Have you heard the phrase ‘food neutrality’ and thought: what the heck does that mean? Is this like Switzerland refusing to take a side? In this post I’m discussing what food neutrality means, what the benefits are, how it looks practically in a household and how it fits into your larger approach to health.

What does food neutrality mean?

Food neutrality means what you eat has no impact on your inherent worth. Food has no bearing on morality. Food by itself does not make you healthy or unhealthy. 

Food neutrality is taking away the power from food (and from diet culture) to be bigger than it is. 

When we practice being food neutral, we detach moral value from food. We stop calling some foods “good” and other foods “bad.” We stop putting foods off limits. The idea of unconditional permission to eat becomes less daunting because we’re not worried about eating too much “bad” food. There is no bad food. 

The binge-restrict cycle

Do you know the concept of something off-limits, out-of-bounds or dangerous feeling more tempting and enticing simply because you’ve been told not to? That plays into the binge-restrict cycle of eating patterns. We restrict certain foods because we’ve told ourselves they’re bad, indulgent, unhealthy or junk. That food is put up on a pedestal and your subconscious makes it into something glorious and amazing when really it’s something simple and… boring? And it wouldn’t actually be a big deal to just eat it and move on.

When we mentally put all foods on a level playing field, it becomes easier to naturally eat a varied diet that includes all foods because there is no longer any moral hierarchy of what foods we should and shouldn’t be eating. 

Aren’t some foods healthier than others?

Let’s rephrase. Instead of foods being healthy and unhealthy, let’s talk about what macronutrients we get from different foods. All foods give you one or more macronutrients. Fats, protein and carbohydrates are the three macronutrients. Some foods have more micronutrients (think vitamins) or fiber. Some foods have different kinds of fat- you’ve probably heard of unsaturated versus saturated. Foods containing protein have different amino acids.

That’s true. But the health industry has over-complicated the ideas of what we “should” eat, to the point that most people feel like they don’t even know how to eat normally anymore. 

Eating healthy is a bit simpler than that for most bodies. Focus on variety. Get all the macronutrients. Incorporate fruits and vegetables. Learn to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness cues. 

I propose that it will actually be unhealthier in the long run for you to overanalyze and stress about what you should or shouldn’t be eating. Relax. Take a deep breath. Eating doesn’t need to be that hard. 

What is the goal of food neutrality?

Here are the goals of building food neutrality for yourself and your whole family.

• For food to not impact our (or our childrens’) self worth
• To make peace with food and avoid chronic dieting
• To decrease out-of-control feelings and behaviors around food (like bingeing)
• To learn to listen to internal cues (hunger, fullness, cravings) instead of external cues (diets, food rules)
• To avoid shame, guilt or self-loathing related to food
• To decrease the binge-restrict cycle 
• To decrease the likelihood of you or your child developing an eating disorder
• To debunk the myth that we can control or manipulate our bodies using food

What does it look like practically in the home?

Food neutrality looks like having no banned or off-limits foods. It sounds like avoiding negative talk about foods or yourself in relation to what you’ve eaten (I’m so bad, I just ate that whole ___). It looks like not forcing a child to finish their “good food” before their dessert. Dessert is just another normal food that is served with the rest of the meal or maybe offered after the meal but isn’t a better, worse or more exciting food than any other.

Food neutrality looks like low-stress meal time where you’re not anxious that your child is or isn’t eating certain things. You provide food, they decide what to eat. You don’t attach praise or shame for eating/not eating certain foods. Instead, congratulate their bravery for trying a new food or simply shift the conversation onto other things, like what they’re learning, something fun you’re looking forward to, or what game you might play after dinner.

But some foods truly make me feel better than others

There’s a difference between physically feeling poorly and morally feeling poorly after eating. Learning which foods tend to support your body’s health and wellness and which foods don’t is a lifelong growing exercise. You’ll always be figuring out your changing body and what food makes it feel its best in different situations. 

“So I ate something and it made me feel a bit crummy.” Yep, it happens. Sometimes a food will make us feel gassy or gurgly or uncomfortable. I love to hear you making connections between your body and mind! Being food neutral, we’re not going to permanently label that particular food as “bad.” And we’re not going to feel shame or guilt if we do choose to eat that food again in the future. Sometimes food has other purposes besides just fueling our energy needs, and you are allowed to embrace food for other reasons. We accept that sometimes it may result in a temporary, sub-optimal physical sensation. 

What do we do around other people who haven’t embraced food neutrality?

Noone has the power to make you feel bad about yourself if you don’t give it to them. I love the phrase, “my plate, my business” for reminding myself- and others- that it’s not their business what I eat or what I feed my kids. 

It’s easy to see that when we try to listen to *everyone* and their advice about what to eat and what not to eat, we get overwhelmed, confused and stressed. See: the majority of the population trying to figure out the perfect diet and instead feeling like failures and continuing to try new ones over and over. 

Here’s a phrase you can use if someone starts with moral food talk: “I’m trying to take a more peaceful approach to food and not make myself or my kids feel bad about eating certain things. Would you mind if we talk about something else?” 

So how DO I eat?

Remember when I said it shouldn’t be that hard? Think about your values. If you want to have a household where food isn’t used to shame or manipulate body size, then find nutrition professionals who share those values and get your family nutrition or meal planning advice from them. 

Here are three tips:

1. Instead of thinking about moderation, think about variety. Incorporating variety naturally elicits moderation, but moderation on its own can easily become restriction, which can start a bad cycle (see: binge-restrict cycle). 
2. Remember food’s other benefits outside of nutrition. Social, celebratory, connective. Food is nourishment, yes. It gives the body needed energy each and every day. Food is also a way that we connect and celebrate and socialize. Remember that it has value beyond nutritional content.
3. Health is multi-faceted- it’s about more than just what you eat. If you start to feel panicky that you’re not supporting your health with your food choices, take a pause. Sure, you can think about some changes you’d like to make in your eating pattern to help yourself feel better, but you don’t need to think that your health is doomed just from food choices. There are too many factors that all play into your health at any given time. Remember that there are a lot of things you can do to support a healthy lifestyle and food choices are only one small piece of the pie- pun intended. 

How do you support food neutrality in your household? Leave a comment and let us know!

xo

Savvy