Yoga and "Thinspiration": How Natural are "Natural" Weight Loss Supplements

Despite our uber cynical and critical selves, pressure to fit a certain "body ideal" thrives... especially in the cognitive dissonance that is Western Yoga. We may pay lip service to how yoga is for "every body" and many of us are fighting the good fight, but mainstream perception as well as what gets often (incorrectly if you ask me) tagged as "art" always includes one of the 5th percentile: skinny female form, scantily clad and achieving all the physical that is often touted as "secondary" to the yoga practice.
For 95% of us, this is the physically impossible ideal we're encouraged to strive towards.

This stuff is insidious, unconscious but most certainly present. A billion dollar advertising industry isn't wrong when they assume that the 300+ ads we as a population see a day isn't influencing our spending, how we feel about our bodies and our selves. Disordered eating has been directly linked to advertising and social/cultural body ideal pressures... and 95% of all people who suffer form disordered eating are women. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental health issues (Nedic for more information)

When a yoga instructor has pages after pages of pinterest boards with "thin ideal porn" of thin yoga bodies and degrading negative self comments- something is wrong. Previously to social media like facebook, twitter and pinterest there were such sites called "pro-ana" websites. Where women would post and peruse photos and "motivational" posts of extremely thin women. These websites are unhealthy eating, harmful tips on losing weight and perpetuate the unrealistic body type ideal. A quick search on pinterest of "thinspiration+yoga" reveals some pretty disturbing photos. Taking it a few steps further and you'll see entire pins filled with thin bodies (typically without heads) and non-realistic board statements such as: "Do you think she got this skinny by sitting on her ass and eating crap?..." (actually, healthy eating and great exercise can't change bone structure- part of that is genetics- hence the unrealistic ideal).

Many of these pin boards feature thin yoginis in acrobatic asanas.

We know that diet pills are bad, that dieting is unhealthy (and unsuccessful, resulting in higher weight gain)... but what about when we attach words like "eco, organic, natural" or even "ayurvedic" to a program/product? Of all the greenwashing- this stuff irks me the most.

For example: "natural weight loss herbs" and "slimming supplements". A fantastic article co-written by my husband Andrew here on EcoYogini a few years ago delves more deeply into the sociological fallacies of the supplement industry. What's interesting is the historical significance of how we've been quietly shepherded into accepting that taking supplements in lieu of whole foods (such as calcium instead of drinking milk) has allowed the supplement industry to create acceptance of a pill as a true food healthy alternative.

The true definition of what we're looking for to be "natural" would be something that is the least modified. Powdered and pill supplements are far from this definition.

Self-proclaimed "natural" weight loss supplements are even more sketchy in nature as they often have poor safety trials and extremely loose regulations. For example, in 2009 Health Canada recalled 68 brands of "natural" weight loss supplements because they contained undeclared prescription only ingredients, some of which had serious health side effects. (Adria Vasil, Ecoholic January 5th 2012). Also reported by Ecoholic, some supplements have been found by ConsumerLab.com to have hexavalent chromium (that cancer agent on Erin Brockovich) and a quick stroll through the warning archives reveals an unending stream of recalls and violations.

We shouldn't forget herbs that appear straightforward as well. Such as Hoodia which is now an endangered species in Africa. Environment Canada has had to stop thousands of illegal shipments of diet pills containing Hoodia. It's so important to consider how those third world country herbs were collected and processed, it's not like they magically appeared in pill form someone had to input labour.

Staying healthy is important. If becoming healthy is part of your plan this year, instead of thinking "weight loss" try thinking "health-gain". Honestly, natural supplements aren't healthy, and many aren't actually environmentally friendly (or safe).

If someone encourages you in your yoga practice to take supplements, try a purge or makes your feel like there's an end-point body ideal: they're not practicing yoga. 

**NB: as an astute commenter pointed out (Thanks Nicole!)- supplements prescribed by an accredited Naturapathic doctor are a different kettle of fish. At the same time, even then you should try to do what you feel comfortable.
article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Estrogen Pee and Me!

I was reminded of this "eco-change" after reading Green as a Thistle's book; "Sleeping Naked Is Green" (a fantastic read, seriously!). This is another little bit of an overshare slippage... here goes!

