Facebook Food Faddism

by Brooke on July 1, 2015

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Besides all of the baby, wedding, and engagement posts that you might be seeing on Facebook these days there is one more category that fills up my Facebook feed. The dreaded food faddism posts aka fad diets. If you are not familiar with the term food faddism the definition is, “idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity.”

As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), it is almost downright painful to read some of these posts and watch my friends try fad diets that mostly likely will not help them reach their weight loss goals. But was does an RDN do? You don’t want to offend anyone for offering your help/advice, but you also want to make sure that they receive helpful scientific-based advice from the nutrition expert and not a random Facebook acquaintance.

Facebook food faddism can be hard to detect; it often appears as a casual Facebook post between so-called friends. However, the information being spread could turn into a plaque of bad nutrition advice fast. I would recommend looking out for words like: cleanse, jump-start, 7-21 day challenge, diet, quick fix, etc. Any program, supplement, or plan posted that offers quick results is a sign of food faddism. Practicing a healthy lifestyle is a process that occurs 365 days a year and most of the time it takes up to six months to get into a healthy lifestyle routine.

Want more information on food faddism? Check out my blog post, “What puts the FAD in Fad Diets?”

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