164. Vaping vs Dieting.

A few days ago, I was standing in a shop sending a parcel when I realised I was surrounded by walls of brightly coloured vape liquids. All lined up like sweets, with flavours from mint to bubblegum to strawberry milkshake. 

And it got me thinking… Governments have worked so hard to make smoking less appealing. It’s hidden behind shutters, wrapped in plain packaging with grim warnings, yet vapes get to sit front and centre looking tempting.

While I was mulling this over I realised that dieting is treated in exactly the same way – except the difference is, we rarely talk about the health risks of dieting.

So in this episode I’m comparing vaping and dieting – how they’re sold as “better” choices, the industries behind them, the addictive cycles they create, and why one gets public health warnings while the other gets praise. 

I’m digging into the physical and psychological effects of dieting, from metabolism slowdown to hormone disruption, disordered eating, and long-term weight cycling.

I’m talking about:

• The parallels between vaping and dieting as “healthier” alternatives
• Why both rely on repeat customers to survive
• The hidden harms and health risks of dieting, backed by research
• Why weight stigma, not body size, costs the NHS more
• How different things could look if dieting got the same treatment as smoking

If you’ve ever wondered why dieting still gets the cultural gold star when it can be so harmful, this one’s going to make you think.

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Transcript

1:17

Welcome to the Intuitive Eating and Body Positivity podcast. I'm Terri and I'll be talking about all things intuitive eating, body positivity, and health for every size. And shaking off weight stigma, diet, culture, and food rules so that we can all have a better relationship with food and our bodies. Hi, how are you doing? Another week, another episode, and another trimmer or hedge trimmer or something going on outside. So apologies. Hopefully you shouldn't be able to hear it when the audio is sorted out, but just in case you can, that's what it is. Somebody is cutting their hedge outside. So, how's your week been? Has it been good? It's been pretty uneventful here. Uh, took Luna to the vets one more time. Just to have her second vaccination, so that went okay. She was loving life with the vet, having the treats there, and so that's lovely. She had a nice bit of fuss and the vet was very complimentary on her condition and how sweet she is and how lovely she is, and I was like, yes, if only we could just not have hassle getting her into the carrier to go to the vets. That's all I would like right now, just. To not stress her out when I'm trying to get her into the carrier, but it is what it is and we're progressing. So all good. But she's good. She's okay. Second vaccination means that soon if she actually makes it out the door, she's not gonna be any danger health wise. But that's about it for my week, really. I don't think there's anything much going on that I can tell you about. It's very boring, isn't it? Eh. Um, this morning I went to the shop to send a parcel, and while the guy was doing what he needed to do, I had a little nosy around at my surroundings. You know, as you do when you just stood in a shop. You have a little look around, don't you? There were all these vape boxes, these boxes of vapor liquids. I've seen them before when I've been in there. I go in there quite often to take my vintage parcels or collect my vintage parcels, you know, one of the two. So I go in there quite often and I'm aware that those vape boxes were there. But as I stood there and I looked at it, I thought, oh my God, there are so many of them. There was a massive display to the left. Then I realized that it went up and over my head level and down to the right as well. So if you imagine the guy stood there at the desk, at the cashier, the checkout, what are they called in a shop? Um, at the till. He was, um, basically behind a big perspec screen with just a hole in it to put your things through, you know, and pay and stuff. The whole of this per perspex screen was vape boxes left right above my head, full of it. And it was, you know, kind of rainbow display that makes you look, even if you've got no intention of buying. And it for some reason instantly took me back to how cigarettes used to be everywhere like that. But now, here in the UK, at least, they're hidden behind shutters. They are wrapped in plain packaging and they've got those really grim warning photos that you cannot unsee once you've seen them. Ugh, those images like burned into my brain. It's horrible. But vapes still front and center. They look harmless as a pack of sweetss. I looked at the flavors and there was, you know, the standard cherry, mint, strawberry, vanilla, that sort of thing. And it went right up to the more inventive flavors like bubble gum and milkshake and, you know, weird and wacky flavor combinations. There was, yeah, there