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Casey's blog

Yoga teachers: PLEASE stop giving terrible dietary advice to your students

25/1/2017

33 Comments

 
Picture
Teaching a class in Thailand 6 years ago. And hopefully not giving terrible nutrition advice to my students.
Yoga teachers: please stop giving potentially harmful dietary advice to your students.

I write this as a yoga teacher, and as a yoga student. I write this as a dietitian and nutritionist who sees the women and girls in clinic at the back end of yet another gruelling 10-day juice fast, or another winter freezing through raw foods; their thyroid, adrenals, and/ or reproductive health just a bit more depleted. 

Their relationship with food and their body having slid yet another few degrees backwards into disordered and potentially dangerous territory. 

​Their self-confidence and self-trust bruised and just a bit weaker. Some of these people are yoga teachers themselves.

I write this with deep concern and remorse for any past student to whom I may have passed on potentially harmful nutrition advice before I learnt more about diet culture. I'm sorry. I didn't know that diet culture, and the body hatred and dysfunction around food it creates, was such an insidious and widespread problem.
I didn't know that "clean eating" was just another code word for dieting. "Dieting" is any way of eating you are emotionally attached to. For instance, do you feel anxious and off-kilter when you go out with friends and can't find something that's 100% "clean?" You're on a diet, baby!

I have been on both the giving and receiving end of bad nutritional advice from yoga teachers. I don't remember a specific incident of telling a student, "wanna lose weight? do this cleanse!", but I do remember recommending a particular book containing what I thought were healthy recipes - a book which also happened to contain extremely dangerous dietary advice along the lines of "eat just one meal a day for optimum health". Not a great blanket recommendation nor goal to aspire to.

I know that posting this is going to piss some people off. But if I can prevent just one more confused, health-conscious woman (and increasingly, man) from being more deeply sucked into diet culture, then it's worth it.



What the EFF is diet culture?

What the hell IS diet culture? you might ask. In the words of the wonderful Fiona Sutherland, fellow non-diet dietitian, soon-to-be yoga teacher, and mindfulness crusader:
Diet culture encompasses all the messages that tell us that we’re not good enough in the bodies we have, and we’d be more worthwhile and valuable if our bodies were different. Our culture is SO embedded with body- and weight-centric messages that they’re sometimes imperceptible. Diet culture is deeply ingrained in our everyday existence and prevents us from living our most full and meaningful lives. ​
Yoga culture (not the practice of yoga itself, but the lifestyle trends, fashion, media etc surrounding it) has become an arm off the octopus of the health-conscious culture, which is a dangerous flirtation with, and sometimes just a covert name for, diet culture.

There's health-conscious, and then there's health-obsessed. And increasingly I'm seeing more and more yogis, especially younger women, crossing over into health-obsessed territory. I know what it looks like because I've been there. I think that as yoga teachers we need to be vigilant of this, and to be very careful about the health advice we give outside of our specialty of yoga practice.
​
Picture
Another pretty yoga teaching picture

A STORY OF two WOMEN

To illustrate why it's so inappropriate for yoga teachers to give detailed nutrition advice, I'd like to tell two short stories.

Scene 1
Picture this. I'm wrapping up a nutrition consultation with a client, let's call her Mrs X. As her dietitian, we've discussed lots of stuff about food, body cues of hunger and fullness, Mrs X's health issues relevant to her eating - y'know, that sort of thing. 

What we haven't discussed is the stress fracture in the C3 vertebra in her neck, and the inflamed tendons in her wrists, because she has other health practitioners who deal with that, and we only have 30 minutes together. 

On her way out, Mrs X casually adds that she's thinking of trying yoga to help manage her stress levels and give her energy. "Oh, yes!" I exclaim, "yoga totally saved me! I find doing headstands just zens me out so much! And handstands give me tonnes of energy. You should try that!"

Obviously, this would be a major dietitian FAIL because I'm not a yoga teacher (well actually I am, but for the purpose of the point I'm trying to make - and to represent the majority of nutritionists - let's pretend I'm not, okay?).

​I don't know enough about Mrs X's health to know that what works for me, will also work for her.


