Calorie Deficit University

Obesity Cannot Be "Cured" & The History of "Weight As A Spiritual Issue"

Lex Babb

Ask Me A Question For Next Week's Episode!

Included in this episode: 

  • A calorie deficit is not a cure for obesity. 
  • How "you're not broken" can be invalidating and dismissive of real chronic conditions if we aren't careful. 
  • Epidemiology and epigenetics. 
  • Facts about obesity and morbid obesity. 
  • All of the factors that go into personalized solutions for managing chronic illnesses like obesity. 
  • The morality complex of body weight on the rise. 
  • The history of bodily righteousness in America. 
  • The nuances of justification of racial hierarchies in the stigmatization of  fatness. 
  • Structural racism and how historic inequities affect communities today. 
  • Medical bias and discrimination towards women. 
  • Fasting as "spiritual discipline" and "Holy Anorexia" in the Renaissance period. 
  • How faith based solutions for weight are based in shame and obedience. 
  • The reality that there is a higher risk of obesity if a person connects religion to their weight. 

Sources: 

PMCID: PMC3358928

PMCID: PMC7758617

PMCID: PMC3969538