It seems like every day there’s a new food trend circulating around the internet. You’ve just got to try putting butter in your coffee! Haven’t you heard bananas are bad for you? Forget rice, that’s toxic! We’re all about cauliflower now.
It can be exhausting trying to keep up with all of these complicated dietary fads. So one woman who has no patience for these trends recently shared on Reddit that her stepdaughter has suddenly developed a variety of “allergies.” But instead of accommodating them, this stepmother decided to keep feeding her what she always has. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies readers have shared.
This woman’s stepdaughter has suddenly decided to adopt a variety of dietary restrictions
Image credits: Becca Tapert / unsplash (not the actual photo)
But instead of accommodating the teen’s preferences, she has been feeding her the exact same meals as the rest of the family
Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Nonik Yench / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: HatNo7106
One in ten Americans have some sort of food allergy
I’ve been vegan for about 8 years at this point, so I’m more than familiar with the dietary restriction community. Whether it’s due to an allergy, an intolerance, ethics or a simple preference, plenty of people nowadays choose to refrain from eating certain foods. In fact, according to Statista, more than 40% of Americans follow some sort of special diet today, including high or low carb, lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, pescetarian or vegan.
The majority of these people do not have any food allergies though, as only 10% of Americans actually do, Food Allergy Research & Education reports. The most common food allergies in the US are shellfish, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fin fish, wheat, soy and sesame. And about 40% of kids who have food allergies have more than one.
While many people choose to alter their diets to suit their preferences, being allergic to certain foods is not something to be jealous of. A third of kids who have a food allergy report being bullied because of it, and American families spend almost $25 billion each year caring for kids with food allergies. Not to mention the fact that those with severe allergies always have to be extremely cautious of what and where they eat, as cross contamination can be deadly.
Social media can have a huge impact on how audiences choose to eat
In this particular situation, the stepmother noted that social media and influencers might be contributing to why her stepdaughter has decided to alter her diet. American Fitness Professionals and Associates notes on their site that social media may influence how many of us eat because the meals we are exposed to online are likely to impact how we choose to eat, whether we realize it or not.
This can be a positive, if you see healthy diets displayed online, but it can also backfire if you’re inundated with content pushing fad diets and dangerous trends. The idealization of thin bodies on social media can also affect followers’ eating habits, AFPA notes. If you see tiny models or extremely lean gym influencers posting their meals, you might feel pressured to eat exactly the same way they do in an attempt to make your body look like theirs.
Research has found that being inundated with images of influencers with “perfect” bodies tends to lower the self-esteem of followers and make them feel pressure to adjust their own diets and lifestyles to change their bodies. Advertisements can also have a huge impact on how we see food on social media, as brands and influencers will push certain products just to make money.
Just because they say gluten-free bread is healthier or “less inflammatory” than regular bread doesn’t mean you actually need it. And you certainly shouldn’t be fearful of the regular alternative.
There’s no need to cut foods out of your diet unless you’re actually allergic
It’s easy for impressionable audiences to become fearful of foods like gluten and dairy when they’ve seen dozens of TikToks of women with flat stomachs claiming how much healthier they’ve become since cutting out bread and milk. But the reality is that there is no reason to fear any food group unless you are actually allergic.
In fact, one study found that non-celiac individuals who cut gluten out of their diets might actually increase their risk of heart disease due to the risk of not getting enough whole grains. Harvard School of Public Health also reports that gluten can serve as a beneficial prebiotic, which feeds the “good” bacteria our bodies need. And making necessary changes to our diets, such as suddenly cutting out gluten, can disturb our guts and make us more prone to developing gastrointestinal diseases.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to alter your diet if you actually have digestive issues, allergies or you choose to make changes based on ethics. But claiming that you suddenly have allergies that were inspired by influencer claims is just making eating unnecessarily complicated.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda piece discussing dietary changes, look no further than right here!
Readers were quick to take the stepmother’s side, and she chimed in to provide more details about the situation
English (US) ·