Intuitive eating is a non-dieting approach to changing eating habits by trusting your body to make the right food choices without food shaming or the influence of dieting practices. While food freedom and intuitive eating are linked to lower risks of heart disease, certain events surrounding the anti-diet culture warp the ideology.

The Intuitive Eating approach encompasses 10 principles, including honoring hunger and fullness, making food decisions without the influence of diet culture, respecting your body’s needs, exercising for reasons other than weight loss, and more. Intuitive Eating and food freedom acknowledge that the nutritional value of an apple and a slice of apple pie are not the same, but they do have the same moral value; you are not a good or bad person based on your food choices.

The primary concern is that many anti-diet influencers have exploited the intuitive eating culture and seem to be making claims that aren’t backed by nutritional science. For example, some claim that snacking on sticks of butter is a healthy means of losing weight. However, in reality, overconsumption of butter is linked to numerous adverse health impacts.

The effects of diet-related misinformation can be harmful. Misinformation can guide people to consume unfulfilling foods, and it can also prevent people from seeking lifesaving medical treatments in favor of following a special diet they’ve stumbled across online.

So, there’s a distinct difference between the co-opted anti-diet movement and the intuitive eating ideology. While some influencers seem to encourage overindulgence or diets not backed by science, intuitive eating ideologies encourage food freedom. The intuitive eating approach suggests that you don’t have to cut your favorite foods out of your diet — instead, you can enjoy those foods mindfully.