How is your relationship with food these days? For many of us, the honest answer is “It's complicated.” Perhaps you're eating more than you'd like to admit due to stress, or you're always on the latest diet regimen. Maybe you simply spend too much mental energy on food and have a nagging feeling that it could be easier.
If you want to reset, reading is a good place to start. We're in a period where books about food and the body seem to be in full swing. We asked nine experts in psychology, nutrition, and body image for advice. These choices will help you understand why so many of us relate to food the way we do, and how to shift to a healthier way of thinking about food.
Most practitioners we consulted mentioned this intuitive eating bible. “This is a classic for a reason,” says Christy Harrison, registered dietitian and author, host of the podcast “Re Thinking Wellness.”
The authors are nutritionists who make bold claims. “We are all born knowing how to nourish ourselves, but problems arise when we start to trust the voices around us instead of our own bodies.” We guide you through the process of forgetting and reconnecting with your inner cues about hunger and satisfaction.
Although intuitive eating is somewhat well-known today, the book was truly “groundbreaking” when it was first published in 1995, says University of Calgary psychology professor and director of the Body Image Institute. says Shelley Russell Mayhew.
An intuitive eating guide and cookbook, Gentle Nutrition teaches readers how to care for their bodies through nutrition. without it Strict rules and diet dogma. “This is one of the few nutrition books I can confidently recommend,” says Alyssa Ramsey, registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor.
“It's full of really approachable information about health and nutrition science,” Ms Ramsey added. It also includes 50 nutritious recipes without calorie counts or strict ingredient lists.
In this practical follow-up to “The Omnivore's Dilemma,” journalist Michael Pollan expands on his dietary beliefs. Just not too much. Most are plants. ” He also offers an elegant critique of “nutritionism,” the modern, widely accepted concept that the value of food can be reduced to its constituent nutrients.
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition researcher and professor of medicine at Stanford University, says many of us are confused about what we should eat because of our mechanical view of food. Gardner said Pollan's book points out the flaws in this approach and suggests a way to eat that is “not at the mercy” of complex diets and contradictory headlines.
4 of our experts endorsed this accessible academic title by sociologist Sabrina Strings. The book “brilliantly traces the history of fatphobia and its intersection with anti-Black racism,” said Alexis Conason, a clinical psychologist and certified expert on eating disorders.
Dr. Strings frequently cites the argument that modern society's idolization of thinness is not rooted in medicine, but in racist ideas born during the Enlightenment. “Spoiler alert: Health isn't everything,” says Dr. Conason.
A best-selling tell-all book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (former Times investigative reporter) shows how the processed food industry manipulates our taste buds and exploits our biology to make us feel uncomfortable. Find out what keeps you eating the food. Translation: Eating a piece of cookie when you are barely hungry is not a personal moral failing. It is the result of careful design.
Understanding this can help you feel less guilty about food, Dr. Gardner said. “It's not just a lack of will,” he said, explaining that “the food industry is doing this intentionally.”
Author and podcaster Aubrey Gordon brings a social justice perspective to the treatment of people living within larger bodies. And she reveals that much of the way we interact with food is not about health, but rather a culturally instilled fear of being fat.
Virginia Ramseyer Winter, director of the Center for Body Image Research and Policy at the University of Missouri, says questioning the default aversion to weight is an important step if you want to find more difficult perspectives on food. Stated. “If we can come to terms with our own internal anti-fat functions, we can approach food differently,” Dr. Winter says. She added that Gordon is a “really great writer.”
Jenna Horenstein is a nutritional therapist and meditation teacher. (She also shared her suggestions for this list.) Here she uses the classic Buddhist teachings of mindfulness as a framework for eating with a sense of contentment, ease, and joy. relies on her four fundamentals.
Ms. Ramsey said the awareness and curiosity cultivated through mindfulness can support our journey through food to heal. It's a rewarding path, and we don't have to walk it alone.
