Dive Into Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy At The Core Of Nutrition Fads And A Guide To Healthy Eating For The Rest Of US Brought To You By Matt Fitzgerald Formatted As Brochure

will admit that I have been a member of many diet cults, Along with compulsive exercising, selfexperimenting with diets is practically a sport for me, Adding on a biochemistry background on top of that, the simple act of eating can be as complex as calculus,

When I stumbled upon The Diet Cult, I was more than eager to dig in, With the recent onslaught of social media, diets have taken on a religious halo as different camps start to unabashedly defend their “One True Way” of eating.
Guilty as charged I have been one of those people in the past,

But why do these diet cults exist

Just like religion, food carries a moral element and is a part of cultural identity.
Especially as cultures become more complex, dietary rules serve the purpose of strengthening group identity rather than benefiting health,

Nutrition is complicated, while the implementation of good nutrition is relatively simple, It has become a sticky topic because there is so much doctrine to it: choosing to eat a certain way has become so wrapped up in personal identity, it is nearly impossible to have a rational discussion.
Besides the ocean of misinformation floating around, most nutrition “rules” are based on correlative studies, findings that focus on looking at nutrients in isolation, or highlycontrolled lab environment.
Everyone remotely interested in health is in pursuit of a “pure and perfect” diet, believing this will be the epitome of health,

Whats forgotten in the process is the adaptability and wisdom of the human body: evolution has enabled us to eat a variety of foods and still thrive.
If anything, Fitzgerald drives home this point and makes it abundantly clear that it's time to dismiss diet cults for good, I felt it rather ironic in the last chapter Fitzgerald describes his “Diet Quality Score” test because it sounds an awfully lot like Weight Watchers points system which he of course ridiculed for being a diet cult.
I dont see anything wrong with either of these “keeping score” on diet ideas, How else are people going to motivate themselves and take responsibility for what they eat, However, I accept his hierarchy of foods because vegetables and fruits should be staples in our diets, As for the low carb, high carb, high protein type diets, I agree that none of these are really better than another, I do believe people can find balance between all the food groups and configure what is the best intake of macronutrients for them based on the AMDRs.


I agree that people join diets to give them a sense of identity and belonging, Its tough in todays world, with so many different food choices, to only have willpower and diligence in saying no to tempting foods, And since humans can thrive on many different types of diets, I think we shouldnt give too much of a crap about what that diet is along as that individual is making an effort to change their lifestyle.
After all, the epidemic of metabolic diseases are due mostly to behavioral and environmental factors, Of course no diet is the “one true way” and as long as people realize thatwhich I think this book accomplishedthen theres really no reason to stop people from trying diets.
Who really follows diets wordforword and wholeheartedly anyways We have to be mentally content about our food choices, and I can attest that eating perfect all the time does not always benefit the mind.
Indulging every once in a while is absolutely fine, and it also reminds us why we shouldnt eat with abandon everyday,

Lastly, never will I call myself an “agnostic healthy eater”I think Ill just go with healthy eater, Science Humor my kind of book, This one has both. Its down to earth and full of common sense, as well as some littleknown facts, Like Alan Levinovitz The Glueten Lie And Other Myths About What You Eat, Fitzgerald highlights the parallels between religious cults and diet fads.
And I think hes right on the money,

There are no secrets to weight loss, There are no superfoods. There are no absolute dos and donts, Theres no best diet. In fact, “no diet” is best, Bottom line: Pollans advice is still the soundest: “Eat food, Not too much. Mostly plants. ” Real food, reasonable amounts. Same thing.

My favorite chapter was the one on the potato, What a fabulous food! Who knew Not people of my age and time, who have been brainwashed to see the as the starchy wrecker of waistlines.


I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator not the author was really, really good, And Im picky. Information about the fallacies of diet fads and problematic homeopathic diagnoses like candida was really great, The authors opinion that all anyone needs to do to lose weight is eat less food/more healthy food and exercise really dismisses every reason a person might be fat besides their personal choice to over eat “bad” foods, which is pretty fat phobic as well as harmful for people struggling with chronic illnesses or hormonal disorders, among other things.
I gave itbecause it was a lot of fun to read, not because I thought it was particularly insightful or well researched.
In fact, I disagree with a lot of what Fitzgerald writes here and feel he missed a big piece of the diet puzzle,

I am an all or nothing person and terrible at moderating, I used to consider this a fault until I realized/learned that all people are either moderators or abstainers and there is no moral superiority to either predisposition.
Moderators are just that good at moderating, Abstainers are terrible at moderating and find it's much easier to abstain from something than to try to use it moderately, If you don't know that you are an abstainer, you can waste a lot of time and mental energy trying to follow the common advice "everything in moderation" which is offered up everywhere when it comes to diet, including in Fitzgerald's book.
If I try to moderate intake of ice cream, for example, I will think of nothing but that ice cream in my freezer until it's all gone.
My husband is a moderator and can easily and without mental anguish eat a bowl of ice cream every few days until the carton is gone.


