What is shaping culture? Fad diets

The fad diets that many [people] are on are perfect if you want to be hungry all the time and miserable. - Nathan Pritikin

Fad diets are nothing new. The ancients took a very literal view of certain aspects of diet, such as Romans circa 550 BCE eating the hearts and livers of lion and deer to impart the benefits of speed, bravery and strength. Not all suggestions were as benign as that with a learned member of the medical community in the 180’s suggestion arsenic for a paler complexion. The ways in which this is wrong are so meta we don’t need that explained, but suffice it to say: Do not drink arsenic.

That said, if we go back to 1880 BCE, we’ll find that the those in the medical field had spotted that – if diabetics ate okra or wheatgerm – it could improve their health and counter the effects of diabetes. Something which doctors almost 2000 years later have found to be true.

More recently there has been a spate of fad diets that have appeared and disappeared as their science either is disproven, or the next one that comes along seems easier or more attractively marketed. The fad element of modern diets is shown clearly in these google trends, as each diet is launched and supported by celebrity endorsements, and media outlets hungry for content they rise and gain popularity. Some of them last a fair amount of time, but they all inevitably drop off.

While many of these celebrities and diet influencers have questionable knowledge and intentions, it’s best to follow advice from a professional, such as Claire Pye: “It’s important that you remain open-minded and educate yourself through viable sources, not social media. Make sure when you cut something out that you supplement what you have cut out. For example, a lot of people are jumping onto plant-based diets with no plan, just diving right in. Without appropriate sources of protein, living on a salad is not sufficient. What is your plan? You need a plan.”

While we can’t be certain of a lot with diet, what we have seen is that there are a few diets that have stood the test of time: vegetarian, omnivorous, pescatarian diets, but it’s veganism that we think is going to start taking over the role of the primary human diet over the next decades.