me (a former international class athlete with an athletic body type that i am very proud of) up and down and said "you should try it sometime!" hard pass from me, thanks
Lucy: "I could make a whole other video about this -" YES. YES PLEASE. On another note, the point about clean eating being a class issue is so interesting to me. I grew up with a lot of home cooked meals, which I'm really thankful for, but when I moved out of home I felt such a huge pressure to maintain that kind of diet, and I had so much guilt around buying lunches in college or the shops rather than meal prepping on the weekend. The reality is that I don't have the time or money to be doing that though, and it turns out I also have ADHD, so the organisation necessary for that kind of lifestyle doesn't come naturally to me at all, which made me feel even more guilt and shame. It's easy to forget how much of that culture I internalised as I was around 15-18 when these trends were really popular online, but you gotta give yourself a break!
^^^^THIS Also at uni, I had quite the superiority complex concerning my flatmates who mostly ate ready meals, and would feel guilty every time I bought myself a frozen pizza.
I do a bit of both. I buy several premade frozen meals for when I have no time/energy to make something, some staple foods and recipes that are easy and quick to put together for when I have a bit more time, and then I'll usually pick out a new recipe or two to try (over a 2-3 week period since I can't usually be bothered to grocery shop more than 1-2x per month). Actually, on the topic of that parenthetical, I buy quite a bit of non-perishable food, as well, because I won't grocery shop until I'm having to replace proper meals with single foods. So like popcorn for dinner. Or rice. Or maybe a can of beans. Because there certainly aren't anymore viable vegetables. I'll buy a salad for lunch at work. Even then I end up tossing quite a bit of spoiled food. I also almost never make anything without also listening to an audiobook or watching a video during the process... I'm waiting on a followup for the ADHD diagnostic testing I just did
I appreciate you've pointed out the perceived 'expert status' attained through a public platform. It seems to be a really easy space to fall into, even if you aren't explicitly intending to market yourself that way. Even more formal content like this video essay can fall into that category. I've found myself questioning beyond just "is this person qualified to be an authority on this subject?" to "is this person qualified to adequately research and responsibly draw conclusions on this subject?"
The choice is not limited to orthorexia or eating whatever you want. Your health is the main determinant of your happiness long term. What you eat, as well as exercise are vital for a long and healthy life.
YES I'm so happy you pointed out how it affects men!! I've noticed too how much fitness content and pressure to be insanely musclely is pushed at men, but it's become so normalised we so often don't even think about it as being ED related. We need men to know how to spot diet culture too and to feel able to seek support if they feel affected themselves.
Wow this video really brought back and highlighted how intense that period of time was. The clean eating movement was a huge factor in causing my eating disorder as a teenager. I’d forgotten really how bad it was. Thanks Lucy for this video, I hope those who also got caught in the clean eating net have managed to wriggle free. I definitely carry a few scars from that time but can finally see it for what it is/ was ❤
Looove this video Lucy!! I’m one of those people who fell into de wagon of clean eating (and “real food” movement, very famous and similar to clean eating but in Spain and suppored by nutritionists who have now make business of making people feel guilty when eating processed food). I have had an ED and I wouldn’t say it was caused by these movements (as I had disordered eating and exercising habits way before that), but they certainly help to develop certain mentalities and behaviours (restricting food groups, being extra afraid of eating out because I couldn’t know if a restaurant’s kitchen had used 100% olive oil). Happy to see that people are being more aware of its dangers and the fact that those people are basically making money out of EDs. I’m sure this video will help many❤
i love this! ever since i started listening to the maintenance phase podcast i've been so suspicious of all of those health fads that are hiding behind wellness and "optimisation" when really they are just weight loss programs. one of the hosts recently published a book on myths around fatness and it's super enlightening. i recommend it to anyone who liked this video and wants to dive deeper into the weird history of health fads
Lucy this video is incredible, so much wisdom and I'm sure it will help SO many people. Thank you for sharing. I bought into all of the "clean eating" books and Instagram accounts while at uni around 2013 and fell into that trap of labelling most foods as "bad". Still to this day I have to check myself and my views around food from all of the toxic messaging I bought into in my early twenties
I have never seen your videos before but I just subscribed! That was so eloquent and spot on. I am a Registered Dietitian (RDN) in the US and have been since 2001. I have seen the same diets recycled through the years over and over. I have found both personally and professionally that staying in the middle of the road is what works. Not following any extremes with nutrition or exercise. I always tell client there are no "good" or "bad" foods. Food is amoral. Food is just food! Keep up the great work!
it's so concerning watching all of my guy friends' eating habits. if i had the behaviours around food that they have, i'd say i was relapsing in my ED. but it's all fine because they're doing it for 'fitness reasons'. like they eat the exact same foods every day to the point where they are absolutely sick of it, they refuse to eat out because they need to track the calories and macros, they have 'cheat days' which seem kind of like binges to me. it's really upsetting to watch them all go through this like it's normal and healthy when i know how much shame and fear it can create :(
I remember this. At some point you could search for any chronic disease on youtube and find a video about how you should just quit your meds and go raw vegan to heal yourself. That's how I put myself into the ER once as a teenager. Wonder how many people died. Anyways, I still like Quinoa.
@@TheSilverwing999 look it’s still awful and exploitative that someone made that type of video. A lot of disabled people are desperate, our meds work but not enough. We’re still tired and sick all the time and then someone tells you that they know exactly what you’ve been through and they don’t have to deal with it anymore. You don’t need to get the meds that are burning a hole in your wallet, and often have unpleasant side affects. Look it seems stupid but to the right vulnerable person that’s enough hope to try something like that
@@TheSilverwing999 Yeah no shit, I'm still really fucking dumb, but not AS dumb as back then. I'm not putting all the responsibility on these health gurus or anything, but I'm just really glad that subculture seems to be mostly gone. I think that content put stupid people, teenagers and stupid teenagers at risk. It pretty much felt like indoctrination and I do remember some people in that community died horribly and painfully of cancer because they put all their eggs in one basket and bet their life on some type of raw vegan wonder diet. (Not saying terminally ill people are stupid for trying this, I think in that case its psychopathic health gurus dangling hope in front of someone truly desperate.)
haha i got an ad for Noom after you mentioned it, their ads always rub me the wrong way. this was a great video, and i came away with lots of new knowledge and thoughts around the topic, and your elf bar changed my life in a way. i am looking forward to your next video essay. thank you for using such a good variety of reputable sources.
I feel like this literally just made me smarter. Not just the issues you talk about but also your vacabulary/ use of language is incredible. It is so important to raise awareness on topics like these and 🌟unlearn🌟 things
I have PoTs syndrome, same as Deliciously Ella. It’s an autonomic dysfunction condition and can cause debilitating symptoms. It’s just really frustrating reading how she claims her clean eating ‘cured’ her and I think she is quite disregarded within the PoTs community. She portrays an image of how this condition can simply be cured with eating “clean”. She comes across lovely and I wish her well but I do feel it’s given the PoTs community a false hope for a magical cure and capitalising on this whole topic. I personally cannot function without daily medication and other lifestyle changes. I think the diet she promoted of cutting basically EVERYTHING out to cure her sends a worrying message- it could lead to disordered eating habits and nutritional deficiencies- which in turn could worsen symptoms.
I’m huge fan of Deliciously Ella cookbooks and products etc. But I don’t know many others who eat plant based receipes inspired by her receipes. I’m really interested in hearing more of your thoughts.
Also have PoTS and ME and I have to agree. It’s sort of a fantasy, the whole « I did this so you can too! » thing is so unfair because the reality is that if you are sick, you just can’t spend all that energy to eat « clean ». Spending 15 minutes cooking leaves me needing to lie down. I’m still trying to eat a nourishing diet and get in what I need but, having a family history of eating disorders, it makes me anxious - I don’t want to fall into the same trap that I’ve seen others fall into.
Came here to say that. I've had a few comments akin to "well, I heard DE had the same illness as you, why don't you try it? Then you can come off all of those medicines and be cured!" Some people with PoTS have gastroparesis, too; eating as much fibre and goddamn coconut as Ella does would make them very sick, as I found out. I think the PoTS and EDS communities have discussed Ella ad nauseum and agreed that, while people wish her well and are happy for her health, it's dangerous spinning this narrative.
I have pots and ME and I agree. She made me think that I just had to find the perfect clean diet and I would get better. Not to mention that some young people who get POTS naturally get better within a few years. My friend didn't eat "clean" and her pots went away in a few years.
So glad someone else said this. I tried eating “cleaner” and it aggravated my POTS. Also clean eating is generally low/no sodium and to get off meds you generally have to increase your sodium intake exponentially (sincerely someone who’s cardiologist wants me to only drink salt water). I’m glad you mentioned the sort of med shaming too it Njhs y feels like an exploitative book where she probably grew out of her POTS and wants to show people that they’re causing they’re suffering. I’m also extra mad because clean eating started me down the eating disorder pipeline
ahh thank you for this vid. i live in a region in the US where the commodified concept of wealth (not the original definition that you mentioned, which was super fascinating to learn) is very alive and active. i’ve worked in food service on and off over the years, including at a juice bar back in 2015ish, and hooooo boy the amount of customers who came in that were probably orthorexic… i definitely cautioned people against the day-length juice cleanses we sold, cuz some customers would consecutively do them for a whole week! there’s a fine line between critiquing industrialized food systems and the harms they can cause for individuals and communities, versus straight up vilifying any food that’s not “clean”. and privilege plays a massive role in all of this, as you mentioned. i hope we can find a more holistic relationship with food and our bodies! (p.s. most of my mid roll ads for this video were Taco Bell, Arby’s, or other fast food chains. lololololol)
Love this video format and appreciate the clear and deep research that went into this commentary. Tracking online movements since the early noughts is a journey we need for SO many cultural facets today. I typed a long-winded thing here, then deleted it all because the basic point is: yes, more of this please!