was some random combinations going on and they sound fun, don't they? If you didn't know better, you'd think they were treats, not devices, designed to deliver nicotine. Now, I'm not a vaper, but even I was tempted by the cherry flavor. I really like cherry flavor stuff. And I was like, oh, I wonder what will that be? Like? I wonder if it tastes like cherry flavored stuff that I like, oh, well, maybe, you know? And I was like, no, I don't vape. But you can see. You can see now why so many kids get into it. Why so many people who were never smokers get attracted to vaping it, you know, it's all just very attractive. And then my brain started making a bit of a link to dieting, and I thought governments went all in to curb smoking here at least. And now, instead, vapes are in the spotlight. And it made me wonder who's really benefiting here and what it's doing to how we think about making healthier choices overall.'cause vaping is definitely not seen, um, as an unhealthy option. If you were to, uh, look at two people and one was smoking and one was vaping, you'd say that the smoking person was the unhealthy, one of the two. Right. Vaping, you see somebody vaping in the street, you don't automatically go, oh God, that's so horrible. That's, that's so bad for their health, you know? Well, on the, you know, I'm generalizing. This is the way that I see it, obviously. Now the government has got this double stance on smoking and vaping. Smoking has been hit with really high taxes, ugly health warnings, plain packaging. You can't even see it on the shelf anymore. It has to be behind screens, behind shutters, vaping. Is described as the less harmful alternative. So it keeps the flashy branding and the colorful boxes, and it sits in full view of the counter. And the message is that this is the safer choice. So it's fine to make it look more appealing, but the reality is they still make money from both massive money. And that is the same energy that we see in how they talk about. Wait. The government talks about saving the NHS money by tackling obesity related issues, but research shows that people in bigger bodies often delay going to the doctor unless it's absolutely necessary because they're in too much pain or discomfort or something purely because they are bracing for weight stigma. By the time they go, conditions are worse, treatment is more complex. The cost to the NHS is higher, so it is not body size that's draining the resources. It's the stigma that is draining the resources, the weight stigma put there by doctors, by nurses, by consultants, by the government, and its health policies, that sort of thing that is creating. The problem because it's stopping people accessing medical services. So it's not actually the fact that people are in bigger bodies that's causing this cost to the NHS. It's, it's all these other things, and standing there looking at those vapes, making me thinking about dieting. I was mulling this over then I've been mulling it over in my head ever since I left there. It's definitely sold as the better choice, the clean, responsible thing to do if you care about your health, and it's much more socially acceptable too. My experience is that people don't necessarily mind if they're in a room with somebody who is vaping, but no one wants to stand next to Smokey Joe today. No one wants to stand next to the guy having a fag. No one wants to be next to fag ash. Lil do they? Hey. So just like vaping was, once the shinier, healthier route out of the smoking, dieting is sold as the pathway from being in a bigger body into this healthier thing, and it is sold. It is sold. It is a massive money making industry. Both of these industries know exactly how to speak to your hopes and your fears. They know the words, they know the imagery, and they know the promises to use. That will make you lean in and think, oh, this could be it. This is just what I need. They prey on the times when we're feeling low. They prey on the times when we're doubting ourselves or desperate for something to change, and it's because that's when we're most likely to say yes. That's when we're most likely to buy into these things. It's not an accident this, it's part of the strategy. They position themselves as the answer to your problems when in reality. They're often the very thing that keeps you stuck in the cycle. So vaping. Vaping is sold as the solution to not wanting to smoke anymore, but it keeps you addicted to nicotine 'cause there's still nicotine in those products. Dieting is sold as the root out of your fat body and your unhealthy behaviors with food and. Actually, what it does is it keeps you stuck in a bad relationship with your body and with food. So there are real parallels here between vaping and dieting, both dieted life as the healthier alternative vaping instead of smoking, dieting instead of being fat. And the framing is always that the change equals virtue change equals something better. Both of these are multi. Billion pound