Food freedom is a loaded phrase with many different meanings, from eschewing diet culture and dietary restrictions to achieving good health and food security by cultivating your own food.
It's advocated as a method for some people to deal with eating disorders, while for others it's a way to support intentional weight loss.
However, it's a new, innovative notion that goes against conventional conventions of dieting and the slim ideal in the health and wellness sector.
In this post, we'll talk about food independence, define intuitive eating and mindful eating, and examine any potential roles they could play in the quest for deliberate weight loss.
What is food freedom?
There are several definitions and uses for the food freedom framework, including but not limited to-
- freedom from industrial food production
- an approach to strengthen food sovereignty
- gastronomy — the science of understanding historical cultural foods and their impact on human health
- a spiritual journey to overcome “food addiction”
In other contexts, the term "food freedom" refers to letting go of restrictive diets and the dieting culture in favour of enjoying all meals in moderation (unless allergies or medical needs prevent you from eating certain foods).
Practitioners of that application of food freedom view food as more than simply a source of energy. They want to create an environment where people have pleasant, judgement-free relationships with all meals and where eating is not associated with feeling guilty.
Intuitive eating and mindful eating are included in this perspective on food freedom since they both promote self-trust about food decisions and reject unneeded constraints.
The rehabilitation from eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which are chronic mental diseases that have a detrimental impact on nutritional status and your connection with food, is frequently supported by intuitive eating and mindful eating.
All things considered, eating freedom can help people get over the culture of diets or introduce flexibility for deliberate weight loss.
Context matters since the term "food freedom" has been used in a variety of overlapping marketing strategies that might generate some misunderstanding. This essay will emphasise food freedom as a non-diet approach to nutrition and health.
Heads-up
No matter a person's gender identity, colour, age, financial background, or other identities, disordered eating and eating disorders can impact them.
They are not just brought on by exposure to diet culture; they may also be brought on by any combination of biological, social, cultural, and environmental variables.
Feel free to speak with a healthcare expert if you believe that you may be too worried about your weight, obsessive about food, or feel overwhelmed when you consider keeping up a healthy, guilt-free eating habit.
You can develop eating habits that promote your physical and emotional health by working through emotions of guilt or worry with the assistance of a qualified dietitian or therapist.
Summary
Different conceptions of "food freedom" include eschewing diet culture and developing self-confidence over dietary preferences. The rehabilitation from eating disorders as well as certain deliberate weight loss regimens have both benefited from the food freedom approach.
Origins of Food Freedom Concept
The demand for non-pharmaceutical therapies that emphasise behavioural changes, such as a positive body image and healthy eating attitudes, led to the development of food independence as a therapy strategy for eating disorder recovery. Dieting increases the chance of developing bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and purging disorder when it is combined with body dissatisfaction and the quest of thinness.
Even among those who are already naturally thin, dieting raises their chance of developing anorexia nervosa.
The multibillion-dollar diet industry encourages harmful weight management habits in order to promote the "thin ideal," which may encourage disordered eating patterns that may eventually lead to eating disorders.
There is proof that dieting doesn't help individuals looking to lose weight permanently either.
Chronic dieters frequently gain weight back within 1 to 5 years, and 33% of dieters gain back more weight than they lost initially.
Dietary limitations make eating disorders more likely. Contrarily, food freedom aims to counteract this.
A mindfulness-based technique called food freedom may be used to treat eating disorders like emotional eating and binge eating disorder. Additionally, it can aid you in avoiding eating when you are not actually hungry in reaction to outside signals like the sight or scent of food. Particularly, intuitive eating is linked to more psychological and physical well-being, as well as less dietary constraints.
Summary
The need for behaviour-change strategies that prioritise healthy eating habits and good body image instead of dieting constraints gave rise to the concept of food freedom. It can help those who are recovering from clinical eating disorders or disordered eating.
Food freedom, intuitive eating, and mindful eating: What’s the difference?
Even though these three names are frequently used interchangeably, you might ask if they really mean the same thing. Their controlling principles differ in only a few small ways.
For instance, mindful eating has its roots in the Buddhist practices of mindfulness and conscious living. It's a form of meditation that emphasises the mind-body connection while encouraging a state of nonjudgmental awareness while engaging all of your senses throughout a meal, including sight, smell, taste, and touch. Being present when you eat is the practice of mindful eating.
Similar to intuitive eating, which fosters a mind-body connection and forms the basis of the Health at Every Size paradigm, intuitive eating is specifically anchored in a weight-inclusive approach to health.
Ten guiding principles for intuitive eating include valuing health via compassionate nourishment, respecting your body, rejecting diet culture, and making peace with food.
But the concept of food independence is not well defined. It could be an accurate representation of mindful or intuitive eating, or it might aim to close the gap between purposeful weight reduction, calorie restriction, and greater flexibility with food.
Despite these variations, there is one thing that all three approaches have in common: a desire to lessen pointless dietary constraints and enhance your connection with food.
They seek to eliminate any potential for guilt, shame, or other unfavourable feelings related to eating "forbidden" or "bad" meals.
Summary
Although the words "food freedom," "intuitive eating," and "mindful eating" are sometimes used synonymously, these techniques differ from one another. However, they all aim to loosen the constraints associated with dieting and boost flexibility.