A whole side of this I directly connect is the general 'vegan' world -- I'm not a vegan, but watched SO many of the videos, and I think it's because I both wanted to decrease (but admittedly not eliminate) my meat consumption for health and environmental reasons, but also because so many diets are tied directly to a lifestyle, and there was a move of vegan vloggers that NAILED that niche - a beautiful, bountiful, full life eating vegan and being happy (personally I watched a ton of Ellen Fisher, Hannah McNeely, Bonny Rebecca, etc...). They are not a monolith, and I'm not critiquing them individually at all - but the same desire to seek out clean eating I think is the same that I am drawn to any 'what I eat in a day' types - a very concrete way to change your life to be better. And the beaches, beautiful montages of music and happy people/children/partners all helped. All to say - there's gotta be some connect between a need we think we have and a way for the online entrepreneurial world to fill it, and it's SO HARD to parse out what can be applied. And this video starts to help break it down. /ramble
As someone who began a vegan/plant based during lockdown I have Ella Mills to thank for my new found love not only for vegetables but food. What I used to eat was just processed junk food which is just not sustainable long term. I like Ella because I’ve never felt like she has been pushy but takes a holistic approach and suggests options, and steers away from toxic phrasing on ‘diets’. I am also someone who has always been slim because without knowing I am intuitive with my eating but over the years have felt the pressure with what I should be eating and how I should look. So, this video has enlightened me but we cannot get away from the fact that it is important to look after ourselves and our bodies but not to restrict yourself of the fun things in life because of how certain foods are seen as bad or good
This is so true! I actually went the opposite and stopped being borderline vegan (I'd have a little cheese butter and eggs but otherwise was vegan) during lockdown. I'm glad someone helped you learn to love veggies. BTW, you can use tempeh in place of ground beef and make vegan tacos that even meat lovers will love. Just need some garlic, onion, and taco seasoning
A vegan compatible plant based diet is not necessarily conducive for a long, healthy life. However, if you plan properly, and center your diet on whole foods, it gives you the best chance for one. The Adventist Studies (among a large sample size in the USA) showed that those who didn't eat meat lived about 8 years longer, and were less likely to have ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and multiple types of cancer. The only dietary group they studied with a BMI in the recommended range was the vegan group. Links to the studies at my channel under "About."
@Some Guy so a necessary disclaimer is that Adventists have a plant based diet as a religious belief. That's like the catholic church releasing a study saying that church attendance leads to longer life and there's plenty of variables that impact dietary effects on longevity. There's a lot of benefits to making fiber rich foods the core of your diet. That doesn't mean it's specifically removing meat itself that is doing the heavy lifting. As someone who was plant based for 20 years and still is about 90% vegetarian, the higher fiber, and less reliance on Ultra processed foods is likely where the majority of longevity would come from.
Intuitive eating doesnt really correlate with weight like that. Keep in mind we don't have a very good understanding of what determines how you put weight on
loved the video also I like this new approach with video essays between your other content. with the elf bar video and this you picked topics that weren't really on my radar but I found them incredibly interesting nonetheless.
THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THE MALE EQUIVALENT!!!! I’ve followed several male-audience fitness channels for years that push back against unrealistic fitness standards a lot and it’s always reminded me of the women-audience clean eating nonsense just more *manly* with steak instead of chicken. I’ve seen many creators go hard against the women-audience content but never touch the male-focused content when, as you said, they’re the same ideas with different marketing. Very well done and I appreciate your nuanced commentary.
the main issue I had with noom is that especially early on it was so close to being something actually interesting and different, but once the superficial shine wore off it was just calorie counting with different wrapping. It was super frustrating especially when I was able to later untangle the behavioral reasons that I ate the way I did and something like Noom really could have helped if it wasn‘t just a diet 😂
Lucy, these video's are so interesting, I am SO sparked and impressed. Thank you for this beautiful and firm content :) I'm enjoying it enormously. I'd also like to add, as a cismale (male asigned at birth, identifying male), growing up with social media all around (born in 2003), it's insane how many ads I've received and seen, especially on Snapchat (it's so bad there) for how a guy should look, how muscled he should be, how he should regulate body hair etc.. Going about what's better, what's cleaner, "what women want" etc. And I haven't seen anything about this anywhere. It is absolutely insane how bad the male-targeted-ads are and how ignored it is. I don't know how it is for women, probably very similar, but there's talk about it. I haven't head of any guys in my life talk about such things and I think that's so sad! Thanks again for the lucious content, I enjoyed it thoroughly :)
I remember this all so vividly. At the time, I was so obsessed with watching all those youtube videos and buying cookbooks that were all about clean eating. Now I actually see that I was obsessed with healthy eating, maybe even to the point of it being orthorexia. Unfortunately, I have PCOS and really need to be aware of my diet, sometimes it's hard to keep the balance between "trying to look after my health" and "not obsessing over healthy food".
girl... as a nutritional scientist I ROLL my eyes constantly about what I hear in the public sphere... there is such a HUGE disconnect between what the science actually says (for just about anything: we know a lot less than we do know) vs the public impression of what we know... we are FAR from personalized medicine based on genetics & microbiome... we barely just started to scratch the surface! I hate to think some people are profiting off laymen's naivety by claiming we know more than we do/misinterpreting scientific knowledge... and I totally agree social media has made legitimacy/expertise a big black box for the public...
Noom advert straight away! I lived thru that clean eating and detox time while I had chronic migraine and chronic fatigue. EVERYONE told me to eat clean and detox. Just so you know it was not the fix I needed. Great work Lucy.
An exploratory study of ex Q-anon people shows how they got into Q. Many started with the diet and supplement rabbit hole. Others started with the divine femininity movement.
Thank you so much for this, I’d go as far as to say this has been pretty life changing for me. Listening to what you are saying in this video is really making me question my obsession with only eating ‘clean’ food. Thank you ❤
I wasn't aware that the "clean" trend had faded. Maybe different names are used now, but this kind of diet philosophy still seems to be going strong. *Very good video* as an overview, lots of possible further research deep dives here. I think that part you mentioned about shopping around the edges of a grocery store comes from Michael Pollan's writings, doesn't it? He was pretty influential too, in the early days of this movement
_Clean eating_ has done nothing but trigger pre-existing EDs I had. Just eating a bit of everything in moderation paired with lots of dancing have been the two things that had helped me attain *long-term weight loss.* After my weight loss surgery in 2020, doing the above (everything in moderation and dancing) are why I've kept it all off. The _clean eating_ BS just triggers my ED. It made me super obsessed with what and how I ate. And yes, my lab works are all in optimal shape: no sugar issues. No cholesterol issues.
oh my gosh lucy, thank you for this video! I think I had blocked out just how vast 'clean eating' was during the 2010s - and just like you mentioned, yeah I was one of those teens and was diagnosed with an ED in 2012. Now seeing these influencers who I use to idolise - it's just crazy how they were able to speak about/preach a way of nutrition with no real evidence apart from 'they tried it'. And we lapped it up!
man what a trip down memory lane.... i was hitting puberty by the early 2010's and had been chubbier than my peers as a kid (and made very aware of it) so i was perfectly set up to get sucked into this stuff, and since it looked different on the face of it than anorexia and other well known restrictive eating disorders it seemed fairly innocent. and so for the next 10 or so years i sacrificed basically everything to maintain a certain level of fitness... i was pretty successful, i had gotten quite lean and maintained it thru my teens and early 20's but i paid a hefty price for it, i exchanged so much of my time and energy and mental wellbeing that i have very few good memories from the entire decade. i didnt have much time for friends or new foods or events, i was too afraid of being fat again. when the pandemic started i got so stressed i did a 180 and started to binge instead, and got fat again anyway, more than i likely would have been if i never had an eating disorder at all. the extra weight is stressful on the overuse injuries i collected and the rapid weight gain from the binging and ruined metabolism has tanked my overall health and basically ruined my whole life. i turn 26 and lose my health insurance in may and am terrified i wont be able to see all the specialists i need to before then in order to manage my new painful reality. i dont think i will ever stop being angry and bitter toward the people who sold me my undoing, or the people who primed me and others like me to be vulnerable to it in the first place.... thank you so much for this vid, its so incredibly validating to see a breakdown of how insidious this movement was and the complications it caused/will continue to cause down the line.
Omg. I totally forgot about Tosca! It’s true, as disordered as my eating got doing all this- I never thought it had been a problem until in my mid- thirties I started losing my hearing and dr was trying to figure out the cause and landed on atypical migraine and gave me a food list…. I was on the edge of a panic attack for 3 days at the thought I would have to restrict so much again. I had let most of the rules go a few years before because my mental health needed me to be easier on myself and because I kinda ran out of willpower to do it. My reaction was very telling. I will say I did physically feel fantastic eating that way (my allergies disappeared and I had a ton of energy). So I don’t necessarily think the foods advised were wrong, it was more the pressure from myself to do everything perfectly messed with my head and I was probably vitamin deficient too because how limited my diet was. And I was obsessed with it all, that was the real problem.
