Interesting Links for 12-08-2017

[andrewducker]

Why people fall for "clean eating" (tl;dr charisma+despair - the usual way cults work)

When people lose trust in experts, and want a set of rules, they'll go for charisma and stories which resonate over complication.
(tags: food health fraud )

New divorce form 'invites name and shame' of adulterers

(tags: divorce law england )

Think like a supermodel if you want to win from the gig economy

(tags: work employment economics Technology )

Britain needs an anti-Brexit centrist party, says politician studiously ignoring the Lib Dems

(tags: libdem satire politics UK )

“Bloom”. Edinburgh International Festival, August 2017. (Gorgeous projections onto buildings)

(tags: art edinburgh festival light photos )

Reviving the U.K.'s Giant Network of Bike Highways (Built in the 1930s!)

(tags: history bicycles uk )

Mark Buckingham Is "Primarily Focused On Getting Miracleman Done"

(tags: comics awesome alanmoore neilgaiman )

Hugo awards 2017: NK Jemisin wins best novel for second year in a row

(tags: Hugo awards scifi )

Defending Indiana Jones, Archaeologist

(tags: archeology movies )

Comments

[franklanguage]

I'm still trying to figure out what you mean by "falling for" clean eating.

I've been a vegan over 15 years now; by definition, veganism is just the avoidance of animal products and there's nothing "cultish" about avoiding certain foods you find make you sick.

I guess by the same token you could say certain people "fall for" sausages and animal fat in a big way, to the extent that they harm their health. But the effects of eating the Standard American Diet—I don't know what you call it over there on your side of the pond—are so pervasive in society, it's harder to see when people are giving in to Ronald McDonald's charms and "super-sizing" their Happy Meal.

My point is that veganism doesn't always lead to "orthorexia;" in fact, it usually doesn't.

[matgb]

Veganism per se isn't what's meant by 'clean eating', it's a big thing over here at the moment, my parents bought me a cookbook written by one of the leaders last year, they're very traditionalist minded rural retirees but they've switched some of their eating.

Some of the recipes in the book are fine. But the reasoning, the explanations, the lifestyle it promotes is pure anti-science nonsense. I have to avoid lots of foods to avoid getting sick, but I've very carefully and methodically tested various things and ruled things in and out.

The people that go "I'm ill, if I switch to this diet it'll cure me" and happen to then become healthier because, well, they were previously subsisting on cupcakes and crisps and now they're eating loads of fibre and protein. Then they go off and preach this specific high fibre high protein diet to everyone and insist it's a cure all.

People fell for a fad, and in some cases it's been actively dangerous for them.