I need to do a better job of publishing the things I’ve written for other outlets.
Like, for example, this thing I did on NBCNews.com about Lizzo and her detox:
Lizzo acknowledged the criticism and underlying assumptions in a third videosaying, “I feel like, as a big girl, people just expect that if you do something for health, you do it to lose weight dramatically, and that’s not the case.”
And what he said at the end is right: “big girls” should “do whatever they want with their bodies.” People feel too free to declare them arbiters of what women (especially big women and especially big black women) should or shouldn’t do with their bodies, including what they should eat. And anyone who publicly judges a hyper-critical black woman for what she chose to eat for 10 days should think about whether she is helping or hurting “body positivity” by contributing to the ongoing nationwide surveillance of her body.
But there’s another problem here besides Lizzo and her growing relationship with her body and her well-being. The fact that she, like many of us, believed in the detox myth speaks volumes about its toxic seduction even for those who actively resist “diet” culture.
Click here to read the rest on the NBC News website.
But also, in case you forgot, there is absolutely no reason to detox. I’m serious:
What you should know about your body is that… it’s amazing. Somehow, before you were born, your body already knew You would need methods to expel elements that are not useful to your body or do not belong there.
Since the main methods of consumption are absorbing, ingesting, or inhaling, it’s safe to say that the liver, kidneys, and lungs have detoxification covered.
If you inhale something that doesn’t belong inside you, you almost instantly start coughing and gasping for air. Those are your lungs helping you.
However, when you absorb or ingest something that doesn’t belong, it is the liver and kidneys that do the work. [source: Detoxification 101: What Is It, Why It’s Useless, and How to Do It Effectively]
Detoxification has gained ground because many people have accepted the idea that the foods they eat contain “toxins” that must be forcibly removed, but this is not the case.
In fact, detox as we know it, which is more like what is done to those suffering from addiction, involves helping them safely overcome the period of withdrawal, in which some people relapse and turn to the substance of addiction. their choice, or end up suffering an adverse reaction such as a heart attack. It’s much more serious than someone having guts after a weekend in [insert place that magically is untouched by Auntie ‘Rona].
It is giving a very serious name to a very unserious process.
This weekend I joked with one of my audiences that I felt like a big A portion of people who drink juices or smoothies do so because they “hate vegetables,” so they juice a whole pineapple, a banana, an apple, a bag of blueberries, and a kale leaf. Because it’s basically “kool-aid.” Those They are the people most susceptible to this… and this… and this.
It’s hard to malign juices/smoothies because I understand the intent and goal. You want to live healthier and at least it is more nutritious than processed foods. But the final result must be a transition towards a reality chewing and learn to cook/prepare vegetables without putting them through a blender. No sarcasm, no shade. I promise. [source: Experts Say Smoothies May Be As Bad as Sodapop]
Despite all this, leave Lizzo alone. We’re all on different paths trying to figure these things out, and your process isn’t different just because it’s in the public eye. Because, as she said in her videos, “Your body is perfectly yours, even if it isn’t anyone else’s. If you knew the complexities that your body possesses, you would be very proud of it.”
Let her learn without having to drag her around.