Thank you SO much for this video and all the work you put in, Lucy! I really got sucked into this in 2012 after gaining some weight and wanting to lose it again. Tumblr played a big role for me in that and I hadn't realised how long this mindset stayed with me until I started living with my boyfriend during the pandemic. He really eats whatever he wants, whenever he wants it and at first I struggled to be confronted with how he saw my habits that I thought were "oh so healthy". I slowly managed to let go of them and now I truly feel like I eat very intuitively and there is no such thing as "good" or "bad" food (apart from taste obviously). I'm gonna get some crisps now (regular, full-fat, salty af). :D
Lucy, this is the first video I've ever watched of yours. Thought I might share my story with you, because I think it ties quite tightly to your video essay at least in some ways. I hope you don't mind the long read. At the tail end of 2018 my life proverbially fell apart. My marriage was over, I lost my job, and ended up moving back in with my parents at 32 years of age. I was 315lbs, wearing a size 26 jeans and 3XL shirts and loved nothing more than to sit around eating whatever my mom cooked, processed or not, while binge watching Midsummer murders all day and all around licking my wounds. A few months into living back under my parent's roof I was having a hard time sleeping to which my mom offered me her knock-off fit bit which tracked sleep as well as steps. She had it set to buzz every hour of non-movement, which I could easily make go off 5-6 buzzes in a row any day of the week. This was a bit of an eye opener for me, had I really become so sedimentary that I spent 25% of the day or more sitting in recliner chair in front of a television? So I decided to change this. I got a part time job which helped my mental health greatly. Next I started keeping a log of what I was eating and when, finding it a real eye opener just how much I could put back and what effect it was having on my body. After a month of just purely logging the food I started to cut back slightly on certain things. Swap cane sugar in my coffee for a bit of stevia, have only one scoop of mashed potatoes instead of 2 or 3, etc. Fast forward 1 year and I lost 85 pounds. I did so by cutting out most carbs; opting for a ketogenic lifestyle. When people asked how I told them what I did and what I ate (or didn't eat) and a lot of folks said that wouldn't be sustainable but to this day I still prefer a low carb keto lifestyle because that's where my body feels the most comfortable. Too much processed food really upsets my digestive system and over amounts of sugar makes me spike and then crash like a toddler eating funnel cake at a state fair. The 2nd year was 2020 which what with the pandemic lockdowns I stopped losing weight but did manage to maintain my weight for the year. 2021 I broke the 100lbs lost goal but never managed to get my weight under 200lbs which then put me in a stressed mindset. Add to that the "mind bully". When I first started my ketogenic lifestyle, having that voice in my head saying, "No, no, don't eat that." Wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I had a blatant carb and sugar addiction after years of self medicating with ice cream to take the crushing weight of my struggling marriage and barely making enough to keep the lights on and rent paid. So to hear that inner voice telling me "No" instead of "yes" was really good. But after 3 years that voice became a bully. Everything started to sound like "no" and when the weight loss plateau went from 1 year to 2 and then 3, every time I went over my allotted carb limit for the day it felt like I'd failed. And then came the binging. I'd deny myself so much I'd end up giving in to pizza, cookies, cake and peanut butter m&m's so hard that voice would start to suggest things like self-induced purging so then my stomach couldn't digest it and absorb it. I knew I had a problem that was starting to turn south really quickly. Then, in the summer of 2022 and very nice neighbor lady brought me a peach. No seriously, a plain ol' yellow peach straight off her tree in her yard. It was a gift and I wasn't just gonna throw it away because that stupid voice said, "No it has too much sugar!" I cried after the first bite because it was so good. At that point I knew I needed to take a step back from everything and relearn what my priorities were and how to love myself other than to fixate on how tight my jeans fit or what the scale said. So for the rest of the year I let go. I learned, sometimes that hard way, what my limits were when it came to sweets and carbs. I let myself put cream and sweetener in my coffee instead of having to force myself to drink it black like I had been. I even ate fruit again )including peaches). I did gain weight but not as much as I thought, letting my scale backslide to 220 after the holidays were over. And I honestly didn't care. These days, I'm getting back on the low-carb wagon (slowly). No, I'm not letting that voice bully me, but I do know that the low-carb, ketogenic lifestyle works well for me and my current lifestyle. I eat plenty of food, mostly meats because I'm sorry eggs and bacon has been and forever will be one of my favorite meals on this planet, and these days simply focus on what my stomach is saying instead of my head. My vice these days is still peanut butter, and I know if I start down the rabbit hole of sweets I tend to get sucked in worse than stepping in quicksand. The whole point is, when I started this whole thing what I wanted was to change my lifestyle because the one I was living wasn't healthy. So I changed it and it was good until it wasn't, so I changed it again. Everyone is different, and so is everyone's lifestyle, and while influencers can show off what works for them it doesn't always work that way for everyone, and sometimes it takes YEARS to figure out what works best for you at this moment in time. Just don't be afraid to start the journey, make progress, hit walls, change things up or...dare I say...eat peaches.
oh my gosh Lucy, this so was so well researched and edited and put together - as someone who was very much in that algorithmic space in the 2010s which led me to developing orthorexia, you put ALL my thoughts together and reflections in one vid :')
If this were a term paper, I would give it top marks! Thank you for sharing. Obviously this was a lot of work. And it‘s consistent with the doubts I have about clean eating and lifestyle.
This was a very well done video. I'd also like to point out, as an ethical vegan, that the whole movement can be a disservice to those of us who have to keep explaining that veganism is not the same thing as being plant based. I'm not a vegan in order to lose weight or to eat "clean." I simply want to do no harm to animals. We already have an image problem as being "extreme," which we are not; this really isn't helping when we're lumped in with these restrictive diets based on fat phobia and discrimination.
I remember my aunt gave my mom Tosca Reno's book when I was a kid as a birthday present😵💫😵💫😵💫& I read it one day when I was bored & was so freaked out because I thought she was telling the absolute truth about so many things being absolutely categorically terrible for you. She had a list of foods you should never eat & in relation to donuts she said something like "it has so many calories, what are you supposed to eat for the rest of the day?" & one day I had a donut at school & kept thinking "great, now I can't eat anything for the rest of the day." Granted adults are more suitable audiences for nutrition advice presented like this than children.
As a part of eating disorder recovery, I've had to learn that there are not "good" and "bad" foods, there is just different types of nutrients and ways to nourish your body. Starting to see all foods as neutral sustenance was so liberating to me learning to stop restricting and feed myself without the judgement.
I fell into this trend in my late 20s. I wanted to lose weight and regain the athleticism I'd lost. I went full Buddha bowl vegan. I did lose the weight and I felt great mentally (for a little while), and I built a load of lean muscle in the gym - only because I supplemented like mad with vegan protein supplements. But it was exhausting to keep up, and it didn't take much to spiral into an obsession where "clean living" became my entire personality. I totally lost myself for about 3 years, and became a whole different person during that time.
It took me years to recover from that clean eating/orthorexia phase. And although I would say that I have a pretty healthy relationship to food nowadays I still sometimes have intrusive thoughts about "unhealthy" food choices.
Honestly, the clean eating movement was probably the biggest cause of my ED, I followed many of the influencers you mentioned in this video when I was a teenager and it was a slippery slope! Started off with orthorexic tendencies but that soon became anorexia. Thanks for making a video about this. I'm fully recovered now go me :) It has been good to see attitudes change, but there is still a pretty long way to go...
The problem hides in the lifestyle. Food becoming part of your identity, excluding foods that shouldn't be part of you, that if you eat this you are not good enough. The well-being recipes on their own can be valuable, and if they are good enough I use them regardless of whether I'm trying to lose wait.
THIS!! Such an important topic. Especially in the time of TikTok where it’s so easy to consume and spread the “wellness” and “clean” aesthetic content.
thank you for this video lucy. i too fell privy to the words of so many influencers who i considered "healthy" on my road to recovery with food. sadly anything that was restrictive would always lead to a binge and it wasn't until i exhausted all of those "resources" that i realized i was looking to the wrong places for help. these were people as sick as a i was
This is such a well made video. The topic is something everyone should think about. I thought I was good in filtering out all the health trend fads but then you mentioned the dna analysis and I remembered how I almost did that. The industry is amazing at selling diet culture as actual health, which is then bad to filter out from actual health innovations. I wonder how many people enter the sphere with good intentions and get roped into disorderly behaviours…
Loved this, I always thought I had escaped a lot of this trend but then I look at my cookbook shelf and it’s everyone you mentioned in this video and I definitely find them very aspirational. Completely agree about ‘Wellness’ as well
Thank you for this video 💓I fell into clean eating in 2011 and haven’t been able to break out of it, but occasional phases of losing control with food (while maintaining my categories of restriction) has still made me gain weight over the years. It’s horrid to be so restricted and rigorous about food (so it still consumed my life) while still being mid-sized/plus sized and getting comments on my body size :( I can’t believe this has dictated my life for so long 😢
You don’t like your body size? What about when you skin wrinkles and your hair grays? How are you going to deal with these inevitable and normal changes? If your not obese which is hard on the heart just be happy! Stop looking at social media for your identity.
@@elsagrace3893 i don't know where you got the idea that this is influenced by social media, but i have been demonized and put down by others in real life for my body size for my whole life, sadly :( wrinkles and grey hair feels normal and i have not been made to demonize that in the same way that i demonize my body.
I remember reading recently that being obsessed with watching/ consuming food content all the time is one of the biggest signs that you are hungry bc it’s all your brain can think about. So these toxic clean eaters starving their viewers actually creates a perpetual capitalist cycle of their viewers then becoming obsessed with watching more of their content bc they can’t actually think about anything else 🤯
This is so true. I had disordered eating and ALL I could do was consume food-related content because I couldn’t think about anything else. Once I had been eating enough calories (but also fat and protein) for several months, I literally lost ALL interest in food content. I only “liked” it because I was hungry lol. I think a lot of other people are like that - both creators and viewers.
That happened to me as well! After I recovered from my eating disorder, my interest in food content dropped to zero. I remember food-related accounts (promoting both “unhealthy” and “healthy” foods) just slowly disappearing from my feed lol
I've worked on a few raw dairies and have a little goat farm now. Raw milk is simply filtered, unpasteurized milk. It's very tasty, especially if the animals are on good pasture-their version of a clean diet, lol. It's also _marginally_ more nutritious and easier to digest for some people, but obviously comes with an inherent risk. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with an underdeveloped or otherwise compromised immune system.
I'll be honest- I'm thankful that there are a lot more alternatives to sugar and more options that contain no sugar at all. I have a medical diet that I have to follow to control my symtpoms, and the one good thing clean eaters have done is make it so I can get quinoa at Target and find more alternatives in the normal people grocery stores. It's true for chronically ill people that we can't control our symtpoms, but we can control what we eat and that does give back some power over our symptoms.
Great video Lucy! I love you talking in video essay format :) I wonder what your thoughts are on intuitive eating as well? You mentioned it at the end but it would be really interesting to know more details from you, especially since you research both sides. Based on what I've seen on social media, I actually sort of associate IE and clean eating in a similar way, in a sense that they are both considered "not a diet" diets. I also find that IE is very female-oriented as well, tapping into her "feminine intuition," while not directly stated, is at least targeted by the term intuitive eating. The gentleness on one's mind and body as well I feel makes it very feminine targeted. I feel as though IE can be helpful for mental and sometimes physical well being and a helpful counter to diet culture (esp. as a tool in anorexia recovery), but for the everyday person, the rules and outlook of IE often ignores the science as well, at least when it comes to IE as the "end all be all" diet, which we know, doesn't exist. NO one diet (by diet I mean either weight loss diet OR the more general term diet that doesn't involve weight loss) works for everyone and I find it worrying that IE has adopted this mentality as well. Another thing I take issue with in IE is one of thei often-quoted sayings that goes, "my body is telling me what I need to eat," when it's very common for the body to "tell" people that they need to eat unsafe or "illogical" foods like ice. I feel as though IE touts the body as perfectly wise in its ability to tell us things, when there is much more nuance to be had than that, especially when the body and chemistry are considered. I also have noticed a surprising amount of disdain and dogma from the IE community online, who criticize anyone else who doesn't follow IE. There's much more to be said and before anyone comes for me, I don't hate IE, but I hate that in certain circles, it's become what it originally set out to disengage with.