I might know about her digestive and eating issues, but I know next to nothing about her history of injuries to safely recommend specific yoga postures for her to try. In this case, telling Mrs X to do advanced poses like handstands and headstands would be the equivalent of telling someone with coeliac disease to go eat a few loaves of bread: it could really fuck her up.

Luckily, I don't know any nutritionists who would actually do this. And if they do suggest yoga it's as a general tool to try for stress management, on the premise that you go ask a yoga teacher for further modifications if you have injuries. 


Scene 2
Okay, now picture this. Miss Y is at her local yoga studio, just finishing up a yoga class. She's feeling zenned out and all open-hearted after her savasana. She thanks her yoga teacher on the way out, and they chat animatedly as they both bask in that delicious post-yoga glow.

What they don't discuss is Miss Y's declining relationship with food, which is now bordering on an eating disorder, or her roller coaster blood sugar levels, or the fact she hasn't had a menstrual period in months because she's under eating in an attempt to lose weight. 


"I loved your class! I love you!" Miss Y is literally high on yogi feel-good vibes (a real thing) and anything her teacher says at this point will be taken as gospel. Yoga teacher smiles serenely. Miss Y casually adds that she loved the class, and if only her energy levels were a *bit* higher, she could have tried the headstand. 

"Oh," says yoga teacher, "you should try a juice fast. I did a 5-day fast and I feel ah-mazing! I have so much energy, I do them regularly. I've even lost that little belly I'd been carrying for ages around that I could never lose. You should try it!"

Obviously, this would be a major yoga teacher FAIL.

And it happens. All. The. Time.


Yoga teachers, I get it. You open people up through the practice. You witness melt downs. You're privy to the psychological issues and deep seated secrets disclosed to you by students in their moments of post yoga glow-induced vulnerability. 

Sometimes, the relief you bring by helping them to relax and breathe is so great, you assume the role of HEALTH GURU OF EVERYTHING in their eyes. You are a magical, perfect, sparkly unicorn of health and life wisdom who poos (non GMO) glitter. So it's not uncommon for people to ask you if they should leave that abusive man. Or try yoni steaming. Or go on a detox. Or try a ketogenic supplement.

But unless you are willing to be liable for any decision your student makes based on your advice, you shouldn't tell them what to do. Instead, suggest they seek help from a counsellor, psychologist, or nutritionist, or whatever.

Most yoga teachers I know would do just that. But not all. Every situation I describe at the end of this blog is based on what a yoga teacher has actually done or said in a class I or close friends have personally attended. 
​​

Is it ethical?

To put this into some yogi context, we need look no further than the yamas and niyamas. These are the first and second limbs on the path of yoga, even before the asana (physical postures). They are ethical principles that can help guide how we relate to, and take care of, ourselves and other people.

On first glance, the yamas and niyamas can be glossed over as "basics". "I tell the truth, and I'm not violent," we justify to ourselves.

But on reflection these principles can be applied at a deeper and perhaps more powerful level as we grow in self-awareness. Violence, stealing, and dishonesty have subtler manifestations. Practicing the yama of non-violence (ahimsa), for example, could be interpreted as being awake to the more subtle ways we harm ourselves and others through colluding with diet culture and body hatred, which thrive off the assumption that we aren't enough as we are right now.

And essentially, the reason why people do packaged juice cleanses, or any weight loss diet, or crazy 12 week intensive exercise challenges, is that at their core they believe they aren't good enough as they are right now. They aren't thin, clean, fit or enlightened enough, and they will pay big money for the privilege of thinking they are, finally, ENOUGH - even for a fleeting moment.

Violence isn’t just killing a person or an animal; it may also arise in the harsh ways we treat ourselves and others, such as pushing into a potentially injurious pose to keep up or compete with other students. Or convincing someone that their cruelty to animals knows no bounds unless they go vegan (in the name of ahimsa, paradoxically) or to start a juice fast to help them "release old waste" (read: lose weight).


Picture
Another pretty yoga teaching picture

Please, Just don't go there

The subset of the population who attends yoga classes massively overlaps with the subset who develop disordered eating and eating disorders. In Australia 80% of yoga students are women between the ages of 25 and 54 (1). Approximately 15% of those women will experience a full blown eating disorder at some point during their life (2), with younger women more susceptible. On the Gold Coast where I live, young women make up a significant proportion of the students in yoga classes.

