Obesity Cannot Be "Cured" & The History of "Weight As A Spiritual Issue"
Fri Nov 21 2025
Ask Me A Question For Next Week's Episode!
Included in this episode:
A calorie deficit is not a cure for obesity. How "you're not broken" can be invalidating and dismissive of real chronic conditions if we aren't careful. Epidemiology and epigenetics. Facts about obesity and morbid obesity. All of the factors that go into personalized solutions for managing chronic illnesses like obesity. The morality complex of body weight on the rise. The history of bodily righteousness in America. The nuances of justification of racial hierarchies in the stigmatization of fatness. Structural racism and how historic inequities affect communities today. Medical bias and discrimination towards women. Fasting as "spiritual discipline" and "Holy Anorexia" in the Renaissance period. How faith based solutions for weight are based in shame and obedience. The reality that there is a higher risk of obesity if a person connects religion to their weight. Sources:
PMCID: PMC3358928
PMCID: PMC7758617
PMCID: PMC3969538
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Ask Me A Question For Next Week's Episode! Included in this episode: A calorie deficit is not a cure for obesity. How "you're not broken" can be invalidating and dismissive of real chronic conditions if we aren't careful. Epidemiology and epigenetics. Facts about obesity and morbid obesity. All of the factors that go into personalized solutions for managing chronic illnesses like obesity. The morality complex of body weight on the rise. The history of bodily righteousness in America. The nuances of justification of racial hierarchies in the stigmatization of fatness. Structural racism and how historic inequities affect communities today. Medical bias and discrimination towards women. Fasting as "spiritual discipline" and "Holy Anorexia" in the Renaissance period. How faith based solutions for weight are based in shame and obedience. The reality that there is a higher risk of obesity if a person connects religion to their weight. Sources: PMCID: PMC3358928 PMCID: PMC7758617 PMCID: PMC3969538