Tips to pursue food freedom
When utilised as a non-diet approach to health, food freedom aims to free you from unhealthy weight loss or weight management practises, the thin ideal, and diet culture.
Freedom from limitation and judgement is attainable, regardless of whether you choose a mindful eating strategy or go through the 10 principles of intuitive eating.
Here are some tips:
- Work with a registered dietitian who uses mindful eating strategies or who is trained in intuitive eating as your guide.
- Remove the notion that certain foods are either "good" or "bad." Instead, pay attention to the function that food provides at any particular time (such as pleasure, energy, or nourishment).
- Remove the notion of morality from food in the same manner. Recognize that enjoying food does not make you a horrible person and that eating shouldn't make you feel superior or inferior to others.
- Give yourself the freedom to frequently indulge in delicious cuisine. This way, you won’t feel out of control around particular meals.
- Concentrate on healthy practices like drinking enough water and doing enjoyable exercise. There is more to health than just the weight on the scale.
- Instead of relying solely on the outward signs of eating (such as eating because it's a certain time of day or because you feel you have to complete everything on your plate), pay attention to your internal clues, such as emotions and sensations of fullness and hunger.
- Eat wisely and mindfully, focusing only on your meal.
- Pay attention to how a food makes you feel and pick more of those items.
Summary
Food freedom is a non-diet approach to nutrition that emphasises paying attention to your internal hunger and fullness cues, eliminating moral connotations from meals, and putting more emphasis on behaviours that promote health than on numbers on a scale.
Using intuitive eating for intentional weight loss
The act of actively attempting to reduce your body weight with the intention of reducing the number on the scale is known as intentional weight reduction.
Although research links intuitive eating to weight reduction and a reduced body mass index (BMI), intuitive eating is not fundamentally a weight loss strategy.
As some people may lose weight while others may gain it or keep it off, a genuine intuitive eating regimen wouldn't promote weight reduction as a result.
Your body may discover its "happy weight," or biologically predetermined set point weight, by using intuitive eating.
While some weight loss programmes have appropriated mindful eating's mindfulness messaging, the essential concepts of mindful eating do not centre on weight reduction. Other diets attempt to close the gap by emphasising healthy behaviours and creating minor calorie deficits that encourage gradual weight loss without fully excluding satisfying meals that may not be nutrient-dense or low in calories.
Summary
Though weight loss, gain, or maintenance may take place as a result of implementing the principles of intuitive eating and mindful eating, they are not focused on weight loss as a goal. They emphasise letting your body attain its "happy," natural weight instead.
How to complete nutrition demands?
Supplementation!
In some circumstances, increasing the levels in your body may not be possible with just a diet high in these nutrients. When this occurs, you should start researching supplements and how to use them safely and efficiently in your nutritional care plan. Although everyone's demands are unique (and should be assessed as such), the following general extra advice:
Iron
A multivitamin may be advised depending on the severity of the insufficiency (this would offer roughly 18mg of iron or 100% of the DV). It could be required to separately supplement iron if you have a severe iron deficiency, but it's best to analyse attentively because too much iron can be hazardous. Constipation, nausea, vomiting, faintness, and gastrointestinal pain can all be brought on by an abrupt ingestion of more than 20 mg of iron via a supplement.
Vitamin D
Your bones may become fragile, thin, and soft without vitamin D. Osteoporosis is also linked to low vitamin D levels. You may require vitamin D pills if you don't consume enough vitamin D from food or sunshine.
Calcium
Taking calcium supplements, particularly when combined with vitamin D, may enhance metabolic indicators. Children whose mothers took calcium supplements during pregnancy had lower blood pressure at age seven than children whose mothers did not. A decreased incidence of colon cancer and blood pressure, as well as fat reduction and improvements in bone density, have all been related in studies to calcium supplementation.
Vitamin B12
This is offered in supplements that include solely B12, additional B-complex vitamins, and multivitamins. Depending on the vitamin complex you select and the needs of your client, the dosage can range from 5 mcg to 1000 mcg. Because it has a limited risk for toxicity and does not accumulate in excess amounts, vitamin B12 is often well tolerated.
Iodine
It is often given as potassium iodide or sodium iodide in dietary supplements, and the dosage is typically 150 mcg. Iodine is absorbed extremely instantly when taken as a supplement, therefore it's critical to monitor whether you are acutely receiving too much iodine. The acute symptoms of excess iodine, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, are similar to those of iodine deficiency.
The bottom line
Food sovereignty is one description of "food freedom," which is a word that has been heavily promoted. Other definitions include escaping restricted eating habits and diet culture. So context is important.
Food freedom is a non-diet approach to nutrition that emphasises paying attention to your internal indications of fullness and hunger, separating food from morality, and concentrating on actions that promote health rather than merely the scale.
Fundamentally, the concepts of intuitive eating and mindful eating don't emphasise or support deliberate weight loss. Instead, they assist you in learning about and adopting healthy behaviours that might result in weight reduction, growth, or maintenance.
These conceptual frameworks support individuals in developing healthy connections with food and their bodies, ones that are based on compassion and self-trust rather than the slim ideal.