Thank you for the great video. Whatever happened to moderation? I think many people have difficulty figuring out what a balanced diet looks like. With all of the social media bombardment, sorting out the wheat from the chaff is difficult; the drive to eat the “best” diet is complicated and confusing. I personally only try to be cautious about three things: saturated fat, sodium and excess sugar. That doesn’t mean that I don’t eat french fries or enjoy a decadent dessert, what it means is that I don’t enjoy them every day. I am privileged in my ability to buy whatever groceries I choose without worrying about how much they cost. I agree that the option of buying what you want is privilege and not being able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables, let alone know what to do with them is a problem that many people face. Knowing how to cook can open up a whole new world, having time to explore that world is a luxury when you are busy working and raising a family.
You did a great job on this video. We are of similar age, so all the trends you mentioned took me for a memory lane and I agreed with everything you said :).
I don’t see the issue with choosing to eat healthy/unprocessed foods. Obviously if it becomes a eating disorder and obsessive it’s not good but it’s not like that for everyone. Since I went vegan my severe acne and intestine issues have cleared up. i very rarely drink anything other than water or herbal tea and coffee (coffee is my guilty pleasure) and I avoid anything processed. I enjoy cooking my own meals and feel better about it because I know what’s in it and I know my hygiene standards. I feel better than ever. But I also understand as someone who never had weight issues or anything like that (I’m naturally very thin no matter what I eat) I have a different experience. I 100% recognise that the industry and how it’s presented to us can be very triggering and problematic for many people, but I don’t like how everyone who “eats clean” has just now been put in this box of “fat phobic and toxic”. In no way is my diet perfect and like most I can’t afford to eat organic and elaborate foods all the time but I do think making the conscious decision to eat well and make effort to nourish the body is a good thing. When it gets to the point of calorie counting/weighing out exact amounts of ingredients it becomes problematic - but I truly believe it can be done in good way that doesn’t affect mental health negatively. I guess it depends on your intentions, I started my journey because I wanted to heal myself and start to take care of this body I was blessed with so it can carry me through to live a long life not because I wanted to be “that girl”
I agree with your point but also if you have certain intestinal issues it is basically impossible to go vegan. Inflammation of the terminal ileum, bad reactions/allergies to the began staples of beans, soy, etc, issues with high fiber diet, issues eating enough. I personally have an intestinal condition and I can't go vegan, I struggle with anemia as it is and am already on a restricted diet, but I do consciously try to go as plant based as possible. I don't see it as a moral issue as I need to keep myself healthy, but I do buy cage free eggs and have meatless meals also as well as trying to have smaller servings.
Making the conscious choice to eat nourishing food is not “clean eating.” Clean eating is focused on absolutism and restriction, rather than eating a generally healthy diet and practicing moderation. If you can’t have a single cookie without punishing yourself that’s a problem, but there’s a lot of middle ground between that and eating a box of cookies every day.
21:29 Ohmygod THANK YOU for calling out noom. I am SICK of seeing ads for it on TH-cam. The ads are so predatory and I had no idea the cost of the app itself was so expensive!! Also thank you for talking about diet culture marketed at men as well
Love this content. Have never come across your channel before but I love your approach to video essays. Impeccably researched and so well communicated. Just subscribed.
lucy this whole video was incredible!!! i myself struggle with a lot of disordered eating thoughts and its so interesting seeing how going from being a teenager to early adulthood in this context may have caused/shaped that. also a side note but i still love what i eat in a day videos - just by people whose food consumption doesn't make me feel bad!
I think the way we're shocked that our mothers lived through Trinny and Susannah shouting abuse at them our children are going to be shocked by us being told to eat thirty bananas a day.
Hi Lucy, I was actually looking forward to seeing a new video of yours and here it is :) I absolutely love your analysis and find them really helpful. Also, I have to thank you for the body of research and the quality of the content that you put out in the world. Have a lovely day ✨
I absolutely loved this video, especially the links you were drawing with current trends at the end. I'd be interested in exploring similar questions around trends in mental health or relationship advice too.
Something that makes me absolutely NUTS is the "clean eating" influencers who are always starting their vlogs and reels with a mirror shot of their tiny bodies.... then talking about how they don't prioritize thinness or dieting, only "wellness." If you start every video about your eating plan with images of your small body size, your eating plan is about your body size. Full stop.
YES
@@1-800-hcbrigs yes yes yes
it is so stupid
Yeah it’s wild !
Well if they are influencers, I would assume they do that to catch your attention, which in the end means more views/engagement. If they earn money with influencing, they most likely do that for „business reasons“
@@pamsyams yea but it feeds the problem they're claiming to help
such a great video, Lucy!! The 2010s food culture online was so so toxic, but especially as a teenager, I didn’t even really notice HOW bad it was. And you’re totally right, unfortunately these same restrictive, “clean” ideals are just repackaged over and over
my faves interacting om_g
approval from tiff, what an honour!! thank you pal
my two fav channels in one spot!! worlds colliding 🤩🤩🤩
Yeah, very much repackaged again and again. It is much older phenomenon than from the 2000s
th-cam.com/video/nltUJIPLvfo/w-d-xo.html
My ex was absolutely obsessed with "clean eating", he's a CrossFit cultist and sometimes goes completely off carbs too. He expected me to follow this bullsh*t and would ask me for a list of what I ate every evening and would go nuts when I ate just a tiny square of chocolate. Worst thing is I survived anorexia and imposing restrictions really puts me at risk of a relapse.
glad he's your ex!
I'm glad that he's an ex
That's so abusive that he restricted your eating (especially with your history of anorexia). Glad he's not in the picture. Enjoy your chocolate 🍫❤️
You dropped this:
👑
So relieved he's your ex ❤👑
My mum has been mostly eating a keto diet for the last couple of years, and really feels a lot better about her health, BECAUSE SHE'S DIABETIC so she finds it easier to safely control her blood sugar levels if she eats fewer carbs and more fat. Sometimes I find myself thinking I should eat fewer carbs for the vague reason that "it's probably healthier..." and I have to remind myself that I *have a fully working pancreas* and don't need to inject myself with insulin several times per day so I should probably just chill out and stop worrying.
Right, we should be processed food, flour, and sugar aware. But, definitely not let restricting those things run our life.
Uhhh, you realize that most diabetics got that way from eating junk food (specifically tons of sugar) in the first place. You’re correct that your pancreas is better able to deal with the punishment you are giving it, but in a decade or two, you’ll be in the same place as your mum if you keep eating junk.
My one thing with carbs is that I feel hungry earlier if I'm eating more carbs. So if I cut back then I can maintain my weight a lot easier. Carb hunger for me is hangry hunger, too. I get light-headed and almost nauseous. This is also why I'm not a fan of calorie density diets like what Noom promotes. Less calorie dense foods tend to be high carb foods with a lot of water in them like apples and I get more hungry after eating an apple than when I started it. But I can eat a handful of nuts and feel fine for hours
@@chestersnap Maybe think about omitting apples and other FODMAPs for a month, see how you feel.
As a vegan it honestly makes me sad how many people stopped being vegan because of this. No wonder some of them were deficient in protein while avoiding soy, lentils and beans. That's why I don't like the raw vegan diet. Only drinking green smoothies is not healthy at all.
Same. Health is so important and attainable eating legumes, grains, fruit, and veg, but is separate from animal welfare. If just eating babies was the healthiest diet on earth I still wouldn't do it because my health is not worth exploiting others. I hate how these two concepts are so intertwined. Always love and appreciate a fellow vegan
Its really the lack of animal fat that hurt me on the vegan diet. I got tons of protein and ate really well but from week 2 to week 6 felt like I was dying. I was literally craving fish oil.
@@chrishnah Are you sure you were getting enough omega-3 fatty acids? That could have caused that craving. Another thing could be that you cut everything out too fast. If you eliminate a meat at a time it can be a lot easier to transition. And then some people really can't be healthy on vegetarian or vegan bodies due to their specific dietary needs and there's nothing wrong with that. Again, you can try cutting out a meat at a time until you start feeling bad and then you know where to stop. That way you still reduce meat and animal product intake
As an older viewer, I can say I wasn’t really surprised by the clean eating craze. I remember my mom doing the “low-fat diet” and she said her skin was so dry and her hair started to fall out. I personally was affected by the heroine chic trend of the early 90’s. This was such a good video! Well done! And thank you for commenting on men’s health fads as well. Teen boys are getting hammered with all of this harmful “expert advice” too! I know we have it bad as women, but I’m watching my sons go through it and it’s the same crap wrapped up with a pretty new bow.
Exactly what I was going to comment. I’m old enough to have seen all kinds of diet/nutrition trends come and go. The only thing I would recommend to anyone is to write down what you eat/drink and how it affects your sleep, mood, hair, skin for a week or two.
I'm also 'older'. As I was watching this I was thinking about what eating was like in my family growing up. We cooked most things from scratch at home, but we did eat 'convenience foods' like TV dinners or 'junk food' like chips and cookies. We were healthy, we were not overweight and our elders lived long healthy lives. I've tried many of these eating healthy fads and I've come to the conclusion that it's all about marketing and not substance. So I went back to eating like my grandparents did--including bread!--and I've lost 25 pounds. Eat good quality food, not too much, incorporate lots of movement into your day and get a good night's sleep. And a little bit of anything isn't likely to hurt you, so eat an ice cream cone now and then. Stop worrying about what not to eat and just enjoy your life!
High fat is the way.
@@petereames3041 it is a way.
I feel like the THAT GIRL movement is a fringe of clean living. It scares me to think all of these people just grinding a away and ignoring burn out.
I never noticed the lack of seasoning in "clean eating," but you're totally right. There seems to be a weird mentality that food isn't supposed to taste good or be enjoyed.
Lucy I LOVE this cultural commentary style video - especially surrounding a topic line clean eating, which is so popular but often masked in insidious ways. It's incredibly refreshing and helpful to have someone look at the history of it and dismantle the idea that it's purely health focused as opposed to being a way to get people to buy, feel bad about themselves and buy again.
These essay style videos are extremely validating! As an almost 21 year old who grew up with a “clean eating” parent and being surrounded by all of that propaganda all the time, and who has been healing my relationship with food, this was so incredibly validating. Thank you so much Lucy!!
it would be really interesting to hear your story too- clean eating patent… that soubds stressing🤭
I struggle with eating disorder tendencies… have since I was a teenager. I am now a 38 year old woman. I’ve definitely fallen into the clean eating trap and diets of similar structures. I’m hopeful that I’m finally getting into the groove of just eating and not worrying about the moral value of the food.
