I want you to think for a moment about how many times you’ve called a certain food, eating practice, or ritual “naughty” or “bad”, or said to yourself or someone else that you “shouldn’t be doing/ eating this”.
You probably can’t count, and neither could I. It’s ingrained in us, thanks to the messaging we receive around food and weight, especially in women, for whom it’s commonly a conversation point - i.e. “I shouldn’t be eating this… but I’m going to treat myself just this once”.
Countless studies show that we experience guilt for eating certain foods (such as candy and ice cream in one study), the frequency of our eating, and the structures of our meals - for example, it’s been shown that we feel more guilt around food when we eat in between meals or after dinner.
And this isn’t our fault. We are socialised to think that our weight is reflective of our health, even though this is beyond untrue (The “Maintenance Phase” podcast dissects this notion brilliantly). The message is that we should feel guilty if we don’t adhere to an incredibly homogenous eating style - no matter how many diets exist, the homogeneity lies in the fact we have to eat for “health” which is a thinly veiled way of saying “to achieve the body that meets the beauty standards of today”. It goes without saying that all bodies are different, and health can look different, and does look different, on everyone.
So what has the cesspool that is diet culture in late-stage capitalism given us? “Guilt-free” foods, naturally! I’m talking halo-top ice cream, which arguably promotes binge eating, zero calorie noodles, low-fat/low-carb options, shakes, keto (I have so much beef with keto, but that’s for another day), and of course good old-fashioned “negative calorie” celery sticks.
When I see advertisements or social media posts about “guilt-free” foods, I want to rip my hair out. My toxic trait is that I shout at the TV, and “guilt-free” messaging takes it to another level. I want to say to the people making these ads “DON’T YOU KNOW THAT GUILT-FREE JUST IMPLIES THAT THERE’S GUILT TO BE HAD ABOUT EATING???”, but of course, corporations know that - they can garner capital off our guilt.
Yes, I had to make a meme for this, and yes, I made it on Instagram.
So, I want to say this to us, as consumers - the next time you see this kind of messaging around, remember that guilt around food shouldn’t be inherent. From now on, I am going to commit myself to not contributing to any “this is so bad that I’m eating this/ I’m only eating this because I’m gonna do a big workout later” conversations, even if it means subjecting myself to awkwardness. If you are in a situation where you feel comfortable enough, try to point out to someone experiencing this guilt that they don’t need to feel that way.
If you love halo-top ice cream or slendier noodles, go for it! I’m sure some of these “guilt-free” foods are probably pretty good. But just know that eating fruit and veggies doesn’t make you a good person, and eating a packet of crisps doesn’t make you a bad person. Food has no moral value, so let’s remove guilt from eating, and let people eat whatever makes them feel happy and healthy so that their bodies function the way they’re supposed to!
So here’s a meal I ate the other day that made me feel good:
teriyaki vegan “chicken” & gomae (japanese spinach salad)
serve with plenty of rice, noodles or whatever you’re feeling like eating.
ingredients:
for the teriyaki chicken-
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mirin or sake
1 package vegan chicken pieces
1/2 red onion, finely chopped or sliced
for the gomae-
300g fresh baby spinach
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
how to.
Fry chopped onion in some oil until translucent. Set aside.
Meanwhile, blanch spinach for 1 min in boiling water then plunge into ice water. Wring out as much liquid as you can and set aside in fridge.
Cook “chicken” according to instructions. Then add onion back in, and turn heat to low. Add the teriyaki sauce ingredients and turn off heat. It should become sticky but not burnt.
Once spinach has cooled, add gomae ingredients to the spianch and mix well, then and cut with scissors.
Serve with rice, broccoli or whatever you feel like!
Ah, so much to comment on this. Instead of going my usual way with different comments for different topics, I'll pack them together.
First and foremost, thank you, Arielle, for writing about the absurdity of "guilt-free" food. Unless one has a medical condition preventing them from eating (or sometimes just eating too much/often) of a given food, there shall be no "guilt", anywhere, anytime. I wonder if the "guilt" perceived is about the food itself, of the ability to control one's desires. Do people make us guilty for eating or drinking something, or for not having the willpower to resist eating or drinking it, while they strive to avoid it. Guilt, in this idea, would be epidemic in that those infected project it on others, and try to infect them.
I'm a man, and I confirm I'm basically not targeted by the food and weight messages. I can't imagine what it is to be a woman and constantly be told and shown bodies beyond perfection, absolutely not representative of the population. Still, Aussies like Chris Hemworth and their tendency to quickly loose their shirt has some effect on me :-(
With a close friend, we do talk about weight loss/control, carbs, tips and techniques we've tried. I believe the male market is big enough for capitalism to gradually invade this space. And when I read "I’m only eating this because I’m gonna do a big workout later", I can't help but think how weight-scale-driven my appetite often was until recently: weighting, then deciding on the guilt-free meal, or the guilty one.
Thanks for the recipe, I didn't know this spinach salad, and will give it a try.
You mentioned celery and negative calories. It reminds me what I wrote about "celery and the negative-calorie food controversy" (here: https://guillaumevg.substack.com/p/saute-vegetables-ginger-lemongrass). Spoiler: it's (indeed) a lie! :-D
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
- signed, increasingly life-long feminist and unabashed curvy human <3
(who feels the mild but true pull to also tell you that I do active daily things and spent years as a bike commuter but by saying that I defeat some of the original purpose, although I'll leave it to hammer in the initial point !)
p.s. looks delicious