Partner content: When Following Food Advice May Not Be the Best Idea
Often we see articles in magazines, posts on social media, reels or videos that feature a celebrity talking about what they eat in a day or week. This person may be an actor, an athlete, or an influencer-- but in most all cases the message is, ‘Eat like me and you could look/perform like me’.
The only problem is that we may be only hearing or seeing part of the story of their food intake and meals:
1. Chances are good that this is NOT what they typically eat but something they or their publicist wants you to think they eat. Beware if they are also selling supplements that they profit from!
2. They may have a chef or dietitian who is designing a specialty diet and preparing it for them regularly and cost and preparation time is not an obstacle as it is for many.
3. How they look and perform may be due to their genes, training, income level, access to medical care and services, age, their ability( or requirement) to look a certain way…not to mention a fair amount of makeup and photo editing and possibly even cosmetic surgery or feature enhancing treatments.
4. You have no idea of that person’s relationship with food...they could very well have a disordered relationship that you don’t want to model.
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Bottom Line: Don’t try and model your diet/way of eating on others! Find a way of eating that fits YOUR nutritional needs, health status, lifestyle, and food preferences.
If you need some guidance, contact a REGISTERED DIETITIAN who can help you individually or write to me and I may be able to suggest some resources for you to check out on-line.
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN
Ingles Markets Corporate Dietitian
