#315: Rethinking Wellness: The Problems with "Natural" Wellness with Alan Levinovitz

Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison

Food Psych Programs, Inc.

Health, Food, Bodypositive, Antidiet, Recovery, Fat, Dietculture, Weight, Eating, Positivity, Intuitive, Diet, Nutrition, Psychology, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Body

4.7 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alan Levinovitz, religious-studies scholar and author of Natural and The Gluten Lie, joins us to discuss the problems with framing eating and wellness practices as “natural,” the weird parallels between gun culture and wellness culture, the tricky balance between empathizing with why people are driven to harmful wellness practices and being clear in calling out misinformation, the need for nuance when discussing the connection between physical and psychological issues, and more.

Alan Levinovitz is associate professor of philosophy and religion at James Madison University, and the author, most recently, of Natural: How Faith In Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science.

Rethinking Wellness now has its own feed! If you like this conversation, subscribe to the new podcast to hear lots more like it! You can also sign up to get it in your inbox each week (with a full transcript) at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.

Pre-order Christy's upcoming book, The Wellness Trap, for its April 25 release, and get access to an exclusive webinar discussing the book by submitting your proof of purchase at christyharrison.com/bookbonus.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Food Psych is actually an episode of my new podcast,
0:03.4	Rethinking Wellness, which explores the diet culture,
0:06.5	disinformation, dubious diagnoses, and disordered eating at the heart of contemporary wellness culture,
0:12.9	and how to break free and find true well-being.
0:15.8	Listen wherever you're listening to this by searching for rethinking wellness with Christi Harrison,
0:20.6	and subscribe to get it in your inbox every other week by going to rethinkingwellness.substac.com.
0:26.5	Hope you enjoy!
0:30.0	Welcome back to Rethinking Wellness.
0:50.6	I'm Christi, and my guest today is Alan Levinovitz, a religious studies scholar and author of
0:55.8	the book Natural, How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Feds, Unjust Laws, and
1:01.8	Flood Science.
1:03.8	We discuss the problems with framing eating and wellness practices as quote unquote natural,
1:09.2	the weird parallels between gun culture and wellness culture, the tricky balance between
1:14.5	empathizing with why people are driven to harmful wellness practices, and being clear and
1:19.7	calling out misinformation.
1:22.1	The need for nuance when discussing the connection between physical and psychological issues, and
1:27.5	more.
1:28.5	It's a great conversation, I can't wait to share it with you in just a moment.
1:32.4	Before I do a few quick announcements, this podcast is brought to you by my upcoming
1:36.6	book The Wellness Trap, Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses,
1:42.2	and Find Your True Well-being, which is available for pre-order now.
1:46.4	The book explores the connections between diet culture and wellness culture, how the wellness
	...

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