Diet Culture is Gross and Other Concerns I Have
Can you imagine our grandmothers or mothers stressing about food the way we do? It’s crazy. When I was a kid, salad meant iceburg lettuce and a tomato, and there was only one kind of tomato. Listen. They were just happy there was food on the table. If you didn’t eat it, fine. Be hungry. We have so many choices now, so many decisions to make about food. I’d really like to trash the whole idea of health being intricately woven into what we eat. I want to believe it doesn’t matter so much. I want to say, “Life is short. Eat what makes you happy.” That’s been my food philosophy most of my life: All things in moderation.
But my kids keep getting sicker. They have allergies, eczema, asthma, thyroid problems. I’ve been medicating their symptoms their whole lives, and their problems are only kind of under control, part of the time. So I guess I’m jumping on the Paleo bandwagon, even though I feel a little dirty about it. I don’t want to indoctrinate my kids with diet culture. I don’t want to incite mass family orthorexia. I don’t want my kids to feel guilty or stressed about food. Also, there is so much conflicting information out there. I want to start by getting blood work and allergy/food sensitivity testing done. I’ve been making appointments this week and talking to my insurance company about my options. I’ve heard from the respectable, traditional medicine camp who says functional, holistic medicine practitioners are charlatans. “Functional medicine? You mean FICTIONAL medicine? Stop reading books and articles on the internet. I’m a DOCTOR. I went to school ‘X’ amount of years. I’m the expert.”
Fair enough. And maybe true, but I can’t help thinking their education and opinions have been influenced by insurance companies and smartly dressed pharmaceutical reps, whom I’ve seen expensive heel-clicking in and out of every office I’ve visited the last 20 years.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just wait with my sick, screaming baby while you guys chat. I don’t mind. Thanks for the free sample.”
I know there are many mainstream doctors that care about their patients, and that it’s a necessary evil to walk the line between patient care and dealing with insurance companies, but doctors are also people. There are good and bad ones; sometimes the bottom line is money and themselves.
Then we have functional medicine: “I don’t accept or file insurance because I’m not going to be influenced by their restrictions and politics. $2000 out of pocket for office visit, labs, and nutrition education. Per person.”
Not many people can afford to hire a doctor on retainer. Nice idea. For the very wealthy.
Reading The Wahl’s Protocol this week in preparation to start in May. Still trying to decide if Wahl’s is the right diet. I’m also looking at the Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) Elimination Diet. Both come highly recommended in the allergy-nerd, mouth-breather community. Also looking at buying a Pinner Test, since a functional medicine doctor is just not going to be possible now. The Pinner Test is a home food allergy/sensitivity test. Just a few drops of blood, like a blood sugar test, and you can get results on your reactivity to 200 foods. I’ve read some great reviews, but there is some controversy on accuracy, which you can read for yourself here.
But my kids keep getting sicker. They have allergies, eczema, asthma, thyroid problems. I’ve been medicating their symptoms their whole lives, and their problems are only kind of under control, part of the time. So I guess I’m jumping on the Paleo bandwagon, even though I feel a little dirty about it. I don’t want to indoctrinate my kids with diet culture. I don’t want to incite mass family orthorexia. I don’t want my kids to feel guilty or stressed about food. Also, there is so much conflicting information out there. I want to start by getting blood work and allergy/food sensitivity testing done. I’ve been making appointments this week and talking to my insurance company about my options. I’ve heard from the respectable, traditional medicine camp who says functional, holistic medicine practitioners are charlatans. “Functional medicine? You mean FICTIONAL medicine? Stop reading books and articles on the internet. I’m a DOCTOR. I went to school ‘X’ amount of years. I’m the expert.”
Fair enough. And maybe true, but I can’t help thinking their education and opinions have been influenced by insurance companies and smartly dressed pharmaceutical reps, whom I’ve seen expensive heel-clicking in and out of every office I’ve visited the last 20 years.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just wait with my sick, screaming baby while you guys chat. I don’t mind. Thanks for the free sample.”
I know there are many mainstream doctors that care about their patients, and that it’s a necessary evil to walk the line between patient care and dealing with insurance companies, but doctors are also people. There are good and bad ones; sometimes the bottom line is money and themselves.
Then we have functional medicine: “I don’t accept or file insurance because I’m not going to be influenced by their restrictions and politics. $2000 out of pocket for office visit, labs, and nutrition education. Per person.”
Not many people can afford to hire a doctor on retainer. Nice idea. For the very wealthy.
Reading The Wahl’s Protocol this week in preparation to start in May. Still trying to decide if Wahl’s is the right diet. I’m also looking at the Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) Elimination Diet. Both come highly recommended in the allergy-nerd, mouth-breather community. Also looking at buying a Pinner Test, since a functional medicine doctor is just not going to be possible now. The Pinner Test is a home food allergy/sensitivity test. Just a few drops of blood, like a blood sugar test, and you can get results on your reactivity to 200 foods. I’ve read some great reviews, but there is some controversy on accuracy, which you can read for yourself here.
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