So fellow yoga teachers, I implore you: please stop giving potentially harmful dietary advice to your students. You are seen as a magical rainbow person who rides unicorns, and your advice will likely be taken seriously. (The following are actual yoga-teacher-giving-terrible-nutrition-advice situations that I or people close to me have been in.)

PLEASE do not tell them they need to detoxify and alkalinise, when they reveal to you in a moment of post-yoga vulnerability that they're "desperate to lose weight". Weight loss and fad diets (including cleanses and other common detox protocols) do not take people’s individual requirements into consideration and can result in a person feeling hungry, experiencing low moods, lacking in energy levels and generally developing really poor health.​  

With research showing that 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (2,3), it's impossible to advise someone to attempt any weight loss protocol on the premise that it will help them lose weight, and still stick to the yamas of ahimsa (non-harming), satya (truthfulness), and brahmacharya (maintenance of vitality). 

​
​PLEASE do not encourage them to go on a juice fast when they ask you how to increase their energy levels. Weight loss, however temporary - and the adrenaline rush of the starved state mistakenly interpreted as "increased energy" - are common results when you restrict calories in the short term (why do you think packaged juice fasts are so popular?!). So if we're honest, a juice fast is a diet. And 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (4).

​
PLEASE do not pressure them to go vegan or vegetarian in order to be healthier and prove that they give a shit about animals and the environment (I'm sure they already do). Please don't simplify the vegetarian issue down to ethics alone. Whilst this is important, the biological suitability of a vegetarian or vegan diet varies WILDLY from one person to another. 

In my experience, going vego can be great for some people, at certain life stages, for a certain period of time or disease state. But it's not the healthiest option for absolutely everyone contrary to what you've read/heard/believe. I feel this to be true from personal experience living as a vegetarian and vegan for a decade... but more importantly from clinical experience working with people suffering enormously from being on an innately restrictive diet for far too long. The diet that heals isn't always the diet that sustains.

Also, if you're speaking to a typical yogi you're speaking to someone who may be quite health-obsessed or orthorexic i.e. they have a decent chance of already having a disordered relationship with food, for whom vegetarianism will be just another reason to restrict even more foods from their dwindling list of "allowed" food items. The number of times I've seen this in the yoga community is staggering.

​
PLEASE refrain from suggesting intermittent fasting or skipping meals to improve their digestion and "release excess weight". When you tell a room full of female students to cut out at least one meal per day, you are speaking to a room of predominantly 18-42 year old women, of whom statistically 1 in 100 will have full blown anorexia nervosa, and a significant chunk will already have a disordered relationship with food. 

You are speaking with a population (students and women) for which the incidence of bulimia is estimated to be 1 in 5 (5).

You are speaking to a group of women of whom, even if they are within a normal healthy weight range, only 22% are happy with their weight. Almost three quarters of these women desire to weigh less, including 68% of healthy weight and 25% of underweight women (6).


PLEASE don't write a book about detoxification, clean eating or juice cleansing and then "mention" it's now available for purchase at the end of class - you are not a nutrition expert. And even if you are, see above statistics regarding your target audience.

PLEASE don't push products onto your students in the name of health: be it your powdered vegetable juice line / "life-changing" multi-level marketed products / "food grade" essential oils / ketogenesis-inducing supplements. Even if you're totally convinced they're awesome, it's just plain unprofessional. They're here to do yoga, not become part of your downline. IF a student actively asks you about your products, and you (somehow) know for a fact that said products will not be used to perpetuate body hate, non-acceptance of and disconnection from self, then by all means pitch away.

Please, just don't go there. Because people are not just bodies, projects to be improved and slimmed down and detoxed. We are whole human beings, as our beloved yoga philosophy tries to teach us time and time again.

So. Yoga teachers: please stop giving potentially harmful dietary advice to your students.

​And yoga students, please don't ask your yoga teacher what and how and when you should be eating. They don't know, because that information can only be discovered by you. Your relationship with food and your body is your business. If there's an issue with it, you should probably bring it to someone who can take your individualised requirements into consideration.

