Fat is a feminist topic: Why did everyone switch to intuitive power
Recently, more and more you can hear the phrase "intuitive nutrition", and several heroines of our recent material about diets and breakdowns said that it helped them to come to the world with their own body and food. We understand what the power system is, where it came from, and what scientists think about it.
Cult of thinness
Oddly enough, the relationship of human health with what and how much he eats, started talking not so long ago. In the second half of the 20th century, the quality of life of people, especially in countries with developed economies, improved significantly, and they began to live longer - but there were much more chronic ailments; Obesity, diabetes, heart and vascular diseases and, of course, oncological diseases appeared. At some point, it became clear that the composition of the diet, and excess weight (overweight from the point of view of the medical norm, and not comparing themselves with the retouched figure of the model in the journal) are factors that contribute to the development of such diseases. And these factors can be influenced to prevent ill health.
One of the first and most popular ways was restrictive diets aimed at reducing body weight. These diets are of different types: they can include a rigorous calculation of calories, partial or complete rejection of certain types of food (for example, fatty or sweet) and certain foods like bread. Diets can be short-term and more stringent or imply a lifelong change in eating habits. By themselves, restrictive diets can not be considered an unequivocal evil - it all depends on the situation. For example, the moderation of food after heavy operations, the requirement to come on an empty stomach before donating blood or a ban on grapefruit juice while taking certain medications is also a kind of diet. However, in most cases, people prescribe their own diets on their own - and this is where the trick lies.
The problem with diets is that their popularity in recent decades is not connected with the recommendations of doctors and the global problem of obesity (in 2016, it was noted in 650 million adults and 41 million children under five years old), but in our body image uncertainty. The notion of a “normal” weight has become blurred: in a world where far-fetched standards rule the ball, most people with normal stature and weight that do not threaten potential illnesses are still considered “fat.” Popular culture discriminates anyone who does not fit into a fashionable image that changes from decade to decade and has nothing to do with the recommendations of doctors. By the way, if more and more are said about the failure of such an approach, then it’s about respecting the choice to remain complete (like, say, drinking alcohol or not playing sports), and even less often in pop-space. Dobrokhoty around the world fatsheymyat strangers, hiding behind "health care."
Fat and Feminism
One of the first to this problem drew the attention of psychotherapist Susie Orbach, dealing with eating disorders in women in the UK. In 1978, she released the book Fat Is a Feminist Theme (Fat is a Feminist Issue), which instantly became a bestseller. In it, the therapist talks about the problems associated with the cult, which is surrounded by thinness: “model” appearance in the seventies was considered not just an indicator of health, but a synonym for career success, love, sex life, and just happiness. Orbach was one of the first to say that beauty standards are becoming increasingly inaccessible, and the “ideal figure” is advertised as a way to solve all problems. As a result, the specialist opened the Women's Therapeutic Center in London, where eating disorders are treated to this day, and all the employees of the administration there are women. By the way, one of his patients was Princess Diana, who at that time was fighting with bulimia.
Forty years ago, when this book was written, women were the first to be subjected to such pressure, but gradually pressure was laid on men as well, as the same Orbah says in a recent interview. It is not surprising: on film shots with male models, they use advantageous lighting, while the pictures themselves are retouched, emphasizing musculature. As a result, it begins to seem that only the same as in these photos or videos can be happy, people - with a sharp press, wide shoulders and flawless skin. According to different researchers, up to 95% of men in one degree or another are not satisfied with their own body.
Emotional hunger
The book Orbach, among others, gave rise to the ideas of the "antidietic" movement, and subsequently to the intuitive and conscious nutrition. They are based on a simple idea: it is necessary to eat when the body experiences a feeling of hunger, stopping as soon as it becomes saturated.
Proponents of intuitive nutrition divide hunger into physical and emotional. In case of physical hunger, the body reports that it does not have enough food - a person has unpleasant sensations or rumbling in the stomach, fatigue and irritability occur. By emotional hunger refers to the state when a person wants to eat without being physically hungry. Such a desire may arise from stress, a bad mood, or, conversely, the desire to please yourself, and also because some product looks attractive - for example, a cake is very beautiful.
Those who adhere to such a system, advised to listen to the physical hunger and analyze the causes of emotional, if necessary, refer to experts. Another crucial part of this approach is the acceptance of oneself and one's own figure. Tuning into an intuitive diet means voluntarily avoiding attempts to constantly lose weight and strive for unattainable ideals. Intuitive nutrition publications and guides quickly spread among psychotherapists and eating disorders. It is important to understand that such an approach does not deny medical intervention when it is necessary, and does not prescribe eating foods that can harm - for example, cause severe allergies.
In fact, intuitive nutrition is a way of constant self-analysis and the ability to listen to yourself. The system focuses more on the attitude towards your body and food than on numbers, proportions and quantities of food and its components. Intuitive nutrition helps to revise attitudes towards losing weight: if a person loses weight, it is not for the sake of meeting questionable generally accepted standards, but for health and well-being. Evelyn Tribal and Elise Resch, creators of the most popular portal about intuitive nutrition, say that you still need to monitor the composition of your diet: it is important to get enough carbohydrates and energy to function properly; There are also no prohibited products in the system. At the same time, the authors of the methods of intuitive nutrition insist that nutrition in principle should not cause negative emotions.
