HealthNotDiets Digest, Issue 35, 2018
August 24 - 30, 2018
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Happy reading!
Articles & Blogs
BELVIQ – Hilarious if It Wasn’t Horrifying
by Ragan Chastain
“make no mistake, this drug is going to kill people. People who could have lived full, happy lives in the bodies that they have now are literally going to die trying to be thin while this company rakes in millions, even billions, in profits.”
The unbearable vulnerability of eating enough.
by Michelle, The Fat Nutritionist
“Don’t substitute a life for made-up rules about food. You’re vulnerable because you’re alive. Being alive means feeling things, so feel them. Grab a pillow, an animal, or another human if it helps, and let yourself. Try a thing, make a mistake, tell someone you like their earrings. Eat a meal that fills you up and gives you life”
“Gosh, You’re a Big Fella,” and Other Manifestations of My Privilege
by Jared Harrop
“I harnessed my shame and used it to shift my perspective: I could either keep doing everything in my power to avoid even the potential of a diagnosis, or learn everything I could about the current state of my body and use that knowledge as power.”
Who's Hurt By Being Called Fat?
by Your Fat Friend
“Let me name my body. Let yourself say ‘fat’. Say it again and again. Say it until its blade dulls, until it can’t hurt you. Say it so you can stop hurting me.”
Exclusive: Fitbit's 150 billion hours of heart data reveal secrets about health
by David Pogue
Interesting report of data from Fitbit users with a focus on resting heart rate. It doesn’t use sophisticated stats but is interesting none the less...
Why Don’t We Think Fat People Are Worth Fighting For?
by Ijeoma Oluo
“shifting my money to businesses that are actively helping to support important ideals and causes encourages those businesses to keep it up, and motivates others to try to catch up in order to get some of those profits.”
The Complete Guide to Becoming Your Own Medical Advocate
by Ragen Chastain
"My own life changed when I realized that I could have a say in my own healthcare, and that I deserve a healthcare experience that is ethical, evidence-based, and aligns with my goals. You deserve that, too."
My Story Of Starvation Began At Age 7
by Holly Fox
“I didn’t know I had an eating disorder. No one knew, including my therapist.”
CW: description of lived experience of an eating disorder, tread carefully please
https://ravishly.com/2015/02/28/my-story-starvation-began-age-7
How You Felt About Gym Class May Impact Your Exercise Habits Today
by Gretchen Reynolds
“The most consistent associations were between unpleasant memories of P.E. classes and lingering resistance to exercise years later”
“My therapist was more scared of my weight gain than I was …” and other recovery stories
by Tabitha Farrar
“If you are a professional treating people with eating disorders you have to recognize the damage that you could be doing when you advocate for restriction and “weight management.” You can literally kill a person with a restrictive eating disorder with these comments. That, or you set them up to live a half-life of fear.”
https://tabithafarrar.com/2018/08/my-therapist-was-more-scared-of-my-weight-gain-than-i-was-and-other-recovery-stories/
‘Dieting screwed up my metabolism. I regret ever going on one'
by Emma Thompson
“Dieting screwed up my metabolism, and it messed with my head. I’ve fought with that multimillion-pound industry all my life, but I wish I’d had more knowledge before I started swallowing their crap. I regret ever going on one.”
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/25/emma-thompson-dieting-screwed-up-my-metabolism-i-regret-ever-going-on-one-
Heart Of The Problem
by The Angry Chef
“Body weight is one of the most heritable characteristics ever studied, in much the same ballpark as height. The safer and more secure our food supply is, the more likely people are to reach their genetically predetermined weight, be it thin or fat.”
Why I can’t support Love Your Body Week as a body positive advocate and clinician
by Ashlee Bennett
"the collaboration with Sportsgirl weakens, dilutes and counteracts the aims of the campaign, further isolating and marginalising diverse bodies."
Obesity: Why We Have It All Wrong
by Nicola Cruz
“When we tell kids to restrict their intake, they don’t lose weight. They develop eating disorders and gain more weight in the long term. Dieting as a teenager is correlated with a higher rate of eating disorders AND obesity.”
Why Are So Many Nutrition Students Struggling With Eating Disorders?
by Sam Nichols
“If you sat down 50 nutrition students, not one of them would put their hand up and admit they had a problem. Because it’s food. And we’re experts in food. There’s such a stigma. The bad thing is, if this isn’t addressed, dieticians and nutritionists go out into the workforce putting that onto their clients.”
Drought In Central Europe Reveals Cautionary 'Hunger Stones' In Czech River
by Camila Domonoske
“Over a dozen of the hunger stones, chosen to record low water levels, can now be seen in and near the northern Czech town of Decin near the German border....One of the stones on the banks of the Elbe is carved with the words “Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine”: “If you see me, weep.””
Rethinking the health and weight debate
by Jessica Hales
“We need a cultural revolution and mass public education – not just the general public, but all health professionals. Preventing eating disorders and preventing chronic disease are not two separate things. We can use the same approaches and address both issues. We can support people’s mental health and support their physical health at the same time.”
8 Unintentional Ways Trainers Promote Disordered Eating (and What to Do Instead)
by Natalie Joffe
“Our current fitness paradigm is keeping clients stuck in cycles of dieting, food perfectionism, and using movement primarily for weight loss. Below are eight pitfalls I challenge us to avoid as trainers, as well as eight alternatives that can promote true health and positive body image.”
Research &
Clinical Practice
Changing the way we communicate about patients
by Abraar Karan
"There are many changes that we can make to improve how we communicate about patients. One of the easiest and most critical transformations is how we write our medical notes.”
Five healthy habits may add more than a decade to life
By the American Heart Association
“Following all five lifestyle behaviors significantly improved longevity for both men and women.”
Note: while they considered BMI to be a habit (it isn’t), this study is neat because the effect of the habits was additive, which means that we can see the impact of health behaviors separate from BMI. Other similar studies have shown very little impact of BMI when lifestyle factors have been taken into account.
Experiences of weightism among sexual minority men: Relationships with Body Mass Index, body dissatisfaction, and psychological quality of life
"Weightism is a salient phenomenon experienced by sexual minority men in smaller and larger bodies with potential direct and indirect adverse effects on psychological quality of life....the burden of weightism is disproportionately borne by sexual minority men with higher BMIs.”
Griffiths, Scott., et al. "Experiences of weightism among sexual minority men: Relationships with Body Mass Index, body dissatisfaction, and psychological quality of life" Social Science & Medicine 214 (2018): 35-40
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