Rethinking Wellness

Anti-diet dietitian Leah Kern joins us to discuss how struggling with anxiety made her susceptible to a wellness diet that promised safety and longevity, how that diet quickly spiraled into full-on disordered eating, how being eco-conscious and “earthy” can easily lead into wellness traps, the connection between spirituality and wellness culture, why she finally stopped trying to fix her anxiety with food and started taking meds, and more.Leah Kern is an anti-diet dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor who specializes in helping people heal their relationships with food and body. Her approach to coaching is firmly evidence-based, rooted in the Health At Every Size (HAES®) & Intuitive Eating frameworks. In her private practice, Leah teaches her clients to harness their body’s innate wisdom to govern how they eat and live. Leah believes that the work involved with unraveling years of conditioning in diet culture and learning to come home to one’s body is deeply spiritual work and she treats it as such. It is Leah’s mission to help her clients make peace with food and body so they can unlock their most aligned and fulfilling lives. Learn more about her work at leahkernrd.com.If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it!Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like bonus episodes, subscriber-only Q&As, early access to regular episodes, community threads, and much more. Learn more and sign up at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comChristy answers an audience question about anti-inflammatory diets: the hype, the science, and what the best available evidence really shows.The full version of this episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to the question here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the rest!Get full show notes and references here.Ask a question of your own for a chance to have it answered in a future episode!Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold. Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comSocial media researcher, professor, and author Renée DiResta joins us to discuss how anti-vaccine messaging spreads online – including ways we can combat the rise of wellness misinformation in 2026 and beyond.We also discuss how viral rumors spread on social media, why wellness influencers have become invisible rulers, the difference between moderating “good” and “bad” information, and how algorithms become propaganda machines.Behind the paywall, Renée offers advice on how to defend science in our local communities, simple ways to amplify good information online, what appropriate skepticism looks like, and why she still uses and recommends Reddit.Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first half is available to all listeners. To read the full post and upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com. More from Christy:Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.Subscribe on Substack for full interviews and more! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges, and a place to connect with other listeners.

Christy discusses her upcoming maternity leave and shares a preview of what we’ll be covering here in 2026.Support the show and get 30% off an annual subscription to Rethinking Wellness if you sign up before January 1!Get full show notes and references here.Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comJournalist and professor Mallary Tenore Tarpley joins us to discuss her new book Slip and the realities of life in the middle of eating disorder recovery. She shares how losing her mother as a young girl led to disordered eating, why residential treatment was beneficial (and not), and how the pressures of maintaining “full recovery” led to years of struggle.Behind the paywall, Mallary and Christy discuss the many definitions of “full recovery,” the challenges of writing a book about disordered eating that’s honest without being activating, and how Mallary talks to her kids about food.Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first half is available to all listeners. To read the full post and upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com. More from Christy:Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.Subscribe on Substack for full interviews and more! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges, and a place to connect with other listeners.

Christy reads letters to the editor about “food addiction” and menopause hormone therapy.Get full show notes and references here.Subscribe to Rethinking Wellness to get all our content, including subscriber-only Q&As and essays, extended interviews with our guests, commenting privileges, and more.Christy’s second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

In this insightful discussion, Christy reveals the food rules she shed, including the troubles of intermittent fasting, which ironically led to binge eating. She shares critical insights from a 2021 review, highlighting the shaky evidence behind fasting. Christy also opens up about her experience with gluten avoidance during turbulent times and how she came to understand that diets weren't the solution. With a blend of personal anecdotes and research, she encourages a mindful approach to food that embraces intuitive eating principles.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comKatja Rowell, M.D. joins us to discuss responsive feeding, picky eating, and how to parent without passing diet culture norms on to your kids. We also explore the science behind a few common misperceptions from parents and doctors including: why playful or gamified tactics to change eating habits can be harmful and backfire, the problems with many “early interventions” around child BMI, and reasons to question growth charts in early childhood.Behind the paywall, Dr. Rowell offers practical advice for parents who want to feed their children well without pressuring them, and Christy shares her experience with her daughter’s picky eating and health concerns. They also discuss how MAHA and anti-vax culture are affecting parents and offer support for relieving the pressure of tricky conversations with other adults.Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first half is available to all listeners. To read the full post and upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com.More from Christy:Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.Subscribe on Substack for full interviews and more! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges, and a place to connect with other listeners.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comPhilosopher, podcaster, and our producer Amelia Hruby, PhD returns to the show to discuss the many perils of the attention economy. We explore the nuanced relationships between attention and productivity, social media and mental health, and algorithms and agency. Amelia also shares her critiques of digital detoxes, flow states, all-or-nothing thinking, and short-form video. Behind the paywall, we discuss quantum listening, the political and social impacts of algorithms, generative AI, and an exclusive discount code for Amelia’s new book, Your Attention Is Sacred Except on Social Media. Plus, Christy shares some big news: Amelia will be on the mic for more episodes starting next week!Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first half is available to all listeners. To read the full post and upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com.More from Christy:- Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. - If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.- Subscribe on Substack for full interviews and more! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges, and a place to connect with other listeners.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.comRegistered dietitian Jackie Silver joins us to discuss nutritional approaches that are helpful for neurodivergence, why people with autism and ADHD are often the targets of wellness and diet culture, the kinds of wellness-culture messages she’s gotten as a person with a disability, and why the advice to cut out gluten for autism is often harmful. Behind the paywall, we get into why ultraprocessed food consumption doesn’t cause autism and why cutting out these foods doesn’t “cure” it, the harmful discourse around autism and ADHD in the culture right now, why it’s harmful to categorize foods as “good” and “bad,” and more.Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first half is available to all listeners. To upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com. Jackie Silver is a Registered Dietitian and founder of Jackie Silver Nutrition, a virtual private practice specializing in supporting neurodivergent kids, teens, and adults with ADHD, autism (ASD), and intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). Her team offers neurodiversity-affirming, nonjudgmental, and weight-inclusive care.Jackie earned her Master of Health Science in Nutrition Communication from Toronto Metropolitan University and has specialized training in mindful eating and sensory-based feeding therapy.She and her team support clients across Ontario, Canada, and several U.S. states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, helping with meal planning, selective eating, food aversions, digestive health, chronic disease management, and more.In her free time, Jackie enjoys rock climbing, yoga, pilates, swimming, traveling, visiting museums, and spending time with family and friends. Learn more about her work at jackiesilvernutrition.com.If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges and subscriber threads where you can connect with other listeners, and more. Learn more and sign up at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap, is available wherever books are sold! Order it here, or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.