"The Pill". Even the title requires some sort of "duh duh duuuuuhh" or at least ominous music. As soon as sex becomes a part of your life, usually oral contraceptives follows suite. The majority of women between 16 and 40 take, or have taken oral contraceptives of some sort at one time. As a teen that grew up in the 90's, I was a part of the "newish" trend for mothers and daughters to be more open with each other and "The Pill" was more accepted. We were also a part of a whole slew of women who would be on "The Pill" for lengthy periods of time, as many of us were going to University and starting families later in life. That's one huge guinea pig testing right there.

Oral Contraceptives are basically synthetic hormones that mimic the "pregnant body mode", forcing the woman's body to prevent their eggs from attaching to the uterine wall. Or something like that. In any case, women have been prescribed "The Pill" for various reasons- ranging from baby repellant to a pimple remedy, to decrease heavy flows, to help with cramping or all of the above. Did you know that a male version of the oral contraceptive was created, tested and deemed equally safe and effective as the female version? Several focus groups and surveys revealed that A) the majority of men reported they would never take it and B) most women reported they wouldn't trust their man to take it appropriately....

I took the pill for 8 years and have tried every. single. one. out there. I have. Eight whole years of swallowing synthetic estrogen, progesterone, androgens into my blood stream three weeks of the month. Have you read the possible side effect list on the huge, ridiculously small font, Japanese, English, Spanish, French pamphlets? They range from liver disease and blood clots to cancer. Oh, but only if you smoke and live a terrible lifestyle at the same time. Phew- I am SO safe. However, if you want a scary read- check out this site's research and stats on breast cancer and the pill...ack!

Ok, so as a late teen and early twenty-something my thoughts were primarily on the baby-repellant aspect- seriously those babies had to STAY AWAY. I didn't really care much about the long term effects of what it did to my body, those types of things happen to "the others", not moi. There was also no way in h*** I was taking "The Needle" (cue even SCARIER music). If a change in hormonal levels made me bonkers (i.e. from Tri-Cyclen) what would a HUGE shot of hormones do all at once? I'd be running down the street naked and shaking my fists angrily. A traumatic sight.

However a few years ago I began reading about what all those synthetic hormones were doing to our water eco-systems. Hah, never mind MY health, our Earth is suffering??? OMG stop the anti-baby pill! Who knew that a portion of fake estrogen/progesterone/androgen was being unceremoniously peed out into our lakes and rivers? My pee is creating mutant three head frogs?? Oh Goddess, this canNOT be good. According to Adria Vasil (Ecoholic), 1.5 million Canadian women are peeing out synthetic estrogen every day. Also, American researchers have found that the fertility of trout that were exposed to even super-low doses (80x lower than thoses found in the "wild") of estradiol found in oral contraceptives was affected. The patch and vaginal rings also pump out more hormones, resulting in more being peed out into the waterways (as our sewer systems are not set up to deal with filtering and processing synthetic chemicals... Halifax still has floatables for goodness sake!) and on average 25,000 patches being put into the landfills EACH WEEK. (Ecoholic, 2006).

Alright, I have to admit that even THOSE stats weren't enough to make me consider alternate options. Finally, it was my body that made the ultimate decision. After three years of continual spotting, and needing "feminine products" for about 50% of my time (that's 1.5 years of spotting), I gave up and went to see a Gynecologist. She was very friendly and had cloth blankets instead of those terrible paper throw-out ones (yay eco-gyno!). Who knew that 8 consecutive years of hormones could result in an eroded cervix lining? Since I'd tried every single oral contraceptive out there for a period of at least 3 to 6 months each, her verdict- stop, get an IUD (no way!) or deal.

I stopped about five months ago.

I was nervous, my body hasn't had a "normal" cycle in EIGHT YEARS. What were they like when I was 18? I barely remember. I am pleased to report that so far it has been fantastic- more mood swings, more cramping, more pimples.... but the important thing- NO SPOTTING. At all. Zip. Cue crazy arm swinging, butt wiggling dance with a happy happy smile. Also, I can actually predict to the minute when I'm going to start, run to the bathroom with my DivaCup all ready. It's cool to be more in tune with my body. Because she is beautiful. :)

So how are we keeping babies away?? Definitely NOT the rhythm method- I am way too flaky to keep track of that. Regular latex... still not ideal- but one step at a time right?

sigh- what a personal post. Strangely, it feels more personal than the whole parental unit-in-law fight one from earlier. My mom reads this- so sorry if it was TMI (too much info) for you... lol. LOVE YOU!

Blessings and for those Haligonians/Maritimers Eco-Yogi/ni's: Happy Sunshine!!