There is not a moral food based on nutrients, but there definitely is based on how they got the food. We could both agree eating babies or human remains would be immoral. It is important to support food companies that treat people well and don't harm animals. I had an eating disorder for years. An eating disorder is not an excuse to excuse bad business practices, such as companies like nestle which pollute and sell toxic products to people in places like Africa.
Hi Lucy. Kel here - Eating Disorder Therapist. It is great to see an influencer talking about these topics and looking at the information we are given with a critical lense. We are seeing more folx than ever struggling with Eating Disorders and waiting lists are at an all time high. It actually is pretty heart breaking. I've developed a low cost online portal to try and offer resources for people who are struggling to access the help they need. Thanks for touching on this topic.
YES, thank you! Fabulous points, overview, and dissection. I'd love to see this discussion/rejection extend to the "clean beauty" movement as well; it's similarly full of harmful and incorrect information that primarily functions to 1) "other" products that don't meet a wide and inconsistent criteria for "clean", 2) shame (mostly women) for their beauty choices, and 3) perpetuate the idea that if you aren't beautiful using only natural products then you simply aren't trying hard enough (soap didn't work for washing your hair? You just weren't strong enough to make though the 'transition period'-never mind that the pH of traditional soap is FAR higher than is recommended for haircare and will cause the hair to swell, resulting in coarse, tangle-prone hair...)
Raw veganism has been around way longer than the 2010s. I have a friend that was raw vegan in the early 90s. It may not have been that popular at that time, but it definitely still existed.
Any raw diet to me seems the most unnatural way for humans to eat. Yes, that's how other animals eat, but there is so much archeological evidence that humans were only able to evolve our highly developed brains because we cooked our food. Our brains require a ton of calories to remain functional, and cooked food unlocks those hidden calories and nutrients. Props to whoever can do it, because they are fighting against hundreds of thousands of years of biology.
Raw vegan is probably one of the least healthy diets a human can eat. If we were meant to eat raw plants all day we would have 4 stomachs.
Frutarians also exist probably forever. Not something that developed from a recent trend. LOL
I'm vegan, but raw is silly because cooking vegetables and legumes makes them more digestible and the nutrients more bioavailable
I remember little 13 year old me begging my parents to buy me foods we couldn't afford so I could "be healthy" and lose weight like all the influencers i followed at the time. So glad I got away from that mindset!
I tormented my poor parents and their wallets 🥲
Vegetables and legumes are the cheapest healthy foods .
@@sarcodonblue2876 Did you even watch the video?
@@sarcodonblue2876 not as cheap as you would assume, and they don't last as long as processed shelf stable foods
@@TheTalomir gormet plant based stuff is expensive but I am not even necessary even saying organic either. Of course processed food lasts longer due to the preservatives but it comes at a cost to your health. It also comes with excess packaging which could be reduced by eating less of it.
This is SUCH an important video. I’m usually a silent watched but anything to boost this video is so important. Those 2013-2017 years where so damaging 😭 thank you for making such an important and informative video! You are doing the work!!
you did such an amazing job with this and raised so many good points, Lucy 👏 Shining a light on orthorexia and all of it 👏 It's such a delicate space with so much nuance, we'll all get something wrong at some point but I hope we're slowly appreciating the weight of the responsibility for people's health🤍
Natacha you’re going to make me cryyy your videos got me through the pandemic ❤️❤️ inspired by science explained as always
I’d never realised Deliciously Ella started as a clean eater, as a coeliac with dairy free parents it was a staple for us. Suddenly explains why all my allergy-free teenage friends knew who she was…
Huge fan of Ella of Deliciously Ella. Would love to hear more of your thoughts on this
i was instantly turned off from "wellness" and "clean eating" when an old roommate of mine proclaimed that she was into 'wellness' and lost 70 pounds by eating clean - all well and good! until i found out that she ate exclusively soup for six straight months and used noom to do it. when she was telling me about noom she looked me (a former international class athlete with an athletic body type that i am very proud of) up and down and said "you should try it sometime!" hard pass from me, thanks
Hey, I’m a student dietitian and this video is great! Thank you for raising awareness on these issues x
Best of luck with your educational journey!
Lucy: "I could make a whole other video about this -" YES. YES PLEASE.
On another note, the point about clean eating being a class issue is so interesting to me. I grew up with a lot of home cooked meals, which I'm really thankful for, but when I moved out of home I felt such a huge pressure to maintain that kind of diet, and I had so much guilt around buying lunches in college or the shops rather than meal prepping on the weekend. The reality is that I don't have the time or money to be doing that though, and it turns out I also have ADHD, so the organisation necessary for that kind of lifestyle doesn't come naturally to me at all, which made me feel even more guilt and shame. It's easy to forget how much of that culture I internalised as I was around 15-18 when these trends were really popular online, but you gotta give yourself a break!
^^^^THIS
Also at uni, I had quite the superiority complex concerning my flatmates who mostly ate ready meals, and would feel guilty every time I bought myself a frozen pizza.
I do a bit of both. I buy several premade frozen meals for when I have no time/energy to make something, some staple foods and recipes that are easy and quick to put together for when I have a bit more time, and then I'll usually pick out a new recipe or two to try (over a 2-3 week period since I can't usually be bothered to grocery shop more than 1-2x per month). Actually, on the topic of that parenthetical, I buy quite a bit of non-perishable food, as well, because I won't grocery shop until I'm having to replace proper meals with single foods. So like popcorn for dinner. Or rice. Or maybe a can of beans. Because there certainly aren't anymore viable vegetables. I'll buy a salad for lunch at work.
Even then I end up tossing quite a bit of spoiled food. I also almost never make anything without also listening to an audiobook or watching a video during the process... I'm waiting on a followup for the ADHD diagnostic testing I just did
I appreciate you've pointed out the perceived 'expert status' attained through a public platform. It seems to be a really easy space to fall into, even if you aren't explicitly intending to market yourself that way. Even more formal content like this video essay can fall into that category. I've found myself questioning beyond just "is this person qualified to be an authority on this subject?" to "is this person qualified to adequately research and responsibly draw conclusions on this subject?"
The choice is not limited to orthorexia or eating whatever you want. Your health is the main determinant of your happiness long term. What you eat, as well as exercise are vital for a long and healthy life.
YES I'm so happy you pointed out how it affects men!! I've noticed too how much fitness content and pressure to be insanely musclely is pushed at men, but it's become so normalised we so often don't even think about it as being ED related. We need men to know how to spot diet culture too and to feel able to seek support if they feel affected themselves.
Wow this video really brought back and highlighted how intense that period of time was. The clean eating movement was a huge factor in causing my eating disorder as a teenager. I’d forgotten really how bad it was. Thanks Lucy for this video, I hope those who also got caught in the clean eating net have managed to wriggle free. I definitely carry a few scars from that time but can finally see it for what it is/ was ❤
Looove this video Lucy!! I’m one of those people who fell into de wagon of clean eating (and “real food” movement, very famous and similar to clean eating but in Spain and suppored by nutritionists who have now make business of making people feel guilty when eating processed food). I have had an ED and I wouldn’t say it was caused by these movements (as I had disordered eating and exercising habits way before that), but they certainly help to develop certain mentalities and behaviours (restricting food groups, being extra afraid of eating out because I couldn’t know if a restaurant’s kitchen had used 100% olive oil). Happy to see that people are being more aware of its dangers and the fact that those people are basically making money out of EDs. I’m sure this video will help many❤
i love this! ever since i started listening to the maintenance phase podcast i've been so suspicious of all of those health fads that are hiding behind wellness and "optimisation" when really they are just weight loss programs. one of the hosts recently published a book on myths around fatness and it's super enlightening. i recommend it to anyone who liked this video and wants to dive deeper into the weird history of health fads
I love maintenence phase!
@@haleymist09 aubrey and michael are like my emotional support millennial podcasters :')
Lucy this video is incredible, so much wisdom and I'm sure it will help SO many people. Thank you for sharing. I bought into all of the "clean eating" books and Instagram accounts while at uni around 2013 and fell into that trap of labelling most foods as "bad". Still to this day I have to check myself and my views around food from all of the toxic messaging I bought into in my early twenties
I have never seen your videos before but I just subscribed! That was so eloquent and spot on. I am a Registered Dietitian (RDN) in the US and have been since 2001. I have seen the same diets recycled through the years over and over. I have found both personally and professionally that staying in the middle of the road is what works. Not following any extremes with nutrition or exercise. I always tell client there are no "good" or "bad" foods. Food is amoral. Food is just food! Keep up the great work!
it's so concerning watching all of my guy friends' eating habits. if i had the behaviours around food that they have, i'd say i was relapsing in my ED. but it's all fine because they're doing it for 'fitness reasons'. like they eat the exact same foods every day to the point where they are absolutely sick of it, they refuse to eat out because they need to track the calories and macros, they have 'cheat days' which seem kind of like binges to me. it's really upsetting to watch them all go through this like it's normal and healthy when i know how much shame and fear it can create :(
I remember this. At some point you could search for any chronic disease on youtube and find a video about how you should just quit your meds and go raw vegan to heal yourself. That's how I put myself into the ER once as a teenager. Wonder how many people died. Anyways, I still like Quinoa.
I hate to be that person, but at some point you have to start learning critical thinking skills for yourself. People won't always be there to save you
@@TheSilverwing999 look it’s still awful and exploitative that someone made that type of video. A lot of disabled people are desperate, our meds work but not enough. We’re still tired and sick all the time and then someone tells you that they know exactly what you’ve been through and they don’t have to deal with it anymore. You don’t need to get the meds that are burning a hole in your wallet, and often have unpleasant side affects. Look it seems stupid but to the right vulnerable person that’s enough hope to try something like that
Kelly Brogan has a great protocol for mental health (not vegan). Vegan really hurt me too. I only did for 6 weeks but I still like quinoa too lol
@@TheSilverwing999 Yeah no shit, I'm still really fucking dumb, but not AS dumb as back then. I'm not putting all the responsibility on these health gurus or anything, but I'm just really glad that subculture seems to be mostly gone. I think that content put stupid people, teenagers and stupid teenagers at risk. It pretty much felt like indoctrination and I do remember some people in that community died horribly and painfully of cancer because they put all their eggs in one basket and bet their life on some type of raw vegan wonder diet. (Not saying terminally ill people are stupid for trying this, I think in that case its psychopathic health gurus dangling hope in front of someone truly desperate.)
haha i got an ad for Noom after you mentioned it, their ads always rub me the wrong way. this was a great video, and i came away with lots of new knowledge and thoughts around the topic, and your elf bar changed my life in a way. i am looking forward to your next video essay. thank you for using such a good variety of reputable sources.