industries, they are built on repeat customers. Nobody buys these things once you come back again and again because the solution doesn't stick. You know it's not good for you really. You know, it's a vicious cycle and you're going back and you said you wouldn't, but you're feeling desperate for what it offers. So you do go back and both have addictive cycles. Nicotine is obvious. Everybody knows that nicotine is, um. Addictive. But dieting has its own loop too. So it starts with the excitement of a brand new plan and all the promise that it holds. And then you get the early drop on the scales, which feels like proof that it's working. And the rush of compliments. When people start to notice your weight loss, you know those compliments, they feed the sense that you are doing something good, even if your mind is struggling, even if your body is struggling. And over time, that high fades. The results slow down. Life feels more restricted. Frustration and blame creeps in, and then instead of stepping away entirely, you get pulled back into starting a new plan, either going back to the same one again or going to a different one. But you are chasing that initial high over and over again. The short term win hides the long term costs in both cases. The health risks build quietly in the background, and there very much is evidence against dieting Physically. Dieting will slow your metabolism down. It'll mess with your hormones. It makes your body more efficient at storing fat. Even though you're trying to lose it. You can lose lean muscle. Which is the opposite of what you want for your health in the short term and in the long term. Mentally it ramps up food obsession and guilt and shame. It chips away at your self-worth. It turns eating into this series of pass or fail moments, and for some IT tips over into disordered eating or even in quite a large portion of dieters. Diagnose the eating disorders. The majority of people that go into eating disorders have been through diets and disordered eating. Long term, most people regain the weight, and more often than not, plus a bit more. Every cycle makes the next one more likely, and the weight cycling itself takes a big toll on your health. If these outcomes were printed on a cigarette packet, they would be next to this huge graphic warning, but dieting does not get that treatment. Instead, it just gets applause and encouragement and well done. You, aren't you doing well? There it goes. It fuels the weight stigma. It fuels the fat phobia everywhere thin equals healthy, and in too many minds, that is still the line of thinking, and that bias keeps diets shiny and attractive and socially acceptable. It is seen as a personal improvement project, right, rather than a bit a risky behavior. So it avoids the kind of moral judgment that smoking now carries. People do look down on smoking. People don't do that with dieting yet. People openly discuss their diets at work on social media, family gatherings, and they are more likely to receive praise than concern. You don't have those same conversations around things like smoking. And that's because dieting aligns with the cultural ideal of self-control. It's framed as admirable instead of harmful, and that makes it far harder to challenge and regulate. And the diet industry has deep pockets too. It's supports and sponsors. Government health campaigns, people that represent diet industries, diet companies, diet businesses, they sit in rooms where these government policies are being made. They make sure that weight loss stays framed as health improvement, even when the evidence says otherwise. But blaming individuals for their health, that's the easy option. It keeps governments from tackling messy, expensive issues like, you know, housing and job conditions and food access and discrimination, and these other things that they could be focusing on instead of encouraging people to just lose a load of weight. Imagine if dieting got the same treatment that smoking does, right? Imagine. If we could place the same sort of warnings and guidelines on dieting the same way we do with smoking. So for example, what if diet plans came with the same sort of labels and warnings that they put on their cigarette packets may cause weight cycling increased long-term weight gain, eating disorders, muscle wastage, and long-term psychological damage. And then they put that on the packet along with a photo of somebody deep in an eating disorder.'cause that's the truth with many people. What if we could ban before and after photos? They are misleading. They are dehumanizing. And they feed this comparison trap that everybody's in. What if we could take diet companies out of public health campaigns? Not allow monetary support and advice from businesses that profit when people feel broken and desperate. What if we could teach the risks of dieting and disordered eating in schools alongside smoking and vaping and drug use? We could give young people the tools to spot really toxic messages and