26. Eat Clean or Be Dirty? // The Problem with "Clean Eating"

On this week's episode of the pod, Coach Dylan and Coach Sam take another shot at dismantling one of diet culture's most famous narratives. After another edition of ✨ roses & thorns ✨ the coaches break down the potential problems with "clean eating" and how this mindset could contribute to a disordered relationship with food.

Things we touched on:

• Dylan's tender MH growing pains, boundary crossings, and ceaseless rosy-thorns. Plus, an update on his latest passion project: the Five Elements Collective Exercise Trough
• Sam's namaste-empathy pain moment / feeling disempowered by our social systems, and learning to hold space for both, and: seeing through the eyes of the child Self & seeking radical joy
• bonus: who is your sense of disempowerment serving?
• the origins of clean-eating: from health fears to orthorexia and fat-phobia
• Dylan's experience // how clean eating turned disordered
• Sam's experience // orthorexia, food-phobia, ARFID & owning her insufferable self-righteousness / nutrition piety
• gluten-free, grass-fed, organic, non-gmo, soy-free, everything
• the infamous Wheat Belly scandal of 2013
• how and why clean eating contributes to the binge/restrict cycle of compensation
• in defence of the white potato
• why the Wellness Industrial Complex is catered to middle-class white folks
• the unaffordable reality of the clean eating movement & your favourite word, "privilege"
• the great clean vs. dirty snickers debate
• understanding glycemic index
• the power of language: using a reference scale of more or less nutritious
• how to take the snickers off the pedestal
• the power of choosing the dial vs. switch approach
• tips to begin the process of destigmatizing food

And for the love of all things good and holy – don't be so damn hard on yourself.

As always, thank you for tuning in - we love and appreciate you! And if you feel the same way, please share this episode with a friend you think would benefit from some evidence based & empathy based support in their health journey. ☺️

If you're looking for someone to help you tailor, troubleshoot & individualize your strategy to your unique body and your goals, hit the link below: https://www.five-elements.ca/online-coaching

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