What sensations arise at the thought of eating healthy? Maybe you feel a sense of dread or disgust. Maybe you make connections to certain words: gross, impossible, miserable or boring. Maybe you experience sensations of jealousy towards social media influencers. All of these emotions are natural. Social media and diet culture have encouraged a generational false perception towards food - encouraging eating habits that support trends rather than science. In the food industry, labeling often overshadows underlying health disadvantages with appealing advertising to keep profits high. Diet culture appears in everyday life and is practically unavoidable. Everyone deserves to understand the impact diet truly has on your body and mind.

Your diet impacts every internal and external function of your body, including the immune system. The immune system acts as a military force to protect your body against disease. Diet influences how effective these defensive measures are. The average American diet is heavily reliant on processed foods that are packed with excess sugars and fats, and lack necessary fibers and nutrients. This slowly extinguishes your body's strength in battling disease, for, “[...]the ability of your immune system to fight off infection and keep you healthy is heavily dependent on the intake of vitamins and minerals”(Campanella). Your immune system requires certain vitamins to support your cells and produce chemicals to maintain your health. Hence, individuals with unhealthy diets suffer from illness more often and more severely than someone with a healthy diet suitable for their lifestyle. The immune system isn’t the only thing that suffers, diet also impacts how well the body can regulate insulin levels and sensitivity. Insulin is an enzyme within your body that reacts to your sugar intake. Many people don’t realize the importance of insulin in non-diabetics, but it is just as impactful because “If you eat a diet high in sugar [...] it forces your insulin levels to spike. High insulin levels convert muscle to fat, even for people in a healthy weight range.” Dr. Campanella, licensed MD in functional medicine,  explains in our interview, “This means that their fat to muscle ratio is higher, they will have less exercise tolerance, and more inflammation.” Your diet has the power to enhance certain functions within your body or disrupt them. A disruption in your insulin levels will trigger an array of problems within your body that will increase your risk for internal health issues and unstable emotions including excess inflammation within the body. In many individuals, high inflammation acts as an obstacle for efficient organ function and weight loss and can lead to symptoms like sever bloating and fatigue. This problem is not just about adults, for teenagers and children are even more at risk. My school serves all the classic fast food and sweets at lunch. Teachers advocate for healthy eating, but the fruit they provide us with is vomit-inducing - trust me, I’ve tried. Jamie Oliver advocates for food education in schools through his TedTalk: “Teach Every Child About Food.” In this Ted Talk, he illustrates that children are not being fed properly in schools, for the foods they provide are almost all highly processed, and are poisoning the future generations. In many schools, there is a designated class that teaches a unit on healthy eating. Some may argue that this is enough, but it isn’t. If you are to teach the value of healthy eating, then you must express this through school lunches. I can already hear the defiant shrieks of all the sweet-tooths out there, and I agree - sometimes healthy food is disgusting. 

There will never be a universe where I look at celery and think: “Yum!” 

However, healthy eating is only gross if you restrict too much. Plenty of healthy foods are delicious, you’re just not interested in being proven wrong. According to the article, “Healthy Eating is Not Boring”, “[...] Eating healthy is not synonymous with boring. It's all about maintaining a balance of what you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat it.” Food is energy for both the body and the soul, and finding a balance between junk food and healthy food is key to developing a positive perspective towards eating healthy.

Let's talk diet culture: fueled by social media, it often pushes people to extremes. The small portions are too small, and words like “calories” and “sugars” strike terror into the hearts of young girls. Clinical dietitian, Anastasia Thomas explains, “[...] diet culture encourages certain body types and routines that represent a stereotypical healthy lifestyle. This culture often neglects financial obstacles, environment, social obligations and individual needs when generating these stereotypes.” Diet culture surrounds us every day. It’s in your favorite influencers video titled: “What I Eat in a Day, '' it’s on weight loss surgery billboards, in how we hear our family and friends talk about food, and especially advertising. Which one are you going to choose: “low fat yogurt” or full fat yogurt? The first one, right? That is the expected answer - good job, you're not living under a rock. What you don’t realize is that in replacement of these nutrients, this yogurt is highly processed and filled with excessive sugars that promote even more inflammation within the body. 

The labeling in America is lying to everyone. 

The food industry is prioritizing sales over the wellbeing of its customers, camouflaging poison beneath bold words and colorful packaging. Do you remember the little cartons of milk they used to have in elementary school? The milk came in three different flavors: chocolate, regular, and strawberry. Regular milk seems like the most healthy option, right? Jamie Oliver conducted an experiment through these popular milk cartons across America. His experiment proved that the average student drinks two cartons of this milk a day, and these processed milks have enough sugar in them to match 1 can of soda, no matter the flavor. After describing his findings to the audience, Jamie Oliver makes a powerful statement, defending the children of America: “[...] any judge in the whole world, would look at the statistics and the evidence, and they would find any government of old guilty of child abuse. That’s my belief”. Milk is just one of many processed foods served to children across America during mealtimes at schools, and nobody is aware of how bad they are for you because it isn’t advertised. As a young girl who has struggled with eating and body image herself, I recognise that there is a huge population of people that appear thin and who don’t exercise or prioritize a healthy diet. This translates to: the concept of healthy eating demonstrates inconsistent results and is therefore unreliable. You must understand that this claim only skims the surface of the issue. Campanella has found that, “The effects of your diet may not be visible immediately, but they will affect you in the long run. Oftentimes healthy cannot be seen from the outside. If that were the case, doctors wouldn’t have to use special tools to record how healthy you are.” Your diet isn’t the only thing that contributes to your appearance, but it is the primary source of energy for you to think, focus, function, feel good and continue to be healthy in the future.