I've worked with tons of athletes and regular people as a personal trainer and coach and my pet peeve is when I read or hear about others in my field who assume that everyone is like them.
This is especially annoying when it means something like this: a guy who is a moderator, hasn't had much issue with his weight, and can lose weight easily through exercise trying to give advice a woman who gains weight with increased exercise, is an abstainer, and has been overweight for most of her life.
That's one example, but I have seen it over and over again in my field, These people, of which I would classify Fitzgerald, rely too much on their own personal experience when they should really know better,

Fitzgerald also missed making a great point about choice architecture even though he skirted around the idea a couple of times, The paradox of choice is an incredibly important variable to consider with diet cults and fitness routines, We have so many food choices available to us and most people don't handle unlimited choice well, It's an emotional drain to face limitless choices day in and day out, It's very taxing on willpower and decisionmaking, Fitzgerald mentions this in the discussion of the habits of the select few people who lose weight and keep it off, One of those habits was that they eat a smaller variety of foods than other people, Unfortunately, he didn't make the bigger connection that those people had discovered the paradox of choice through trial and error and realized that it's easier to stay thin when you constrain your choices.
Nobody wants OTHER people to limit choice for them, but if you can do it for yourself you can make your life a lot better and make success a matter of habit, not a battle of will.


He again mentions choice in the chapter on protein and bodybuilders, His example in this chapter is someone who follows a very strict and repetitive daily schedule of meals and workouts that may seem excessively restrictive and regimented to someone like Fitzgerald.
But to some people, those strict daily habits are a perfect way to live, As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit, "

This is primarily why I tend to be drawn to "diet cults", I've done paleo a lot, I've done ketogenic, I've done vegetarian that lasted from ageto my earlys, I've done Weight Watchers, I've been gluten free for aboutyears, I love intermittent fasting.
I know intellectually that the reason it works for me is that it limits my choices and eliminates most of the foods I have trouble moderating sugar, sugar,sugar, and sugar.
And grilled cheese sandwiches. I know this and it's why I choose to participate, It limits choices and gives me freedom from battles with willpower, It provides rules to follow and for abstainers that is a very good thing, I'm setting myself up to succeed by manipulating my environment to best suit my temperament,

Fitzgerald's way of eating may work great for him and for many other people, I don't doubt that at all, But it won't work at all for people that don't do well with unlimited choice, who have an easier time avoiding certain things altogether, who are all or nothing people, who have addiction tendencies, who don't want to think about food choices every day, etc.
In fact, I think most people do well when they have fewer choices, For more on that issue, I would recommend people read "The Paradox of Choice" by Garry Schwarz and "Willpower" by Roy Bauermeister both of these are books by actual researchers explaining the work they do and the results they have found.


I have found great success in rearranging my daily life to maximize good habits and limit exposure to situations that require me to use willpower.
I was disappointed that Fitzgerald totally missed this important benefit of following a particular diet and dismayed that in his professional capacity as a coach and nutrition counselor he may not be considering this aspect of human nature in how he advises his clients.
Fitzgerald's major premise is that people don't succeed on diets because of any biological needs that make one diet more effective than another, but because adhering to a diet any diet makes you a part of a community that gives you a sense of self and a source of encouragement.


I was fascinated with the way Fitzgerald plainly lays out the case against each of the diets Paleo, Atkins, glutenfree, rawfood, Weight Watchers, whathaveyou while simultaneously describing the lives of people who have had great improvements in their life because of their participation in these same diets.


I even learned one thing that surprised me, Apparently, no scientific evidence exists for the connection between the consumption of large amounts of protein and the more efficient creation of muscle mass.
Yet, ask a successful bodybuilder if he or she uses protein powder and they will invariably say they do, The powder is a sacrament, like Catholic communion, It doesn't matter if the powder has no effect or if the bread and wine don't actually become flesh and blood, The effect on the mind is the same,

Fitzgerald's stated point in writing this book is to help those of us who adhere to no particular diet, but who eat healthily anyway, find encouragement in the same way that others might find encouragement in books like The South Beach Diet or The Atkins Revolution.
To this end, the last chapter describes a kind of game an "agnostic" eater can play to evaluate their diet and make changes if desired.
An "agnostic" eater is someone to whom no food is forbidden,

Meanwhile, yesterday, I had a big ol' plate of Greek appetizer paste things and I had no idea how to score any of them because what the hell do I know about Greek appetizer pastes "It's probably all vegetables," said Greg, "except for the green one, which is probably mostly cheese.
"

In any event, I have believed for a long time now that nutritionists in general are confused people throwing bones at an excitable media who is anxious to feed their overweight patrons anything to get them to click on a thing.
This book actually was comforting to me in that it told me that my instincts aren't wrong, Red wine and CrossFit aren't necessary to my salvation, I can do it myself, Better than I thought it would be, Fun walk through diet fads up to present day, which offers good perspective, The author defines a diet cult as one where a certain food is either completely banned or touted as a cureall, Good

reminder to eat good food in a smart way, The author appropriately portrays food as fuel, not medicine, His premise is that diet cult members don't eat more pragmatically but more ritualistically, He says all anyone needs to know about weight the right amount and eating well is what ayear old would know, Eat more fruits and vegetables than sweets, It isn't about the food someone eats but her/his behavior that makes them overweight and feel crappy, It's about portion control and exercise, But fads offer rules and rituals so people can save face when they can't take or keep weight off, They say they haven't found the right diet for them rather than admit defeat in self control to replace most sweets with produce and to exercise.
They believe pseudoscience because they want to fit into a group, My Plate isn't sexy but restrictive dogma makes the cult exclusive, difficult, and unsustainable just when people need an excuse for why they can't maintain a healthy weight.
Based on these premises, the author went on to discredit each fad diet chapter by chapter: raw food, paleo, weight watchers, super foods, Atkins, gluten free and candida diets, protein supplements, and type diets eg blood and metabolic type.
He concludes with normal advice eat more veggies and fewer sweets and exercise, He is spot on when he wrote, "individual differences exist but they lie at the margins, whereas the core requirements are universal, " pEveryone should read this book and ask themselves honestly to consider their use of fad diets as excuses for low self control, .