Food Rules and Restrictions

Restricted diets are promoted as a natural, safe treatment for many difficult-to-manage conditions (e.g., exhaustion, indigestion, skin rashes). Unfortunately, the long-term impacts can have the opposite effect.

Food Rules and Restriction Examples

Food rules include, but are not limited to:

  • Low _______ Diet!
  • Lists of foods to avoid for certain conditions.
  • Diets that promise to fix your gut or reduce your inflammation.
  • Restriction promoted by health professionals
  • Restrictions based on inaccurate associations between symptoms and food.

Temporary Benefit of Food Rules

Food rules can temporarily improve well-being because they bring:

  • Hope: the restriction might be the answer the person has been searching for.
  • Structure: a defined plan minimizes the anxiety of guessing what to eat.
  • Sense of control: when people feel helpless, they want to control something, and food is an easy target.
  • Action: doing something makes people feel better.

The Dark Side of Food Rules

Elimination diets and eating plans have become mainstream in our media (Wellness Culture). They are promoted as safe, natural treatments, leaving many people worrying they are harming their health if they are following food rules.

The benefits of necessary food restriction outweigh the limitations (e.g., a gluten-free diet for celiac disease). However, unnecessary food rules can take their toll on your mental and physical health, including:

  • Malnutrition: Malnutrition: Many restricted diets are nutritionally inadequate, which can lead to fatigue, headaches, digestive distress, etc.
  • Increased workload: Planning, shopping, and cooking can take significantly longer.
  • Decreased pleasure: Giving up favorite food limits joy.
  • Restricted socializing: Socializing is challenging on a restricted diet. Isolation can lead to depression.
  • “Cheating” Guilt: The initial determination and motivation often wane – leading to guilt over being unable to stick to the diet. When symptoms flare up, people often blame themselves for being careless – even though their symptoms are probably not diet-related.
  • Impulsive Eating: Diet restriction often leads to impulsive eating, and many people fluctuate between restrictive and impulsive eating.
  • Vicious cycle of worsening sensitivities: We will explore this further in the following article (the C-FAST cycle).

1. Do you follow food plans or restriction lists? How strictly? How do these rules impact your food choices? How do they affect your quality of life?

2. Where did you pick up these rules?

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