“What is the human relationship to the body? Is it like a roommate? A pet? A twin? A teammate? A rival? A parasite? A host?” In a frank and funny essay, Sam Anderson reflects on losing the weight he gained during the pandemic with the help of Noom and examines the relationship with his own […]
diet
Dear IU, Our Bodies Are Fine
“I knew my body wasn’t ‘right’; it didn’t look like the bodies of the K-pop idols and Korean actresses I grew up admiring.”
A Homecoming
“The imagery of veganism propagated by the wellness industry erases the long — and often radical — history of plant-based diets in the Black diaspora.”
Eating To Save My Mind
Can diet determine the future of your mental health? Claire Fitzsimmons attempts to find out through a month of Whole30.
Eating What Feels Right: On Going Vegetarian
Bert’s Market was a grocery store in my hometown of central Florida that I remember for three reasons: It was always freezing, the place reeked because they butchered their meat on site, and it’s where I learned where the meat we ate came from. One day, my sisters and I were with our dad at […]
If Clean Food Is for Everyone, Why Are Its Gurus All Young, Pretty Women?
How gendered marketing tropes continue to fuel the latest lifestyle fads.
Why We Fell for Clean Eating
On the rise of orthorexia — “an obsession with consuming only foods that are pure and perfect” — and the burgeoning industry that feeds it.
Diet Is a Four-Letter Word
Taffy Brodesser-Akner explores America’s history of obsession with thinness and her own struggles with her body.
Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age
In recounting the history of America’s obsession with thinness, Taffy Brodesser-Akner explores her own struggles with weight loss and the weight loss industry. She relates how “diet” has become a four-letter word, out in favor of a new form of personal imprisonment — “eating clean,” “getting fit, and “being strong” — none of which offer […]
The Race to the Bottom of the Sugar Bowl
Beth Kowitt, in Fortune, explores food manufacturers’ race to find a better sugar stand-in. But if sugar is a known health hazard, why don’t we just put less of it in food?