Is Social Media Influencing Your Food Choices?

Social media

Do you think that social media is influencing your food choices?

Turning to social media and online resources for nutrition advice is fast becoming a prerequisite for constructing our approaches to food. Whether we’re seeking information behind the benefits of veganism, Paleo diets or vegetarianism, or trying to find out whether we should be eating carbohydrates or not, online influence is more and more frequently driving the decisions behind our food choices. It’s not unusual now to change our diet completely based on potentially conflicting information we find online and via our social media ‘inspos’. There are great health resources out there if you know what you’re looking for, but often times we’re hit with conflicting ideas pulled from hundreds of varying diets, leaving us a little lost and often very confused.

Social Media’s Impact on Our Health

Due to the abundance of nutritional advice, we can now find right in the palms of our hands, a cultural shift is happening when it comes to how people are taking control of their health – influenced often by advice given by bloggers, mainstream-, and social media. These icons are like the self-help gurus of the food industry, providing inspiration and motivation for a healthier diet.  The social media proponents of real food have done a great job of opening our eyes to healthy alternatives and this overall message – that we should be eating more real food – is one to latch on to, whilst remembering that for every winning tableaux of date and nut energy balls, there is no doubt a dinner that does not fit the healthy living hashtag and therefore remains offline.

Herein lies the dichotomy. Health and fitness-related social feeds can sometimes send out careless health messages. There’s an underlying idea that practising perfect self-control over food is a normal, everyday occurrence. But if every plate of food we ate were camera-ready courgette ribbons and carrot fritters, with a tahini yoghurt dipping sauce, it might be categorized as an obsession, or what some might consider orthorexia, an increasingly common condition often derived from following dietary fads and trends and being too strict with our foods, thus leading us to feel anxious about our choices. It also means we’re denying ourselves the foods we love. Determine for yourself your relationship with food. Do you really need to be dairy-free? When it comes to your health and wellbeing, above all else – listen to your body.

Evidence-Based Nutrition

We can seek guidance on what to eat from Instagram posts and blogs, but we need to have informed reasons behind why we may then choose to alter the way we eat in response. Why should we consider going gluten-free, for example, what’s the evidence behind this decision? Evidenced-based nutrition can help us see the whole picture and go beyond the face-value claims found online. At Sano School of Culinary Medicine, we help you discover a deeper connection to personal wellness by teaching facts, not fads. The internet is an incredible platform to use to impact our health and the health of others but, let’s understand the science of nutrition rather than making reactionary eliminations or allowing our relationships with food to be altered. It’s what will ultimately lead to a long-term lifestyle change and a sustainable and healthy relationship with food.

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