Uwe Knop on the various health hype about food
Whether fat-free, cholesterol-free, vegan, paleo or low-carb: Consumers are constantly being informed about new eating trends that are supposed to make life longer. The promulgators of the new food culture are supported by research results that consistently fail to live up to their promises. At least that’s what nutritionist Uwe Knop says in his book Ernahrungswahn (Food Craze). In the end, the current food hysteria is more a sociological than a biological phenomenon? Telepolis asked.
Mr. Knop, you epistemologically subsume the currently rampant food mania under the category of "Belief instead of knowledge". Is the current phobia of pleasure in eating the religion of today??
Uwe Knop: For some among the people with certainty. This is supported by the fact that the churches have already joined the discussion. They have noticed how this hype about healthy eating is stealing their sheep away from the confessional. So the clerics warn openly "Self-annihilation through nutrition" and that healthy food is a "Substitute religion" can become, in extreme cases "religious fundamentalism" resembles.
"Promises of salvation"
Is this a biological problem or does it have social causes??
Uwe Knop: It is difficult to differentiate, because in the melting pot of the food mania several potential causes clump together to form a causal melange. On the one hand, in saturated societies such as ours, where prosperity is combined with classical religious devotion, many people are looking for new ways of eating "Guidepost" in life, which provide support, orientation and opportunities for self-profiling. The various nutritional trends offer different solutions for each seeker "Culinary diaspora", in which people feel they belong to their own style, and women, where "good and bad" are located. In addition, there are clear and strict guidelines for action and belief in these hoards. In addition, the followers like to indulge in promises of salvation, such as health, long life or even the salvation of the whole world. What does the food craze say about the psychological makeup of our society??
Uwe Knop: In terms of society as a whole, this plays a small role. Because you have to differentiate: the public perception and the permanent chatter of the special eaters gives the impression that masses were at work here. However, if you look at the bare, independent numbers, you see: less than one percent of Germans are vegan, "Prevalences" further small groups like Paleos, Frutarier or Clean Eater do not exist at all. The majority of burgers eats normally. Whereby of course the permanent display impulse of the "Better eaters" Many sensitive normal eaters are confused about what is good and bad, healthy and unhealthy. The one are nourish-madly and make the other nourish-madly. So all have what from it. Which ideological motive is behind it? Something like "Everybody is the architect of his own luck (or body)"?
Uwe Knop: It depends on the intention. Ethical-moral reasons that someone cannot live with the fact that an animal has to die for him – ok, that is to be accepted. The question is then: how consistently it lives its "NoKill dogma"? Or if someone wants to be hip, and therefore becomes vegan or Paleo – also no topic, there were and are fashions and trend wave riders again and again. What is complete nonsense, however, is when someone believes that this or that new form of nutrition would be healthier than normal food. This is nonsense, because there is not a single scientific proof for it. Is this a social compensation phenomenon, in that people who are increasingly subject to the constraints of the market at least want to be in control of their own bodies??
Uwe Knop: The self-optimizer faction is naturally susceptible to the food craze. Control over everything, over the blood values, over the sleep, over the food. The coolness factor of hipsters should not be underestimated. This can be seen from the fact that in April the police had to clear the street at the reopening of a vegan scene restaurant in Berlin due to a mass influx of people. Here it was certainly not primarily about "healthy food", but around "healthy presence", so see and be seen. Is it also about demonstrating a drastic will to conform under the guise of health?
Uwe Knop: That can be quite. Conformity provides security and belonging for many. And with the cloak of health can be concealed so many things. For example, anorexics in treatment facilities often try to hide their eating disorder behind the statement that they are not eating "I am a vegan!" to hide. That is why some houses have already banned veganism. Or 5 a day, that is also an example already. Airs one here the "Cloak health", then under it turns out: The campaign is first and foremost a sales demand for fresh but also for processed fruits and vegetables. Because there is no proof of benefit that a lot of plant food is healthy, nor that the campaign will be successful "5 a day" The health of the citizens demands even a per mille. Instead, consumers buy with a guilty conscience "for the sake of health" apples, pears and lettuce and throw much of it later rotten into the mull. Perverse number.