#94: How to Leave the Religion of Dieting & Why You Don't Need to Go Gluten-Free with Alan Levinovitz, Author of "The Gluten Lie"

Food Psych Podcast with Christy Harrison

Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CEDS

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

4.7 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2017

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Religious scholar and journalist Alan Levinovitz discusses how diet culture is like a religion, why so much modern nutrition advice is dangerous, why we need to think critically about restrictive eating practices, how suspicion of Western medicine can lead people to believe in harmful "miracle cures," why the "nocebo effect" is causing people to unnecessarily demonize particular foods, and lots more.

Alan Levinovitz received his PhD in religion from the University of Chicago where he specialized in classical Chinese thought. He is now assistant professor of religious studies at James Madison University, where he teaches classes on religion, Chinese philosophy, and the connection between religion and medicine. His journalism focuses on the intersection of religion, science, and culture, and has appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, The Washington Post, Slate, Vox, and elsewhere. He is the author of The Gluten Lie: And Other Myths About What You Eat. Find him at James Madison University and on Twitter at @AlanLevinovitz.

Join the new Food Psych Facebook group to connect with fellow listeners around the world!

To learn more about Food Psych and our guest, visit christyharrison.com/foodpsych

Join Christy's intuitive eating online course at christyharrison.com/course
How healthy is your relationship with food? Take the quiz and get free resources at christyharrison.com/quiz!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Food Psych, a podcast about intuitive eating, body positivity, and health at every
0:06.3	size.
0:07.3	I'm your host, Kristi Harrison, and I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified
0:11.2	intuitive eating counselor, specializing in weight-inclusive wellness.
0:15.6	Join me as I talk with interesting people from all walks of life about their relationships
0:19.3	with food.
0:20.3	Hey there, welcome to episode 94 of Food Psych.
0:39.4	I'm your host, Kristi Harrison, and today I'm talking with Alan the Venefits, who is
0:43.8	an assistant professor of religious studies at James Madison University, and a journalist
0:49.1	who focuses on the intersection of religion, science, and culture.
0:53.6	He wrote the book The Gluten Lie, and other myths about what you eat.
0:58.0	I wanted to talk to him today because, well, a couple of things, it's actually the beginning
1:02.0	of a lent.
1:03.0	I know a lot of people have food rules and taboos and things that they give up for lent.
1:08.2	It can really trigger disorder eating.
1:10.4	I thought this was a good time to talk about the intersections of food and religion and
1:14.5	how dieting really has become a religion in modern society.
1:18.6	It's his thesis of his book and of a lot of his writing, and he does such a great job
1:22.7	of explaining all these connections that I never would have even thought of between religion
1:27.0	and dieting.
1:28.0	I will just give a trigger warning for his book because there is some content in it that
1:32.4	could be triggering, but it's a great read nonetheless.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CEDS, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, CEDS and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.