Is It Ok to Eat Sweet Potatoes? When Food Stresses You Out
/Many years ago, when I was deeply entrenched in wellness culture, I was listening to an episode of a popular podcast that was all about optimizing your health.
The host and his guest were taking calls from listeners. I’ll never forget one listener who called in to ask if sweet potatoes were allowed on the particular “lifestyle diet” she was following.
I was struck by the distraught tone of her voice and how stressed she was about whether or not it was okay to eat a sweet potato.
Of course, there was a part of me that related to her struggle.
While I never restricted sweet potatoes, I certainly restricted many other foods I considered “bad."
Like her, I often felt confused about what I should or shouldn’t be eating and feared breaking a food rule as doing so felt catastrophic. I identified with her desire to eat perfectly and her need to be in control of every morsel she consumed.
And, I understood all too well the overwhelming, relentless stress and anxiety that comes along with all of this.
I Felt Sad, Too
However, there was also a part of me that felt sad—sad for her and sad about the entire situation.
I remember thinking there was something not quite right about being so stressed out about eating a particular food—and something not quite right about three adults discussing the pros and cons of her eating it.
It was distressing to consider how much time and energy we were all wasting on our quest to be perfect, healthy eaters when there were so many more important, meaningful and fulfilling things to focus on.
Was this really the best use of our lives?
And, if what we were doing in the “name of health” was causing us so much emotional stress, was it really healthy?
Started to Question
It was moments like these that caused me to start questioning wellness culture, which is mostly diet culture in disguise, and my participation in it.
I was beginning to see the many ways it can trigger disordered eating with all its fearmongering, good and bad foods, eat this, not that lists, and gazillion other often conflicting and harmful messages, all largely driven by anti-fat bias.
I started to examine my own food rules and fears, including investigating where they came from, the evidence behind them, and if they truly supported my wellbeing.
I discovered that none of them were warranted.
They disconnected me from my body, caused a lot of needless suffering and stress, and stopped me from having an intuitive, satisfying and peaceful relationship with food.
Of course, if I had a health condition that necessitated avoiding a specific food, like Celiac disease or a shellfish allergy, trepidation about consuming gluten, shrimp, etc. would be an understandable, rational fear.
I hope the sweet-potato lady eventually overcame her unnecessary food fears, ditched her stressful rules and found her way to food freedom. And, I hope you do, too.
