'What we eat does not define our worth': Why it's time to ditch diet culture this festive season

This Christmas, it's time to ditch the diet culture.

All over social media you'll be seeing recipes for healthy gravy, low-calorie turkey and sugar-free pavlova.

Dr Preeya Alexander, a GP from Melbourne, won't have a bar of it this festive season.

Alexander is all about challenging the status quo, and got riled up after seeing Tik Tok and Instagram posts saying 'here's a clean recipe for gravy' or 'clean and healthy potatoes for Christmas day.'

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"Diet culture, gosh, it seeps in everywhere," she says, discussing the pervasive nature of labelling food as 'good', 'bad', 'clean' or 'unclean'.

She points out how this kind of food morality is deeply rooted in diet culture.

"When you start labelling food, you start thinking that some foods are superior or pure or better than others," she says.

"And when you consume other foods that you see as 'bad' or 'unhealthy', you may start to experience guilt or shame when you consume them.

"And that can have a negative impact on people's mental health. Food morality and diet culture can play a component in body image issues and eating disorders.

"I just want to remind everyone that all food is actually OK, that no food is superior to another."

Her advice for the festive season is refreshingly liberating.

"You can eat whatever you like over the festive season without guilt or shame. Everything is OK in moderation," Alexander says.

So, it's time to enjoy a guilt-free celebration.

She encourages embracing all kinds of food, and everyone should "eat the rainbow" whether it be the daily fruits and veggies or the delicious gravy.

"Food is about more than just nutrition. It's about way more than getting in the critical nutritional building blocks (like Vitamin B12, iron, zinc)," she says.

"Food is also about comfort, joy, and bringing people together. Food should be enjoyed without guilt or the shame, without the labelling."

Alexander doesn't mince her words (or mince pies) when discussing the entrenched issues with diet culture.

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"Assigning labels to food is deeply seated in diet culture; we are led to believe that if we eat the 'good' foods, the 'pure' foods, the 'clean' foods, we are better.

"And if we eat the foods that are not pure, not good, not clean then we are not as good," she says.

"Diet culture tries to get us to buy into the notion that being 'thin' will make us happy, will make us successful, will make us better, will make us superior, will make us smarter, and that we must avoid being 'fat' at all costs.

"The fatphobia, the labelling of food – it's all deeply seated in diet culture."

The bottom line from Alexander's perspective is simple yet powerful: "What we eat does not define our worth. We are so much more than that."

She urges everyone to not buy into the food morality and the diet culture.

"Eat the bloody gravy that you want to, the food that you want to. It does not define your worth," she passionately advises.

In essence, Dr Alexander's message is a beacon of sanity in the often insane world of diet culture.

As we gear up for the festive season, let's remember her words: all food is just food.

Let's enjoy our meals without the guilt and the labels.

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Go ahead and enjoy that plum pudding, that ham off the bone, and every festive treat you desire.

Here's to a guilt-free, joyful festive spread! You are fabulous just as you are, and no food can take that away from you.

"Besides, gravy is bloody delicious!" Alexander adds with a smile.

Happy feasting!