Article authored by EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com (keepin' away the babies, one post at a time)

Let Them Eat Fake

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays! Hosted by Food Renegade!

This post is written by my wonderful Fiancé Andrew! Thank you very much for a Sociological perspective on supplements :)

This is modified from a paper my buddy Lee-Ann and I wrote for a sociology of food class we took back in BC. Mad props to Lee-Ann who actually still had a copy of it!

There is a lot more to say about supplements, but I don’t have enough time or space to say it all. Everything I have written is about concerns regarding supplements in a sociological sense. We didn’t even attempt to tackle some of the scientific issues, such as absorption inhibition. I hope that this is informative and makes your multivitamins just a little harder to swallow.

I think it’s fair to say that we have all eaten supplements. They can be found everywhere, in pills, powder, and in the food we buy at the supermarket. The idea that a person can stay healthy or actually improve their health through supplement use is a message we receive from the industry and health care professionals every day. Scientists and lobbyists have created a need for what is misunderstood by many to be a replacement for eating well. The need that has been created to sell these supplements associates sickness with not taking them, and fear of chronic illness or deficiency play an important role in their consumption.

In the supplement industry, health experts create new terms meant to invoke particular feelings toward supplements. In 1989, for example, a medical expert coined the term “nutraceutical” in reference to “isolated nutrients, dietary supplements, herbal products, and processed products such as cereal, soups, and beverages” (Andlauer & Furst, 2002, p. 171). This term is rich with meaning as it melds ideas of nutrition (nutra) with disease treatment (pharmaceutical). It conveys a message that nutraceutical products are foods that prevent dis-ease, a powerful marketing technique that speaks to long, happy, pain-free lives.

A “supplemental consciousness” creates a particular perception of food-in-a-pill that supports consumerism. The way consumers think cultivates the desire to purchase nutraceuticals. Fischler (1980) argued that contemporary mainstream urban Western eating habits are marked by time-smart, individualistic consumption patterns that replace leisurely group meals with snacking. The rise of this fast food mentality is linked to food simplification and to the nutraceutical industry. The dominant consumer discourse generates knowledge that reduces food into its component parts for marketing purposes. This simplification of food, results in a belief that food’s fragments are more important than the whole food itself. For example, milk is consumed for its calcium, bananas for potassium, and oranges for vitamin C. When we think this way, we can feel good about taking a calcium supplement in lieu of a glass of milk. This distorted perception works to limit our consumption to foods that contain the nutrients we think we need according to the experts. Our food becomes shrouded in mysticism. This simplification of food represents the transition from eating and thinking about whole foods to the use of supplements and the underlying belief that we no longer need to eat to eat.

When we conscious consumers visit a health food store, we want something that defines itself as “natural”. This brings forth thoughts of purity, and of products unaltered, untreated, and undisguised. Conversely, “unnatural” symbolizes all things contrived, invented, artificial, or polluted. Based on the above definitions, nutraceuticals are anything but natural. Even the word “nutraceutical” or “supplement” falls outside the scope of the natural because they are invented words that refer to un-food— they do not sustain life on their own. Raw, “natural” materials are harvested, processed, packaged, and marketed; their artificiality can hardly be argued.

Bagchi (2006) outlines several regulatory challenges of ensuring “natural” product quality such as how the raw materials are gathered, processed, and packaged. Each of these stages in product development can vary widely, which can directly affect the final result. For example, “the manufacturing processes, use of solvents/additives, purification and drying techniques, and storage conditions may play a major role on the occurrence of significant amount of contaminants, pesticides, microorganisms, heavy metals, toxic chemicals or solvent residues in the [natural health product]” (2006, p. 2). The complexities inherent in creating food in medicinal form are conveniently swept aside in the pretty displays in your local health food store. Neat rows of gleaming logos and clearly priced items obfuscate the rampant confusion that lies behind the label.

As an experiment, Lee-Ann and I went to a local health food store and asked the employees where their supplements came from. Employee referred us to employee until the supervisor herself admitted that she had no idea where most of these products were assembled or where the raw herbs and spices were grown and harvested. The pill or bottle becomes a puzzle as consumers cease to recognize that the commodity is a social relation -  the nutraceutical bottles we examined did not encourage concern regarding the working conditions of the people whose labour is used to harvest these products, but encouraged us to turn inward and consider our own, individual “journey to better health.”