How it's done
The intuitive power system prescribes to “respect” hunger and satiety. Tribal and Resh argue that the longer the body is in a state of hunger, the greater the likelihood of overeating during the next meal - so it is better to eat on time. In the process of eating, one should “listen” to one’s body and be aware of when saturation comes. From a practical point of view, this means that it is better to eat in small portions, after each of them wondering if you would like supplements. If you feel hungry, you need to ask yourself what kind of food you want now: cold or hot, soft or crunchy, sour, salty or spicy.
The emphasis is on solving your problems, internal or external, without using food - first of all, it concerns emotions. Meals should take place in a pleasant atmosphere, and food should not cause negative feelings. The most important thing is to build a positive relationship with your body and health and to tune in to a long-lasting balanced (albeit not “perfect”) food. This is much better than hard restrictions, interspersed with breakdowns.
The main Russian-language source on the topic is the book by Svetlana Bronnikova "Intuitive nutrition. How to stop worrying about food and lose weight." The author is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist; in the book, she explains that the intuitive approach, unlike the dietary one, is directed not at attempts to control the body, but at the willingness to take responsibility for it and learn to take care of it. It is also recommended to keep a food diary that helps analyze your own thoughts and feelings.
What scientists say
Intuitive nutrition is carefully studied by scientists and nutritionists, and the number of papers on the subject is already in the tens. A systematic analysis of 68 studies conducted in 2017 revealed that intuitive nutrition helps to reduce the desire for gluttony, anorexia symptoms, and generally improves eating habits. Probably, its most important effect is precisely in its influence on mental health and self-perception. The focus is shifting from the desire to lose weight to follow the diet in order to harmonize with yourself and your body.
Studies also show that intuitive nutrition does not always and not all lead to weight loss. Nevertheless, the followers of this approach have a lower body mass index than those who do not follow the diet at all and do not adhere to any restrictions. Although it is clear that BMI is not an ideal tool, because it does not take into account the proportions of muscle and adipose tissue, now a high BMI is considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and other serious diseases. Some researchers note that intuitive nutrition contributes to the improvement of other health indicators, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
In general, this approach largely coincides with modern recommendations on nutrition in Western countries. The British health care system, the American Heart Association, and many others recommend to follow the diet and strive to increase the proportion of "healthy" foods, including fruits, vegetables and fish, but insist that you should not give up "harmful" foods (such as fat and sweet ) completely. Both the intuitive diet and the official recommendations for a healthy diet indicate the importance of physical activity.
Does it all fit
From a biological point of view, hunger is a mechanism that makes you look for food in order to survive, and the more complex the organism, the more complex the control of appetite and hunger. In humans, pancreatic hormone insulin is responsible for hunger, which is produced by the adipose tissue cells leptin and ghrelin, which are produced by the cells of the stomach walls. Insulin and leptin suppress hunger, and ghrelin, on the contrary, stimulates it - it is produced in response to a decrease in blood glucose levels. Of course, this is an extremely simplified scheme; All of these hormones interact with the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that is able not only to cause a general feeling of hunger or satiety, but also to prepare the body for searching for food — for example, depletion can cause hyperactivity, and this process is mediated by the work of the hypothalamus.
These mechanisms, formed by evolution, allowed our ancestors to survive and function normally. Unfortunately, many factors can disrupt the work of the appetite control system, and in the first place these are problems with the endocrine system. For example, in people with diabetes, insulin synthesis or cell sensitivity to it is impaired, and therefore a constant feeling of hunger appears. Lack of sleep, as studies show, leads to a decrease in the concentration of leptin and a high level of ghrelin, also causing a feeling of hunger. Constant stress can cause lack of appetite or, conversely, lead to overeating. It is important to understand that, like other processes in the body, appetite control is extremely difficult and not fully understood.
It is for this reason that intuitive nutrition must be approached with caution, knowing that the desire to eat something else in a well-fed person is not necessarily caused by psychological problems or the inability to accept your body: the appetite control system may be disturbed for physiological reasons. Therefore, those who plan to solve health problems with the help of intuitive nutrition should not rely solely on this approach: the treatment of conditions such as obesity or diabetes should be carried out by a specialist.
Intuitive nutrition can become part of a therapeutic plan - in addition to medications (for example, for treating hypertension) or with some modifications recommended by a doctor - with the same diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, special attention should be paid to the glycemic index of foods. If there is any doubt, it is worth starting with a general practitioner who, if deemed necessary, will refer you to an endocrinologist or other specialist. Finally, although intuitive nutrition is a good tool to help find a balance in relationships with food and your own body, if the problem is difficult to solve, you should contact a psychotherapist or a specialist in eating disorders.
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