Yoga is as much about getting in touch with our bodies and its innate wisdom, as it is going beyond the body. Yoga teachers, if you want to do a 3/5/7 day juice cleanse, go raw vegan, or live on broccoli and bone broth then knock yourself out! Just don't impose your nutritional philosophies onto impressionable students when you really should just be teaching yoga.


Your students look up to you, they are listening, they are absorbing not only your dietary advice, but your own unresolved neuroses and food hang ups, should you have any.

Sure, advise people to eat healthily and treat their bodies with respect. But IF and HOW they do that is their journey and it's not your place to intervene.

Yoga teachers, if you are called upon to give any nutritional advice, make it an extension of the original yoga philosophy of knowing and trusting oneself, not an extension of your latest detox.​ Direct them to some non-diet approaches such as Health At Every Size® or Intuitive Eating, the Body Positive movement, or any number of arising approaches and practitioners that take a whole person's health into account, not just how good they look in a pair of Lululemon tights or how clean their gut is.




References

  1. Penman, S., Cohen, M., Stevens, P., & Jackson, S. (2012). Yoga in Australia: Results of a national survey. International Journal of Yoga, 5(2), 92–101. 
  2. ​Wade, T.D, Bulik, C.M., Neale, M., Kendler, K.D. (2000)Anorexia Nervosa and Major Depression: Shared Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors. American Journal of Psychiatry 157(3), 469-471
  3. Grodstein, F., Levine, R., Spencer, T., Colditz, G. A., &Stampfer, M. J. (1996). Three-year follow-up of participants in a commercial weight loss program: Can you keep it off? Archives of Internal Medicine 156(12), 1302.
  4. ​Neumark-Sztainer D., Haines, J., Wall, M., & Eisenberg, M. ( 2007). Why does dieting predict weight gain in adolescents? Findings from project EAT-II: a 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 107(3), 448-55.​​
  5. The National Eating Disorders Collaboration. (2012a). Eating disorders in Australia. Sydney: NEDC.
  6. Kenardy, J., Brown, W. J., & Vogt, E. (2001). Dieting and health in young Australian women. European Eating Disorders Review 9, 242-254.
33 Comments
Lou link
23/1/2017 09:47:38 pm

AMEN. So well said. Seriously this stuff shits me to TEARS in the yoga industry!!!

Reply
Casey
23/1/2017 10:10:52 pm

Thanks Lou. It's frustrating isn't it?! Especially when it comes from really experienced yoga teachers who should know better. Thanks for reading it was a big one!

Reply
Jocelyn link
27/1/2017 08:26:07 pm

Omigosh! Thank you for writing this. I'm going to share the shit out of it!

Reply
Casey
28/1/2017 04:56:18 pm

Haha! Thanks Jocelyn - feel free to share the shit out of it! :)

Mareile link
24/1/2017 04:37:49 am

Casey, as always, you are speaking my mind and I loved reading your article. As a Pilates teacher (and soon to be yoga teacher) I do get asked these questions. More often than about nutrition, I get asked about how I think they should handle/deal with various physical medical issues. Do you think I should have surgery? Really? Would you trust your Pilates teacher's advice over your doctor's? It's great to live in a changing world, where HOLISTIC is a buzzword, but also a beautiful truth. But it's important to know as teachers where we belong and where our knowledge resides.

Reply
Casey
26/1/2017 10:31:31 pm

Thanks for reading Mareile - how exciting that you'll soon be a yoga teacher as well! I couldn't agree more - in an increasingly holistic world it's ever more important to know where our scope of practice lies. That's especially the case with yoga (and probably pilates) teachers who are deemed as "gurus of everything" by some of our students.

Reply
Di link
25/1/2017 04:27:44 am

Yes! I'm a yoga teacher and pharmacist and find the latest fad of veganism frustrating! Eat real food that makes you feel good.

Reply
Casey
26/1/2017 10:33:26 pm

Hi Di - it can be frustrating when any diet or "approach to health" is deemed as a panacea, especially for us yoga teachers who are sometimes expected to embody said diets! "Eat real food that makes you feel good" - sounds a lot more accommodating to me :)

Reply
Leena Putkonen
26/1/2017 01:23:38 pm

Thank you so much for shining a light on this problem! We seem to have the same problem at the other side of the world in Finland. I think this also applies to many other professionals, such as personal trainers. Stick with exercise or yoga if that's your profession and leave the diet bit to dietitians and authorized nutritionist who will take into consideration health conditions and life circumstances.

