Food Is More Than Nutrition

We live in a society that is focused on the “little” and the “small”. Small phones, small computers, tiny homes, little effort, and even small portion sizes and small bodies. Many of us tend to uphold aspirational ideas that are often unrealistic and unhealthy when it comes to the body and what we put into it.

In high school and college, I ran competitively. When I was 15, I started to experience debilitating gut pain and food sensitivities that I still experience somewhat today. It was about this time that I also really started feeling uncomfortable with my body and was constantly comparing my body to that of other runners. While I strongly believe that I do have a sensitive gut and do need to be careful of what I put into my body, I also strongly believe that my pain and food sensitivities turned into a long term excuse to cut several foods out of my diet and lose weight. I had the idea that there was one way that a female runner’s body should look, and that body was small and very lean. After cutting several food items out of my diet (initially gluten and dairy) for the sake of feeling better I quickly started to notice weight loss. That weight loss felt like a success. Eventually gluten and dairy turned into gluten, dairy, added sugar, and anything processed. Before long I was eating only fruits, vegetables and small portions of lean meat. I would allow myself a “cheat snack” once a month. My run times started to get higher and my performance diminished greatly. Not only did my running suffer but so did my mental and social well-being. I was afraid of food and I was afraid of being “big”.

In a society where diet culture greatly impacts how we view food, we have slowly forgotten that we are more than what we eat, and that food is more than just fuel. We are people that love to categorize and put everything into boxes, including food. We are constantly labeling foods as “good” or “bad”, as “healthy” or “unhealthy” and it is getting out of control. We often forget that food is more complex than just a label and means more than just nutrition.
We eat for many reasons. We eat to feel comforted, we eat to feel satiated and full, we eat to be social, we eat for the joy of taste, but most importantly of all, we eat because it is a basic human need. Health is multidimensional and food affects many of those dimensions.

Ellyn Satter said, “when the joy goes out of eating, nutrition suffers”.

Food does more than provide us with adequate nutrition, food also feeds our souls and happiness.

Food should never create guilt. Permission should always be granted to eat and eat what you want, especially when there is hunger. Our bodies and beings crave diversity and enjoyment.

Not only until I learned the difference between restrictive eating and eating to feel fulfilled and happy did my gut issues get better. The “diet” that I was following to improve my gut health ended up making things worse due to stress and living in a state of constant fear, guilt, and unhappiness.