Anxious Eaters, Janet Chrzan
Anxious Eaters, Janet Chrzan
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Anxious Eaters
Why We Fall for Fad Diets

Author: Janet Chrzan, Kima Cargill

Narrator: Rosemary Benson

Unabridged: 14 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/18/2023


Synopsis

What makes fad diets so appealing to so many people? How did there get to be so many different ones, often with eerily similar prescriptions? Why do people cycle on and off diets, perpetually searching for that one simple trick that will solve everything? And how did these fads become so central to conversations about food and nutrition?

Anxious Eaters shows that fad diets are popular because they fulfill crucial social and psychological needs—which is also why they tend to fail. Janet Chrzan and Kima Cargill bring together anthropology, psychology, and nutrition to explore what these programs promise yet rarely fulfill for dieters.

Considering dietary beliefs and practices in terms of culture, nutrition, and individual psychological needs, Anxious Eaters refrains from moralizing or promoting a "right" way to eat. Instead, it offers new ways of understanding the popularity of a wide range of eating trends, including the Atkins Diet and other low- or no-carb diets; beliefs that ingredients like wheat products and sugars are toxic, allergenic, or addictive; food avoidance and "Clean Eating" practices; and paleo or primal diets. Anxious Eaters sheds new light on why people adopt such diets and why these diets remain so attractive even though they often fail.

About Janet Chrzan

Janet Chrzan teaches nutritional anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Alcohol: Social Drinking in Cultural Context as well as coeditor of Research Methods for the Anthropological Study of Food and Nutrition and Organic Food, Farming, and Culture.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Marjorie on March 16, 2023

2.5......more

Goodreads review by Tammy on July 19, 2022

Years ago I worked with a woman who, every time I ate an apple (which was often as I like apples), had a comment to make - “You know that thing is nothing but sugar, right?” or “You might as well just eat a candy bar.” and so on. I always just ignored or redirected her, but now, having read this fun......more

Goodreads review by Cornelia on April 09, 2023

Great book to provide some insight on why fad diets are so popular. The authors give a very detailed history into diet culture and help readers think more critically before deciding on a specific diet as well as help them discover the “why” they are looking for a new way to eat.......more

Goodreads review by Beth on May 10, 2024

Was ok. I didn’t see the point of dividing up the chapters by diet types because they are all following a similar restriction mechanism when it comes to anxious eating.......more