![Sample our Social Sciences journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110822/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Social-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
This article uses critical discourse analysis to explore religiosity in two secular texts, the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (1992) and The South Beach Diet (2003). These diets appropriate the language and concepts of Christian Protestantism in order to construct a contemporary theology of weight loss dieting. Realized through a moralized chain of consumption, this theology is rooted in a dichotomy between “good” and “bad” foods, which culminates in the thin or fat body of the eater. This moral logic reveals dieters’ multiple faiths and how they navigate the competing desires of consumption and restraint in everyday life.
Notes
1. Most nutrition professionals recommend carbohydrate intakes based on the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges, established by the Institutes of Medicine, which, if consuming 2,000 calories a day, allow for 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrate each day (U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Citation2010, 15).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Emily J. H. Contois
Emily J. H. Contois is a PhD student in American Studies at Brown University. She holds a MLA in Gastronomy from Boston University, a MPH focused in Public Health Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Letters from the University of Oklahoma. Her work combines scientific and humanistic approaches to studying food, eating, health, and the body in the everyday American experience and popular culture. She blogs at emilycontois.com and tweets@emilycontois.