I feel like this literally just made me smarter. Not just the issues you talk about but also your vacabulary/ use of language is incredible. It is so important to raise awareness on topics like these and 🌟unlearn🌟 things
Yup, feel like I'm unlearning stuff too!
I have PoTs syndrome, same as Deliciously Ella. It’s an autonomic dysfunction condition and can cause debilitating symptoms. It’s just really frustrating reading how she claims her clean eating ‘cured’ her and I think she is quite disregarded within the PoTs community. She portrays an image of how this condition can simply be cured with eating “clean”. She comes across lovely and I wish her well but I do feel it’s given the PoTs community a false hope for a magical cure and capitalising on this whole topic. I personally cannot function without daily medication and other lifestyle changes. I think the diet she promoted of cutting basically EVERYTHING out to cure her sends a worrying message- it could lead to disordered eating habits and nutritional deficiencies- which in turn could worsen symptoms.
I’m huge fan of Deliciously Ella cookbooks and products etc. But I don’t know many others who eat plant based receipes inspired by her receipes. I’m really interested in hearing more of your thoughts.
Also have PoTS and ME and I have to agree. It’s sort of a fantasy, the whole « I did this so you can too! » thing is so unfair because the reality is that if you are sick, you just can’t spend all that energy to eat « clean ». Spending 15 minutes cooking leaves me needing to lie down. I’m still trying to eat a nourishing diet and get in what I need but, having a family history of eating disorders, it makes me anxious - I don’t want to fall into the same trap that I’ve seen others fall into.
Came here to say that. I've had a few comments akin to "well, I heard DE had the same illness as you, why don't you try it? Then you can come off all of those medicines and be cured!" Some people with PoTS have gastroparesis, too; eating as much fibre and goddamn coconut as Ella does would make them very sick, as I found out. I think the PoTS and EDS communities have discussed Ella ad nauseum and agreed that, while people wish her well and are happy for her health, it's dangerous spinning this narrative.
I have pots and ME and I agree. She made me think that I just had to find the perfect clean diet and I would get better. Not to mention that some young people who get POTS naturally get better within a few years. My friend didn't eat "clean" and her pots went away in a few years.
So glad someone else said this. I tried eating “cleaner” and it aggravated my POTS. Also clean eating is generally low/no sodium and to get off meds you generally have to increase your sodium intake exponentially (sincerely someone who’s cardiologist wants me to only drink salt water). I’m glad you mentioned the sort of med shaming too it Njhs y feels like an exploitative book where she probably grew out of her POTS and wants to show people that they’re causing they’re suffering. I’m also extra mad because clean eating started me down the eating disorder pipeline
ahh thank you for this vid. i live in a region in the US where the commodified concept of wealth (not the original definition that you mentioned, which was super fascinating to learn) is very alive and active. i’ve worked in food service on and off over the years, including at a juice bar back in 2015ish, and hooooo boy the amount of customers who came in that were probably orthorexic… i definitely cautioned people against the day-length juice cleanses we sold, cuz some customers would consecutively do them for a whole week! there’s a fine line between critiquing industrialized food systems and the harms they can cause for individuals and communities, versus straight up vilifying any food that’s not “clean”. and privilege plays a massive role in all of this, as you mentioned. i hope we can find a more holistic relationship with food and our bodies! (p.s. most of my mid roll ads for this video were Taco Bell, Arby’s, or other fast food chains. lololololol)
Love this video format and appreciate the clear and deep research that went into this commentary. Tracking online movements since the early noughts is a journey we need for SO many cultural facets today. I typed a long-winded thing here, then deleted it all because the basic point is: yes, more of this please!
A whole side of this I directly connect is the general 'vegan' world -- I'm not a vegan, but watched SO many of the videos, and I think it's because I both wanted to decrease (but admittedly not eliminate) my meat consumption for health and environmental reasons, but also because so many diets are tied directly to a lifestyle, and there was a move of vegan vloggers that NAILED that niche - a beautiful, bountiful, full life eating vegan and being happy (personally I watched a ton of Ellen Fisher, Hannah McNeely, Bonny Rebecca, etc...). They are not a monolith, and I'm not critiquing them individually at all - but the same desire to seek out clean eating I think is the same that I am drawn to any 'what I eat in a day' types - a very concrete way to change your life to be better. And the beaches, beautiful montages of music and happy people/children/partners all helped. All to say - there's gotta be some connect between a need we think we have and a way for the online entrepreneurial world to fill it, and it's SO HARD to parse out what can be applied. And this video starts to help break it down. /ramble
Literally writing an essay for uni on this topic rn, this couldn't have come at a better time! Thank you for the inspiration
As someone who began a vegan/plant based during lockdown I have Ella Mills to thank for my new found love not only for vegetables but food. What I used to eat was just processed junk food which is just not sustainable long term. I like Ella because I’ve never felt like she has been pushy but takes a holistic approach and suggests options, and steers away from toxic phrasing on ‘diets’. I am also someone who has always been slim because without knowing I am intuitive with my eating but over the years have felt the pressure with what I should be eating and how I should look.
So, this video has enlightened me but we cannot get away from the fact that it is important to look after ourselves and our bodies but not to restrict yourself of the fun things in life because of how certain foods are seen as bad or good
This is so true! I actually went the opposite and stopped being borderline vegan (I'd have a little cheese butter and eggs but otherwise was vegan) during lockdown. I'm glad someone helped you learn to love veggies.
BTW, you can use tempeh in place of ground beef and make vegan tacos that even meat lovers will love. Just need some garlic, onion, and taco seasoning
A vegan compatible plant based diet is not necessarily conducive for a long, healthy life. However, if you plan properly, and center your diet on whole foods, it gives you the best chance for one. The Adventist Studies (among a large sample size in the USA) showed that those who didn't eat meat lived about 8 years longer, and were less likely to have ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and multiple types of cancer. The only dietary group they studied with a BMI in the recommended range was the vegan group.
Links to the studies at my channel under "About."
@Some Guy so a necessary disclaimer is that Adventists have a plant based diet as a religious belief. That's like the catholic church releasing a study saying that church attendance leads to longer life and there's plenty of variables that impact dietary effects on longevity.
There's a lot of benefits to making fiber rich foods the core of your diet. That doesn't mean it's specifically removing meat itself that is doing the heavy lifting.
As someone who was plant based for 20 years and still is about 90% vegetarian, the higher fiber, and less reliance on Ultra processed foods is likely where the majority of longevity would come from.
Intuitive eating doesnt really correlate with weight like that. Keep in mind we don't have a very good understanding of what determines how you put weight on
@@kimscozyreads we've pretty much figured it out. We've had a good idea for a few centuries
loved the video also I like this new approach with video essays between your other content. with the elf bar video and this you picked topics that weren't really on my radar but I found them incredibly interesting nonetheless.
THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THE MALE EQUIVALENT!!!! I’ve followed several male-audience fitness channels for years that push back against unrealistic fitness standards a lot and it’s always reminded me of the women-audience clean eating nonsense just more *manly* with steak instead of chicken. I’ve seen many creators go hard against the women-audience content but never touch the male-focused content when, as you said, they’re the same ideas with different marketing. Very well done and I appreciate your nuanced commentary.
the main issue I had with noom is that especially early on it was so close to being something actually interesting and different, but once the superficial shine wore off it was just calorie counting with different wrapping. It was super frustrating especially when I was able to later untangle the behavioral reasons that I ate the way I did and something like Noom really could have helped if it wasn‘t just a diet 😂
Lucy, these video's are so interesting, I am SO sparked and impressed. Thank you for this beautiful and firm content :) I'm enjoying it enormously.
I'd also like to add, as a cismale (male asigned at birth, identifying male), growing up with social media all around (born in 2003), it's insane how many ads I've received and seen, especially on Snapchat (it's so bad there) for how a guy should look, how muscled he should be, how he should regulate body hair etc.. Going about what's better, what's cleaner, "what women want" etc. And I haven't seen anything about this anywhere. It is absolutely insane how bad the male-targeted-ads are and how ignored it is. I don't know how it is for women, probably very similar, but there's talk about it. I haven't head of any guys in my life talk about such things and I think that's so sad!
Thanks again for the lucious content, I enjoyed it thoroughly :)
I remember this all so vividly. At the time, I was so obsessed with watching all those youtube videos and buying cookbooks that were all about clean eating. Now I actually see that I was obsessed with healthy eating, maybe even to the point of it being orthorexia. Unfortunately, I have PCOS and really need to be aware of my diet, sometimes it's hard to keep the balance between "trying to look after my health" and "not obsessing over healthy food".
This was the first video essay I watched from you, and it was excellent. Time well spent. Thank you!
girl... as a nutritional scientist I ROLL my eyes constantly about what I hear in the public sphere... there is such a HUGE disconnect between what the science actually says (for just about anything: we know a lot less than we do know) vs the public impression of what we know... we are FAR from personalized medicine based on genetics & microbiome... we barely just started to scratch the surface! I hate to think some people are profiting off laymen's naivety by claiming we know more than we do/misinterpreting scientific knowledge... and I totally agree social media has made legitimacy/expertise a big black box for the public...
Noom advert straight away! I lived thru that clean eating and detox time while I had chronic migraine and chronic fatigue. EVERYONE told me to eat clean and detox. Just so you know it was not the fix I needed. Great work Lucy.
This is absolutely brilliant so SUCH a relevant and needed conversation to be had
An exploratory study of ex Q-anon people shows how they got into Q. Many started with the diet and supplement rabbit hole. Others started with the divine femininity movement.
Thank you so much for this, I’d go as far as to say this has been pretty life changing for me. Listening to what you are saying in this video is really making me question my obsession with only eating ‘clean’ food. Thank you ❤
I wasn't aware that the "clean" trend had faded. Maybe different names are used now, but this kind of diet philosophy still seems to be going strong. *Very good video* as an overview, lots of possible further research deep dives here. I think that part you mentioned about shopping around the edges of a grocery store comes from Michael Pollan's writings, doesn't it? He was pretty influential too, in the early days of this movement
_Clean eating_ has done nothing but trigger pre-existing EDs I had.
