“Diet culture” is how dietitians like me describe our society’s obsession—through how we eat—with thinness, musculature, and having the “ideal” body. While dieting has historically been a female domain, recent studies have found that diet culture for men is definitely a thing too. But the current thinking within nutrition is that diet culture isn’t contributing, long-term, to our physical, mental, or social health. Diet Culture Distances Us From FoodONE OF DIET culture’s most insidious effects is how it warps the way we see food. Instead of passing down the stress and shame of diet culture, model a balanced approach: flexibility, variety, and enjoyment.