Which parts of the body are absorbing the food you eat? You may have covered all of this in science class, but I doubt you were taught how the bacteria within the digestive tract is directly impacting your emotions. The bacteria in your gut absorb the nutrients from the food you eat and release chemicals through neurotransmitters that affect your mood. Food and emotions are linked because “80% of the neurotransmitters that affect your mood are generated by certain bacteria in the colon.” Campanella continues to describe that in order for your gut bacteria to produce chemicals that optimize serotonin levels (serotonin is a chemical that calms emotions), they need to be supplied with high-fiber foods. If your body doesn’t have access to fresh nutrients and vitamins regularly, necessary chemicals (like serotonin) will be in short supply. This can then spiral into long-term mental health disorders all because of what you are putting in your body. One specific consequence is symptoms of depression. Many of my friends and family struggle with depression, but why? It turns out that this is a trend across all of America. Cases of depression have skyrocketed in the past few decades, and so has our reliance on processed foods. 

This is no coincidence. 

Several studies have shown that, “A dietary pattern characterized by a high consumption of red and/or processed meat, refined grains, sweets, high-fat dairy products, butter, potatoes and high-fat gravy, and low intakes of fruits and vegetables is associated with an increased risk of depression"(Tello). Depression is an incredibly difficult disorder to have, and is a struggle for many teens and adults across America, who are simultaneously unaware of the impacts food has on their bodies. This message shouldn’t just be reserved for culinary and dietary majors, it should be available to everyone. What if I told you that the reason you can’t stop daydreaming while studying, keep forgetting what you were doing, or just couldn’t think of that one stubborn formula during your math exam could also be a consequence of your eating habits? It sounds outlandish, but science says otherwise: “If your diet lacks essential nutrients, it can hurt your ability to concentrate. Eating too much or too little can also interfere with your focus. A heavy meal may make you feel tired, while too few calories can result in distracting hunger pangs”(Bhandari). I remember when my parents would always tell me to eat a big breakfast before a test or competition. This is a good habit to have because just as your brain needs oxygen to focus, it needs nutrients. Nutrients and vitamins you cannot get from processed, fried foods. If you are not prioritizing the necessary fuel for your body, you cannot perform to your highest ability - whether that be on the field, in a lecture hall or during an exam. Many argue that diet is one of the many factors that contribute to mental health disorders, and often isn’t the main contributor to the issue. Although such arguments have merit, it can still be argued that diet has more impact on mental health, in accordance with science, than many victims are aware. Yes, mental health cannot be entirely resolved with a healthier diet, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t help. Campanella explains that even though mental health disorders are a result of several contributors, a huge portion of them is their diet. As I stated above, statistics show that today's younger generation, my generation, has extremely high rates for diagnosed anxiety and depression. Similarly, this generation's eating habits are heavily dependent on processed foods, and this dependence is setting up my friends and family for challenges in the future.

My generation does not value food education. I’m sorry, but someone had to say it. The many people who do claim to value healthy eating base their decisions off of diet culture, which is a product of false news and trends. False perceptions of healthy eating are intertwined into every part of our lives, whether that be in school, on social media, at family dinners, or in the grocery store. The good news is that this issue is easy to fix. Education in foods, dieting, and awareness is a human right. Everyone deserves to know how to take care of themselves and appreciate food in their culture. Food brings people together, fuels our bodies, and allows us to do what we love with the people we love. We must value its importance just as much as we value our $10 Starbucks frappuccino every morning. 

Works Cited

Campanella, Lisa. Personal interview. March 2023.

“Dangers of Diet Culture.” Norman Regional Health System, 

normanregional.com/blog/dangers-of-diet-culture.

“Food for Concentration: 11 Foods That Boost Memory & Help You Focus.” WebMD, WebMD, 

webmd.com/add-adhd/ss/slideshow-brain-foods-that-help-you-concentrate#:

~:text=It%20may%20sound%20trite%20but,result%20in%20distracting%20hunger%20pangs.

Health, written by Narayana. “Importance of Balanced Diet in a Healthy Lifestyle.” Narayana 

Health Care, 25 Jan. 2023, 

narayanahealth.org/blog/importance-of-balanced-diet-for-a-healthy-lifestyle/.

Monique Tello, MD. “Diet and Depression.” Harvard Health, 29 Jan. 2020, 

health.harvard.edu/blog/diet-and-depression-2018022213309#:~:text=A%20

dietary%20pattern%20characterized%20by%20a%20high%20consumption%20of

%20red,an%20increased%20risk%20of%20depression.%22.

Oliver, Jamie. “Teach Every Child about Food.” Jamie Oliver: Teach Every Child about Food | 

TED Talk,

ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver_teach_every_child_about_food?language=en.

“Why It Matters.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 14 July 2022, 

cdc.gov/obesity/about-obesity/why-it-matters.html#:~:text=Only%202%20in%205%20young,to%20have%20obesity%20as%20adults.&text=Obesity%20costs%20the%20US%20healthcare%20system%20nearl y%20%24173%20billion%20a%20year.

“Why Some People Who Live on Junk Food Are Thin.” The Times of India, The Times of India, 

6 Feb. 2019, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/why-some-people-who-live-on-junk-food-are-thin/photostory/67833186.cms?from=mdr.