Just eating a bit of everything in moderation paired with lots of dancing have been the two things that had helped me attain *long-term weight loss.*
After my weight loss surgery in 2020, doing the above (everything in moderation and dancing) are why I've kept it all off.
The _clean eating_ BS just triggers my ED. It made me super obsessed with what and how I ate.
And yes, my lab works are all in optimal shape: no sugar issues. No cholesterol issues.
oh my gosh lucy, thank you for this video! I think I had blocked out just how vast 'clean eating' was during the 2010s - and just like you mentioned, yeah I was one of those teens and was diagnosed with an ED in 2012. Now seeing these influencers who I use to idolise - it's just crazy how they were able to speak about/preach a way of nutrition with no real evidence apart from 'they tried it'. And we lapped it up!
This was so well done, Lucy. I went through a similar phase when I was in uni.
OMG Thank you bringing this up and mentioning Noom! I was so sketched out by their app and how they approached their food labeling.
man what a trip down memory lane.... i was hitting puberty by the early 2010's and had been chubbier than my peers as a kid (and made very aware of it) so i was perfectly set up to get sucked into this stuff, and since it looked different on the face of it than anorexia and other well known restrictive eating disorders it seemed fairly innocent. and so for the next 10 or so years i sacrificed basically everything to maintain a certain level of fitness... i was pretty successful, i had gotten quite lean and maintained it thru my teens and early 20's but i paid a hefty price for it, i exchanged so much of my time and energy and mental wellbeing that i have very few good memories from the entire decade. i didnt have much time for friends or new foods or events, i was too afraid of being fat again. when the pandemic started i got so stressed i did a 180 and started to binge instead, and got fat again anyway, more than i likely would have been if i never had an eating disorder at all. the extra weight is stressful on the overuse injuries i collected and the rapid weight gain from the binging and ruined metabolism has tanked my overall health and basically ruined my whole life. i turn 26 and lose my health insurance in may and am terrified i wont be able to see all the specialists i need to before then in order to manage my new painful reality. i dont think i will ever stop being angry and bitter toward the people who sold me my undoing, or the people who primed me and others like me to be vulnerable to it in the first place.... thank you so much for this vid, its so incredibly validating to see a breakdown of how insidious this movement was and the complications it caused/will continue to cause down the line.
Omg. I totally forgot about Tosca! It’s true, as disordered as my eating got doing all this- I never thought it had been a problem until in my mid- thirties I started losing my hearing and dr was trying to figure out the cause and landed on atypical migraine and gave me a food list…. I was on the edge of a panic attack for 3 days at the thought I would have to restrict so much again. I had let most of the rules go a few years before because my mental health needed me to be easier on myself and because I kinda ran out of willpower to do it. My reaction was very telling.
I will say I did physically feel fantastic eating that way (my allergies disappeared and I had a ton of energy). So I don’t necessarily think the foods advised were wrong, it was more the pressure from myself to do everything perfectly messed with my head and I was probably vitamin deficient too because how limited my diet was. And I was obsessed with it all, that was the real problem.
Thank you SO much for this video and all the work you put in, Lucy! I really got sucked into this in 2012 after gaining some weight and wanting to lose it again. Tumblr played a big role for me in that and I hadn't realised how long this mindset stayed with me until I started living with my boyfriend during the pandemic. He really eats whatever he wants, whenever he wants it and at first I struggled to be confronted with how he saw my habits that I thought were "oh so healthy". I slowly managed to let go of them and now I truly feel like I eat very intuitively and there is no such thing as "good" or "bad" food (apart from taste obviously). I'm gonna get some crisps now (regular, full-fat, salty af). :D
Lucy, this is the first video I've ever watched of yours. Thought I might share my story with you, because I think it ties quite tightly to your video essay at least in some ways. I hope you don't mind the long read.
At the tail end of 2018 my life proverbially fell apart. My marriage was over, I lost my job, and ended up moving back in with my parents at 32 years of age. I was 315lbs, wearing a size 26 jeans and 3XL shirts and loved nothing more than to sit around eating whatever my mom cooked, processed or not, while binge watching Midsummer murders all day and all around licking my wounds. A few months into living back under my parent's roof I was having a hard time sleeping to which my mom offered me her knock-off fit bit which tracked sleep as well as steps. She had it set to buzz every hour of non-movement, which I could easily make go off 5-6 buzzes in a row any day of the week. This was a bit of an eye opener for me, had I really become so sedimentary that I spent 25% of the day or more sitting in recliner chair in front of a television?
So I decided to change this. I got a part time job which helped my mental health greatly. Next I started keeping a log of what I was eating and when, finding it a real eye opener just how much I could put back and what effect it was having on my body. After a month of just purely logging the food I started to cut back slightly on certain things. Swap cane sugar in my coffee for a bit of stevia, have only one scoop of mashed potatoes instead of 2 or 3, etc. Fast forward 1 year and I lost 85 pounds. I did so by cutting out most carbs; opting for a ketogenic lifestyle. When people asked how I told them what I did and what I ate (or didn't eat) and a lot of folks said that wouldn't be sustainable but to this day I still prefer a low carb keto lifestyle because that's where my body feels the most comfortable. Too much processed food really upsets my digestive system and over amounts of sugar makes me spike and then crash like a toddler eating funnel cake at a state fair. The 2nd year was 2020 which what with the pandemic lockdowns I stopped losing weight but did manage to maintain my weight for the year. 2021 I broke the 100lbs lost goal but never managed to get my weight under 200lbs which then put me in a stressed mindset. Add to that the "mind bully".
When I first started my ketogenic lifestyle, having that voice in my head saying, "No, no, don't eat that." Wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I had a blatant carb and sugar addiction after years of self medicating with ice cream to take the crushing weight of my struggling marriage and barely making enough to keep the lights on and rent paid. So to hear that inner voice telling me "No" instead of "yes" was really good. But after 3 years that voice became a bully. Everything started to sound like "no" and when the weight loss plateau went from 1 year to 2 and then 3, every time I went over my allotted carb limit for the day it felt like I'd failed. And then came the binging. I'd deny myself so much I'd end up giving in to pizza, cookies, cake and peanut butter m&m's so hard that voice would start to suggest things like self-induced purging so then my stomach couldn't digest it and absorb it. I knew I had a problem that was starting to turn south really quickly.
Then, in the summer of 2022 and very nice neighbor lady brought me a peach. No seriously, a plain ol' yellow peach straight off her tree in her yard. It was a gift and I wasn't just gonna throw it away because that stupid voice said, "No it has too much sugar!" I cried after the first bite because it was so good. At that point I knew I needed to take a step back from everything and relearn what my priorities were and how to love myself other than to fixate on how tight my jeans fit or what the scale said. So for the rest of the year I let go. I learned, sometimes that hard way, what my limits were when it came to sweets and carbs. I let myself put cream and sweetener in my coffee instead of having to force myself to drink it black like I had been. I even ate fruit again )including peaches). I did gain weight but not as much as I thought, letting my scale backslide to 220 after the holidays were over. And I honestly didn't care.
These days, I'm getting back on the low-carb wagon (slowly). No, I'm not letting that voice bully me, but I do know that the low-carb, ketogenic lifestyle works well for me and my current lifestyle. I eat plenty of food, mostly meats because I'm sorry eggs and bacon has been and forever will be one of my favorite meals on this planet, and these days simply focus on what my stomach is saying instead of my head. My vice these days is still peanut butter, and I know if I start down the rabbit hole of sweets I tend to get sucked in worse than stepping in quicksand. The whole point is, when I started this whole thing what I wanted was to change my lifestyle because the one I was living wasn't healthy. So I changed it and it was good until it wasn't, so I changed it again. Everyone is different, and so is everyone's lifestyle, and while influencers can show off what works for them it doesn't always work that way for everyone, and sometimes it takes YEARS to figure out what works best for you at this moment in time. Just don't be afraid to start the journey, make progress, hit walls, change things up or...dare I say...eat peaches.
This video was super well put and i really enjoyed it
oh my gosh Lucy, this so was so well researched and edited and put together - as someone who was very much in that algorithmic space in the 2010s which led me to developing orthorexia, you put ALL my thoughts together and reflections in one vid :')
If this were a term paper, I would give it top marks!
Thank you for sharing. Obviously this was a lot of work.
And it‘s consistent with the doubts I have about clean eating and lifestyle.
This was a very well done video. I'd also like to point out, as an ethical vegan, that the whole movement can be a disservice to those of us who have to keep explaining that veganism is not the same thing as being plant based. I'm not a vegan in order to lose weight or to eat "clean." I simply want to do no harm to animals. We already have an image problem as being "extreme," which we are not; this really isn't helping when we're lumped in with these restrictive diets based on fat phobia and discrimination.
I remember my aunt gave my mom Tosca Reno's book when I was a kid as a birthday present😵💫😵💫😵💫& I read it one day when I was bored & was so freaked out because I thought she was telling the absolute truth about so many things being absolutely categorically terrible for you. She had a list of foods you should never eat & in relation to donuts she said something like "it has so many calories, what are you supposed to eat for the rest of the day?" & one day I had a donut at school & kept thinking "great, now I can't eat anything for the rest of the day." Granted adults are more suitable audiences for nutrition advice presented like this than children.
As a part of eating disorder recovery, I've had to learn that there are not "good" and "bad" foods, there is just different types of nutrients and ways to nourish your body. Starting to see all foods as neutral sustenance was so liberating to me learning to stop restricting and feed myself without the judgement.
There are fake foods and real foods. You should be able to differentiate between the two.
I fell into this trend in my late 20s. I wanted to lose weight and regain the athleticism I'd lost. I went full Buddha bowl vegan. I did lose the weight and I felt great mentally (for a little while), and I built a load of lean muscle in the gym - only because I supplemented like mad with vegan protein supplements. But it was exhausting to keep up, and it didn't take much to spiral into an obsession where "clean living" became my entire personality. I totally lost myself for about 3 years, and became a whole different person during that time.
It took me years to recover from that clean eating/orthorexia phase. And although I would say that I have a pretty healthy relationship to food nowadays I still sometimes have intrusive thoughts about "unhealthy" food choices.
thank you SO MUCH for talking about it 🤍
Honestly, the clean eating movement was probably the biggest cause of my ED, I followed many of the influencers you mentioned in this video when I was a teenager and it was a slippery slope! Started off with orthorexic tendencies but that soon became anorexia. Thanks for making a video about this. I'm fully recovered now go me :) It has been good to see attitudes change, but there is still a pretty long way to go...
