ICYMI: Gut Health and "Food Addiction," Social Media and Mental Health, and More
Plus: whether you feel better on a European vacation because of the food
In case you missed it, here’s everything we shared on Rethinking Wellness in the past month. There’s also a little behind-the-scenes commentary for paid subscribers at the end, where I share my thoughts on some of the content and what it sparked for me.
Repost: Why Wellness Sells - the Benefits and Harms of Wellness Culture with Colleen Derkatch
Author and rhetoric professor Colleen Derkatch joins us to discuss why wellness sells (and her new book by that name), how wellness culture promises an alternative to the biomedical/pharmaceutical model but fails to deliver, why it’s important to acknowledge that certain aspects of wellness culture are helpful to people even as we critique its harms, an…
Repost: Can You Change Someone's Mind About Wellness?
Q&A: Talking to wellness devotees, PLUS: whether you feel better on a European vacation because of the food.
Social Media and Kids' Mental Health: A Critical Look at the Evidence, with Melinda Wenner Moyer
Science and parenting journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer joined me to discuss the real risks of social media and smartphones for kids (and all of us), what the popular book THE ANXIOUS GENERATION gets wrong about the science on teens and technology, the similarities in the discourse about tech and “ultraprocessed” food, diet culture in the parenting space, how to raise kids to have a healthy relationship with technology and smartphones, and more.
Ozempic and Rare Form of Blindness; Gut Health and “Food Addiction;” and More
Unpacking two new studies and their media coverage. Plus: a collection of links from around the internet that are relevant to the Rethinking Wellness conversation.
Repost: Cooking Without Wellness Rules and How Social Media Is Like Diet Culture with Julia Turshen
Cookbook author Julia Turshen joins us to discuss her history with an eating disorder and how orthorexic thinking showed up in her work, how a loved one’s boundary on diet talk helped her realize her relationship with food was problematic, how letting go of diet and wellness rules changed her cooking, why social media is like diet culture and how she’s …
When Researching a New Health Condition Becomes a Hobby
On getting a new diagnosis—and the insatiable curiosity, vulnerability to misinformation, and identity shifts that often go along with it.
Repost: The Relationship Between Diet Culture & Wellness Culture, and How to Find a Supportive Anti-Diet Community
In this bonus episode excerpted from a cooking class and conversation with cookbook author Julia Turshen, Christy discusses the relationship between diet culture and wellness culture, the importance of community as an antidote to the individualism of wellness culture, some of the pitfalls of online communities and how to navigate them, and more. (For ac…
How Alternative Medicine Can Harm Your Health with Family Doctor Brad McKay
Family doctor and science communicator Brad McKay joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about alternative medicine, chronic fatigue, Peter Attia, wellness IV drips, how placebos can actually cause harm, and more. Behind the paywall, we talk about the weight-inclusive approach, my book ANTI-DIET, our differing views on GLP-1 drugs, pharmaceutical-industry influence and the need for healthy skepticism, and more.
Why IgG Tests Don't Work, and the Truth About Glyphosate in Food
Plus: “Toxic” Tampons and Baby Wipes, and the Dubious Dairy-Acne Connection
Repost: The Harms of Social Media, and Giving Up a Career as a Fitness Influencer with Mary Jelkovsky
Author and podcaster Mary Jelkovsky joins us to discuss her history as a fitness influencer starting at age 16, and how it triggered and exacerbated her eating disorder; how social media algorithms drive us toward extreme diet and wellness content; why and how Christy took a huge step back from social media, and why Mary is contemplating doing the same.