I’m sure most of us have experienced the terrible feelings of shame and guilt that result from falling off a diet bandwagon. Dieting often seems like a never ending cycle of restriction and deprivation followed by overwhelming feelings of self-loathing. We berate ourselves, trying to control our cravings and appetites and agonizing over every single food choice, but healthy eating doesn't have to be so complicated and difficult! Gentle nutrition, the tenth principle of intuitive eating, is about approaching health and nutrition from a relaxed and flexible perspective. With this approach, we don’t cut out any food groups, and we don’t moralize food. When we practice gentle nutrition, all types of food can be a part of a healthy and balanced diet.
Gentle nutrition can be a difficult concept to accept, especially if you’ve been influenced by years of diet culture. Diet culture is constantly sending us messages about how food is harmful, and that we need to cut out foods and restrict our diets. This over emphasis on restriction creates a sense of urgency in our brains. Urgency is what motivates us to act: when we feel like something might not be available to us, we are more motivated to act to get it. The more we feel like we can’t have something or we won't have access to it, the more we want it, and the more urgently we pursue it. When we go on a diet, we are in effect, telling ourselves that certain foods are limited to us. In doing so, we are creating a sense of urgency around these foods, causing our brains to more actively pursue and desire these foods. Gentle nutrition throws all of these mind games out the window. Gentle nutrition is about giving ourselves unconditional permission to eat any and all foods. Once we genuinely stop thinking of certain foods as “off-limits” or as “good” or “bad” we can come to a place where we are more capable of making rational and sound decisions in order to best nourish and sustain our bodies. Gentle nutrition is a practice of self-care, not self-control. It is about eating without restriction and anxiety, allowing us to feel happy, satisfied, and relaxed about eating.