Reply
Casey
26/1/2017 10:36:51 pm

Hi Leena - thank you for reading!
Going by comments from when I posted the link to Facebook, this is indeed a world wide problem in many health and wellness fields. It really comes down to individuals needing and deserving a personalised, in depth consideration of their life circumstances, not an off-hand suggestion at the end of a class that may be heard by others out of context.

Reply
Carmen Angerer link
31/1/2017 03:45:04 am

This is an excellent article and one I'll definitely be sharing. Thank you for taking the time to speak openly about this issue.

Reply
Casey
17/2/2017 02:51:01 pm

Thanks for reading and sharing, Carmen!

Reply
rebecca link
31/1/2017 03:40:33 pm

yes, this is what i try to do with my business... teaching people to move well and often, and knowing themselves. coming from a place of gratitude for all they are, and then who they want to be. thank you - perfectly comminucated!

Reply
Amanda
31/1/2017 11:56:08 pm

I couldn't keep reading this article. I didn't make it much past "You are a magical, perfect, sparkly unicorn of health and life wisdom who poos (non GMO) glitter." I'm sorry you've received poor advice from Yoga teachers, but poor advance is plentiful from everybody and from every profession. Our health is our responsibility, which means educating ourselves. Blaming others is an act of disempowering ourselves. I also believe that the most effective change comes from emphasizing the positive; using positive psychology; emphasizing what we should do versus what we shouldn't do. Try talking about what is appropriate advice to give versus "scolding" those who have good intentions, but are missed informed. If you take this approach your message will have a greater impact. It's not just what you say, but how you say it. Best wishes.

Reply
Laura McFarland
1/2/2017 03:44:52 am

You talk about "blaming others" and "scolding" while blaming the author of this article and scolding her.

You talk about "emphasizing the positive" yet nothing in your comment was positive in any way. "Poor advance" being plentiful and common "in all professions" is bullshit.

Giving people potentially harmful advice in a professional setting is not ok. Having "good intentions" does not make it ok to tell people things that can hurt or seriously injure them.

My advice to you, with "good intentions" is to go fuck yourself. I read somewhere that helps with hypocrisy, not being able to handle the truth, being wrong, and general bitchiness.

Best wishes.

Reply
Maria Bowers
1/2/2017 04:12:08 pm

Amanda and laura, i agree with both of you and the author. Yoga teachers are not nutritionists , but i sometimes catch myself giving advice in areas where i am truly knowledgeable. You all make convincing observations, beautifully. Laura, you are a spitfire. Thank you all

Estella
1/2/2017 09:12:32 am

I have to say I found that comment from this article about the sparkly unicorn stuff extremely patronising to both student and teacher . Instead of attacking yoga teachers for talking about juice cleanses , how about an article on the phychological issues the pharmaceutical industry are causing or the harmful chemicals in our foods. I'm sorry but this article wasn't informative and just seemed like an attack when we should be supporting each other

Reply
Donna
5/2/2017 06:02:48 pm

I agree. Not ALL yoga teachers are giving bad nutritional advice, actually I've never given nutritional advice & neither have any teachers I have practiced yoga with! I don't notice all yoga students turn into anorexic! Food is a huge part of weight loss! Obesity is an American epidemic & anyone trying to improve their health by practicing yoga is a positive direction! Weight loss belongs to nutritionists, everyone is different & lose weight differently! Diet & exercise will lead to a healthy lifestyle! So I don't understand this All yoga instructors telling all yoga students to do a cleanse!

Reply
Casey
17/2/2017 02:52:22 pm

Can't please em all I suppose. My sense of humour is not everyone's cup of tea :D Best wishes.

Reply
Laura McFarland
1/2/2017 03:48:45 am

What I just said was directed at Amanda, in case that wasn't clear.

