Rethinking Wellness

Christy answers an audience question about the “adrenal body type” and unpacks the weight stigma, ageism, and pseudoscience embedded in this twist on the dubious diagnosis of “adrenal fatigue.”

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Parent coach Oona Hanson joins us to discuss how going to a physical therapist for back pain led her down a wellness-culture rabbit hole, why dietary restrictions to “fight inflammation” just ended up harming her relationship with food and her body, how she got the dubious diagnosis of “adrenal fatigue,” and more. Behind the paywa...

Christy discusses vitamin D for blood-sugar control and preventing diabetes (part of our series on commonly used supplements). If you spend a lot of time in online wellness spaces, you’ve probably heard a lot about how supplementing with vitamin D can supposedly regulate blood sugar and prevent diabetes. Even some mainstream diabe...

Philosopher and medical ethics professor Arianne Shavisi joins us to discuss why alternative medicine isn’t the answer to a patriarchal healthcare system—and why in many ways it’s even worse. We get into the common misconception that alternative medicine is feminist, how alternative medicine differs from scientific medicine, the r...

Christy discusses how to tell whether your symptoms are related to perimenopause or something else, what perimenopause has in common with dubious diagnoses (even though it’s a real condition), and what the best available evidence says about hormone therapy, weight gain, and more.

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Author and activist Amanda Martinez Beck joins us to discuss her experience of taking Ozempic for diabetes while also working to accept her body and break down anti-fat bias in society. She shares her history of dieting and disordered eating, how chronic conditions including diabetes as well as fibromyalgia and post-Covid syndrome...

In this bonus episode, Christy shares some personal thoughts on how anxiety impacts the gut, and how to handle digestive distress that’s triggered by stress without getting pulled down wellness-culture rabbit holes—particularly if you have a history of disordered eating. 

The full version of this episode (with 9 tips for coping) is...

Returning guest Amelia Hruby—who is now our very own podcast producer, as well as a podcaster in her own right with a PhD in philosophy—co-hosts this special episode for the 2-year anniversary of Rethinking Wellness. We discuss how Amelia’s thinking about astrology and tarot has shifted since her first appearance on the pod, why t...

Dietitian and diabetes educator Janice Dada joins us to discuss why there’s so much stigma and blame on people with diabetes, the wellness-culture belief that people can “reverse diabetes” by restricting foods and taking a bunch of supplements, why people don’t “give themselves diabetes” by eating too much sugar, the myth that peo...

Christy answers an audience question about the health effects of taking vitamin D supplements.

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Registered dietitian and INTUITIVE EATING co-author Elyse Resch returns to help dispel myths about intuitive eating, including that it means only listening to instinct and not the rational brain, that it’s incompatible with eating-disorder recovery, that it’s impossible in an environment rife with “ultraprocessed” foods, and more....

In this solo episode, Christy shares an essay about what her daughter’s experience with the flu taught her about intuitive eating and the importance of certain nutrients. The piece is also out today in written form on Substack.

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Nutritionist Abbie Attwood joins us to discuss how dealing with multiple autoimmune chronic illnesses led her down a path of dubious diagnoses and disordered eating, and how she ultimately found healing. In the free version, we get into how disordered eating can trigger and aggravate chronic conditions, why she believed she had “a...

Christy answers an audience question about the health effects of taking vitamin D supplements. This will be the first in a multi-part series; today, we’re tackling claims about vitamin D for fertility, pregnancy, and PCOS.

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Novelist, editor, and longtime friend of the pod Jonathan Vatner joins us to discuss his experience with a chronic autoimmune digestive condition, his ups and downs with diets and alternative medicine, nuances in the research on probiotics and acupuncture, the mind-body connection and how it’s helped in his healing, and more. Behi...

Christy answers an audience question about whether magnesium is really the panacea it’s made out to be—or whether it’s just another example of wellness-culture hype.

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Dietitian and author Jenna Hollenstein joins us to discuss her experience with alcoholism and recovery, the intersection of disordered eating and disordered drinking, the sobriety trend in wellness culture, Dry January, mindful drinking, “food addiction,” and more.

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What if disagreements and differences are a matter of risk perception? Plus: Is weight loss really the only way to be well?

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Anti-diet personal stylist Dacy Gillespie joins us to discuss diet and wellness culture, her bad experience with functional medicine (and what attracted her to it in the first place), how she’s dealing with her chronic symptoms now, and why she doesn’t think clothes should be “flattering.” Behind the paywall, we get into how to sh...