Introduction:

This episode of Food Psych is actually an episode of our new podcast, Rethinking Wellness! Alan Levinovitz, religious-studies scholar and author of Natural and The Gluten Lie, joins us to discuss the problems with framing eating and wellness practices as “natural,” the weird parallels between gun culture and wellness culture, the tricky balance between empathizing with why people are driven to harmful wellness practices and being clear in calling out misinformation, the need for nuance when discussing the connection between physical and psychological issues, and more.

Alan Levinovitz is associate professor of philosophy and religion at James Madison University, and the author, most recently, of Natural: How Faith In Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science.

Resources Mentioned

• Submit your questions for a chance to have them answered in the weekly newsletter

• Alan’s books, Natural: How Faith In Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science and The Gluten Lie and Other Myths about What You Eat

• My upcoming book, The Wellness Trap: Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses and Find Your True Well-Being

• Alan’s piece “In Praise of Bewilderment”

• Alan’s piece about long Covid

• Subscribe to the podcast here