| is this another case of people trying to silver bullet their lives into happiness/healthiness by medicating themselves with food?
Why is simply admitting that human health is a complex set of factors that can never realistically be applied to the general population, but rather requires a total holistic approach, and that anything else requiring this much zeal is largely emotionally damaging? It doesn't really hurt anyone, but it does turn sour. My mother is a breast cancer survivor and she told me a lot about her experiences meeting with other women (some of whom are now dead, which upsets me somewhat). In particular she struck up a friendship with one woman who was very outspoken in meetings, and told her the 'must reads' for any woman going through breast cancer, and handed her a book she had with her. It was a diet book for women with cancer, HEAVILY annotated and sticky-noted by this woman, to a shocking degree. When she showed it to me, I realised there was a culture of blame among women with breast cancer; you are 'at fault' for getting cancer because you had the audacity to eat or drink X and must make penance by following these self-help books. I felt sick after I came to that realisation. I would surmise taking it further and that any nutrition advice of this kind is really just a set up to blame people for their failures when they wind up with something serious. Of course taking care of yourself is good, and people should be encouraged to do so, but any advice outside of your doctor should really be taken dubiously, all pseudoscience aside. |