Reply
Casey
17/2/2017 02:50:01 pm

Thank you Laura :) For your valuable input and for delivering it with a sledge hammer! We need more fierce, strong, no bullshit women like you. You go lady xxx

Reply
Nicole link
6/2/2017 06:22:50 pm

Thanks for this. I work in health (but not as a dietician) and I find that so often people in these professions feel compelled to offer dietary advice to their clients. The problem is, often we can inadvertently pass on misinformation and our own issues with food and diet as "expert advice". While it might be well-intentioned, the consequences are real.
I wish we could steer our vernacular away from purity and cleanliness and self-flagellation and move towards self-acceptance, and yoga is such a fantastic tool for this.

Reply
Casey
17/2/2017 02:47:40 pm

Wonderfully said Nicole. Its so easy to slip into passing on our own biases, and when we've already waded out of familiar waters... things can get iffy. Yes, always well intentioned but the consequences can be dire. Love your take on yoga as self-acceptance, and like you I think we should totally ditch the word "clean" and the purity and self-flagellation it often implies. "Healthy, balanced, sustainable eating" is good enough! Thanks for your beautiful insights!

Reply
Jamie link
15/2/2017 06:59:14 pm

I'm not a yoga teacher, but I do love to practice it & am thinking about going for my YTT after I complete my MS in Nutrition this April. I haven't seen much in the way of yoga instructors giving nutrition/health advice, but I can completely understand where you're coming from. Heath & Wellness go together much like Yin & Yang. I enjoyed the playfulness of your writing as well, so thank you for sharing (I too, will share the shit out of this) however, I have to respectfully disagree with you on the "clean eating" piece. The food industry is a terribly dirty place. To me, eating clean means knowing where your food came from, to the point that you go out of your way to purchase food from a local farmer (through a CSA or a health food store) - not imported from another country. Clean also means 100% non-gmo & organic. It doesn't mean I won't eat something on a menu that's the total opposite and I definitely wouldn't leave a restaurant because there wasn't anything offered that wasn't particularly "clean". It's a lifestyle choice though, not a diet. There's a huge difference. Much love. XX

Reply
Casey
17/2/2017 02:44:15 pm

Thanks for your comments Jamie! Glad you enjoyed the playfulness in the writing :) Your definition of clean is actually in line with how I eat on a day to day basis, except I just don't call it clean anymore - that word is so loaded for many of my disordered eating and eating disorder clients I no longer use it in my vocabulary. So I think it really is semantics, and context. Thanks again for reading xx

Reply
Yoga course in rishikesh link
18/4/2017 11:38:40 pm

Thanks for sharing a good information. it will be very helpful for us. yoga is very beneficial for our health. i think every one should do yoga regular in a hectic life. it gives us a peace of mind and soul.

Reply
anon
8/6/2017 02:24:01 pm

A relative who teaches yoga not only gives random advice but conducts "nutrition workshops" out of her studio.

Reply
Jones smith link
9/6/2017 11:58:52 pm

Thanks for lovely information. awesome post

Reply
Erin
15/1/2018 05:08:45 pm

Thank you so much for writing this article. I am a registered dietitian and I just started going to prenatal yoga. My yoga teacher means well, but I internally cringe when she dishes out prenatal nutrition advice. I’ve been torn on what to do about it. Let it go? Confront her? I usually mind my own business when I overhear that sort of thing, but she has a room full of well-meaning, eager mothers to be, and it could be dangerous.

Reply
casey
13/2/2018 06:27:25 pm

Hi Erin, thanks for reading :) This is such a difficult situation to be in. As RDs (or any kind of health professional) we have a duty of care, we care about people's wellbeing and it's hard to let this kind of thing go. Perhaps you could speak to the teacher after class out of earshot of other students, and express your concerns in a non-judgmental way? She or he might just appreciate being gently corrected as I'm sure they don't wish to harm their students.. but then again, they might not. Tricky one! I hope you find the solution that feels right for you. Thanks again for dropping by :)

Reply
lisa link
9/4/2018 10:21:09 pm

thanks for sharing great post and information.

Reply
Yogi bear
31/3/2019 12:12:40 am

Thanks for this. I have taken yoga classes where the teacher tells us that eating meat violates ahimsa. I cannot be vegan due to a serious medical condition and it makes me feel terrible about myself. Not only that but I feel like the teacher is constantly judging me and looking down on me for not being a vegan.

Reply
Laura Gren link
12/1/2021 04:59:44 pm

Hello mate great blog

Reply



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