An alliance with Mother Nature

Natural food, health, and morality in low-carbohydrate diet books

Bibliographic Data

ID5376899
AuthorsChristine Knight (0000-0001-5891-8832, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume20
Issue2
Pages102-122
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFood and Foodways (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0740-9710 • E-ISSN: 1542-3484
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07409710.2012.680352
OpenAlexW2049746100
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited20

This article examines the significance of the natural/unnatural food dichotomy in recent low-carbohydrate diet discourse, drawing on two bestselling low-carbohydrate manuals—Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution and The South Beach Diet. Low-carbohydrate diet books extend the moral associations of natural and unnatural food evident in American diet reform discourse from the nineteenth century, the key difference being the specific foods deemed natural, healthy, and virtuous. An analysis of low-carbohydrate discourse illustrates the flexibility of the descriptor "natural," effectively being used as a proxy for acceptability across widely differing dietary plans. Atkins relies on a Rousseauian concept of nature, in which anything natural (including natural pleasure) is inherently healthy and good. By contrast, South Beach deploys a Calvinist rhetoric of austerity and self-denial. Although Atkins, in particular, criticizes the modern Western food system, hinting at its damaging effects on the environment, ultimately both manuals are concerned primarily with individual health. Notes 1. Atkins, New Diet Revolution 29. The full quotation reads: "When you do Atkins, you eliminate virtually all refined sugar and flour and processed foods. Instead, you're in an alliance with Mother Nature." 2. I discuss this contradiction in the section below on the Atkins diet. 3. Bolding of keywords in the original is omitted here and in subsequent citations. 4. This article explores in detail themes touched on in a previous conference paper (Knight 2006: 273–274, 277–278). 5. All italics in citations from primary texts are my own unless otherwise indicated and are used for critical emphasis. Further references to Atkins in the text are to New Diet Revolution unless otherwise indicated. 6. Atkins is a four-stage diet, beginning with a two-week Induction phase which restricts carbohydrate intake to 20 grams per day. This effectively limits the dieter's menu to meat, poultry, fish, salad, low-carbohydrate vegetables, moderate amounts of cheese, small amounts of cream, and fats and oils. The later phases of the diet allow incremental reintroduction of higher-carbohydrate foods (such as nuts, fruit, wine, pulses, starchy vegetables, and grains), gradually slowing weight loss until the dieter reaches his or her goal weight. The amount of carbohydrate consumed during Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Lifetime Maintenance will vary widely between individuals, especially according to activity levels. 7. Like Atkins, the South Beach diet begins with a strict two-week phase which excludes all starches, added sugars, fruit, and alcohol (Phase 1). In Phases 2 and 3 (for continuing weight-loss and maintenance), the dieter gradually reintroduces fruits, whole grains, wine, and minute amounts of chocolate and sugar

Alliance · Biology · Carbohydrate · Morality · Natural (archaeology) · Natural food · Political science · Biochemistry · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Diet and metabolism studies · Food Science · Law · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease · Psychology

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