Congratulations being fully recovered!! I too was disordered and am recently recovered.
The problem hides in the lifestyle. Food becoming part of your identity, excluding foods that shouldn't be part of you, that if you eat this you are not good enough. The well-being recipes on their own can be valuable, and if they are good enough I use them regardless of whether I'm trying to lose wait.
THIS!! Such an important topic. Especially in the time of TikTok where it’s so easy to consume and spread the “wellness” and “clean” aesthetic content.
Yes yes! So much yes!!
My orthorexia for my 20s was the Macrobiotic movement.
thank you for this video lucy. i too fell privy to the words of so many influencers who i considered "healthy" on my road to recovery with food. sadly anything that was restrictive would always lead to a binge and it wasn't until i exhausted all of those "resources" that i realized i was looking to the wrong places for help. these were people as sick as a i was
This is such a well made video. The topic is something everyone should think about. I thought I was good in filtering out all the health trend fads but then you mentioned the dna analysis and I remembered how I almost did that. The industry is amazing at selling diet culture as actual health, which is then bad to filter out from actual health innovations. I wonder how many people enter the sphere with good intentions and get roped into disorderly behaviours…
Loved this, I always thought I had escaped a lot of this trend but then I look at my cookbook shelf and it’s everyone you mentioned in this video and I definitely find them very aspirational. Completely agree about ‘Wellness’ as well
"doing things right.." felt it sm.. U ARE SO RIGHT!!
Thank you for this video 💓I fell into clean eating in 2011 and haven’t been able to break out of it, but occasional phases of losing control with food (while maintaining my categories of restriction) has still made me gain weight over the years. It’s horrid to be so restricted and rigorous about food (so it still consumed my life) while still being mid-sized/plus sized and getting comments on my body size :( I can’t believe this has dictated my life for so long 😢
You don’t like your body size? What about when you skin wrinkles and your hair grays? How are you going to deal with these inevitable and normal changes? If your not obese which is hard on the heart just be happy! Stop looking at social media for your identity.
@@elsagrace3893 dude
@@elsagrace3893 i don't know where you got the idea that this is influenced by social media, but i have been demonized and put down by others in real life for my body size for my whole life, sadly :( wrinkles and grey hair feels normal and i have not been made to demonize that in the same way that i demonize my body.
I remember reading recently that being obsessed with watching/ consuming food content all the time is one of the biggest signs that you are hungry bc it’s all your brain can think about. So these toxic clean eaters starving their viewers actually creates a perpetual capitalist cycle of their viewers then becoming obsessed with watching more of their content bc they can’t actually think about anything else 🤯
This is so true. I had disordered eating and ALL I could do was consume food-related content because I couldn’t think about anything else. Once I had been eating enough calories (but also fat and protein) for several months, I literally lost ALL interest in food content. I only “liked” it because I was hungry lol. I think a lot of other people are like that - both creators and viewers.
Bullshit. I like watching videos on nutrition because I find it interesting and I eat very well.
That happened to me as well! After I recovered from my eating disorder, my interest in food content dropped to zero. I remember food-related accounts (promoting both “unhealthy” and “healthy” foods) just slowly disappearing from my feed lol
I've worked on a few raw dairies and have a little goat farm now. Raw milk is simply filtered, unpasteurized milk. It's very tasty, especially if the animals are on good pasture-their version of a clean diet, lol. It's also _marginally_ more nutritious and easier to digest for some people, but obviously comes with an inherent risk. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with an underdeveloped or otherwise compromised immune system.
This was well-researched and curated in a straightforward, understandable way. You bring up great points. Thank you
I'll be honest- I'm thankful that there are a lot more alternatives to sugar and more options that contain no sugar at all. I have a medical diet that I have to follow to control my symtpoms, and the one good thing clean eaters have done is make it so I can get quinoa at Target and find more alternatives in the normal people grocery stores. It's true for chronically ill people that we can't control our symtpoms, but we can control what we eat and that does give back some power over our symptoms.
"People who were not experts, suddenly had a authority because they had followers." That line sums up so much of the problem. Well stated.
Great video Lucy! I love you talking in video essay format :) I wonder what your thoughts are on intuitive eating as well? You mentioned it at the end but it would be really interesting to know more details from you, especially since you research both sides. Based on what I've seen on social media, I actually sort of associate IE and clean eating in a similar way, in a sense that they are both considered "not a diet" diets. I also find that IE is very female-oriented as well, tapping into her "feminine intuition," while not directly stated, is at least targeted by the term intuitive eating. The gentleness on one's mind and body as well I feel makes it very feminine targeted. I feel as though IE can be helpful for mental and sometimes physical well being and a helpful counter to diet culture (esp. as a tool in anorexia recovery), but for the everyday person, the rules and outlook of IE often ignores the science as well, at least when it comes to IE as the "end all be all" diet, which we know, doesn't exist. NO one diet (by diet I mean either weight loss diet OR the more general term diet that doesn't involve weight loss) works for everyone and I find it worrying that IE has adopted this mentality as well. Another thing I take issue with in IE is one of thei often-quoted sayings that goes, "my body is telling me what I need to eat," when it's very common for the body to "tell" people that they need to eat unsafe or "illogical" foods like ice. I feel as though IE touts the body as perfectly wise in its ability to tell us things, when there is much more nuance to be had than that, especially when the body and chemistry are considered. I also have noticed a surprising amount of disdain and dogma from the IE community online, who criticize anyone else who doesn't follow IE. There's much more to be said and before anyone comes for me, I don't hate IE, but I hate that in certain circles, it's become what it originally set out to disengage with.
Beautifully researched. I am not a part of this community but I want to commend your work on this and the delivery was super interesting
Thank you for the great video. Whatever happened to moderation? I think many people have difficulty figuring out what a balanced diet looks like. With all of the social media bombardment, sorting out the wheat from the chaff is difficult; the drive to eat the “best” diet is complicated and confusing.
I personally only try to be cautious about three things: saturated fat, sodium and excess sugar. That doesn’t mean that I don’t eat french fries or enjoy a decadent dessert, what it means is that I don’t enjoy them every day. I am privileged in my ability to buy whatever groceries I choose without worrying about how much they cost. I agree that the option of buying what you want is privilege and not being able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables, let alone know what to do with them is a problem that many people face.
Knowing how to cook can open up a whole new world, having time to explore that world is a luxury when you are busy working and raising a family.
You did a great job on this video. We are of similar age, so all the trends you mentioned took me for a memory lane and I agreed with everything you said :).
I don’t see the issue with choosing to eat healthy/unprocessed foods. Obviously if it becomes a eating disorder and obsessive it’s not good but it’s not like that for everyone. Since I went vegan my severe acne and intestine issues have cleared up. i very rarely drink anything other than water or herbal tea and coffee (coffee is my guilty pleasure) and I avoid anything processed. I enjoy cooking my own meals and feel better about it because I know what’s in it and I know my hygiene standards. I feel better than ever. But I also understand as someone who never had weight issues or anything like that (I’m naturally very thin no matter what I eat) I have a different experience. I 100% recognise that the industry and how it’s presented to us can be very triggering and problematic for many people, but I don’t like how everyone who “eats clean” has just now been put in this box of “fat phobic and toxic”. In no way is my diet perfect and like most I can’t afford to eat organic and elaborate foods all the time but I do think making the conscious decision to eat well and make effort to nourish the body is a good thing. When it gets to the point of calorie counting/weighing out exact amounts of ingredients it becomes problematic - but I truly believe it can be done in good way that doesn’t affect mental health negatively. I guess it depends on your intentions, I started my journey because I wanted to heal myself and start to take care of this body I was blessed with so it can carry me through to live a long life not because I wanted to be “that girl”
I agree with your point but also if you have certain intestinal issues it is basically impossible to go vegan. Inflammation of the terminal ileum, bad reactions/allergies to the began staples of beans, soy, etc, issues with high fiber diet, issues eating enough. I personally have an intestinal condition and I can't go vegan, I struggle with anemia as it is and am already on a restricted diet, but I do consciously try to go as plant based as possible.
I don't see it as a moral issue as I need to keep myself healthy, but I do buy cage free eggs and have meatless meals also as well as trying to have smaller servings.
@@xSwordLilyx you know that's a bullshit excuse right?
TOTALLY AGREE
Making the conscious choice to eat nourishing food is not “clean eating.” Clean eating is focused on absolutism and restriction, rather than eating a generally healthy diet and practicing moderation. If you can’t have a single cookie without punishing yourself that’s a problem, but there’s a lot of middle ground between that and eating a box of cookies every day.
@@Cloe10112 why are you being so ignorant?
This pullover suits you so well! Love the brighter colours on you !! Also, really enjoyed the video essay, would love to see more of this!
I love your video essay style! This is so great to see from you and im glad you have the space now to make these longer issue vids
21:29 Ohmygod THANK YOU for calling out noom. I am SICK of seeing ads for it on TH-cam. The ads are so predatory and I had no idea the cost of the app itself was so expensive!! Also thank you for talking about diet culture marketed at men as well
This was fabulous, Lucy. Thorough and entertaining. Well done!
Lucy I am loving these new deep dive video essays ❤️
Love this content. Have never come across your channel before but I love your approach to video essays. Impeccably researched and so well communicated. Just subscribed.
Lucy I am LOVING this new direction for your content!
lucy this whole video was incredible!!! i myself struggle with a lot of disordered eating thoughts and its so interesting seeing how going from being a teenager to early adulthood in this context may have caused/shaped that. also a side note but i still love what i eat in a day videos - just by people whose food consumption doesn't make me feel bad!
I think the way we're shocked that our mothers lived through Trinny and Susannah shouting abuse at them our children are going to be shocked by us being told to eat thirty bananas a day.
Bizarre jump. Not sure the two are in any way related..
Hi Lucy, I was actually looking forward to seeing a new video of yours and here it is :) I absolutely love your analysis and find them really helpful. Also, I have to thank you for the body of research and the quality of the content that you put out in the world. Have a lovely day ✨
I absolutely loved this video, especially the links you were drawing with current trends at the end. I'd be interested in exploring similar questions around trends in mental health or relationship advice too.
I absolutely love that someone is properly talking about this with no bullshit, just facts! Thank you from a survivor from the clean eating movement
You hit the nail on the head so well with every point you make in this video. Absolutely love it.
Bloody brilliant job on this Lucy 👏🏼 I love a delicious video essay and love that you are experimenting with more of these types of videos 💗