to start questioning them and asking. What they mean for themselves and um, and how that relates to their body image and things like that. Can you imagine that it really matters for public health? Diet? Culture doesn't just mess with individuals. It shapes government policy. It shapes healthcare, it shapes family dynamics. Um, it makes food anxiety and body dissatisfaction just feel normal. When something is normalized, people stop seeing it as a problem. They call it discipline. They call it willpower. They call it healthy living, but prevention is always better than a cure, isn't it? Prevention is better than trying to undo this harm later. Real public health comes from weight neutral, stigma, free care, access to good food. Access to movement that people enjoy, spaces where they can get movement, that sort of thing. Safe housing, there's so much more that can be done that isn't some kind of advisory for people to lose weight. Governments acted on smoking when the evidence couldn't be ignored. Packaging changed, advertising changed. The culture shifted. It wasn't perfect, but it was noticeable, and it's obviously made a difference. We already have that level of evidence for dieting. The only thing keeping it untouchable is bias and money. So please, next time you hear a health message, ask yourself, who benefits if you believe it, if you buy into what they're selling. Who really benefits? Does it build you up? Does it tear you down? Choose what builds you up and then step away from the cycle. Don't put money in the pockets of the people that are just there to make a quick buck at your expense. What do you think? I bet you have never heard anybody. Compared dieting to smoking before. Well, people, I am just here to give you a new message and something new to think about every week. Uh, just, it's just balmy, isn't it? Just, it's just crazy what people choose to see. Choose to act on. So people obviously, you know, when I say people, I mean government and that sort of thing. They act on the smoking issues. Things like cancer is very, very scary for a lot of people, and rightly so. I'm not belittling anything when I talk about this stuff, but that was enough to provoke change. But because the effects of dieting are not. Um, I won't say not that extreme and not that important and not that strong because they are, I think they are not seen as, so obviously life changing. And so people see what they wanna see in the evidence. I mean, there is no evidence out there. I am assuming. Now I haven't looked at this, so don't quote me on it, but I'm gonna say there's probably no evidence now that says smoking is good for you. 20 fives a day will help you live longer. No, nobody's saying that. People still believe that sort of thing of dieting, and that's where the problem is. People don't understand and they don't see the severity of the impacts of dieting. So we've still got a long way to go before it's taken as seriously as smoking, but it really needs to change, really needs to happen. I'd love you to share this episode. I'd love you to. Share it and get other people's brains thinking about this stuff because I don't think it's too far a stretch to compare smoking to, or not necessarily smoking, but vaping to dieting or, yeah, smoking to dieting. I don't think it's that sort of a stretch to compare one to the other because they're both very, very damaging in their own ways. So I'd love it. I'd love it if you share this episode and, um, you just have to screenshot it when you're listening to it on your phone, on Spotify or whatever, or your podcast app. Just give it a quick screenshot, send it onto your stories on Instagram. That'd be good. Or Facebook tag me in. And, um, yeah, then hopefully more people get to at least think about it. Even if nothing changes today, it sows the seed and it makes people think, and it makes people have conversation about this stuff. And of course I mentioned earlier how weight stigma stops people going to the doctors, right? Weight stigma is a big deal. That's why people don't go and get appointments because they're scared of being told that it is weight related. So if you are in that boat, if you would like to better inform yourself on that subject, if you would like some resources that mean you feel. Forearmed, when you go to your next appointment, then my con uh, confident conversations with your doctor course is available for you. That's on my website and the link is in the show notes, so I would urge you to go and get it. It is. Packed. It is way bigger a resource than I ever intended it to be. So please go take a look at it and, um, yeah, arm yourself with useful information on this subject. You'll be quite pleasantly surprised at, at how much is in there and how much it can help you. In fact, let me tell you, let me read this message to you that I got on Instagram. It says, Terri, I hope you don't mind. I just had to message you straight after my doctor's appointment. I did it. I did it all in, you know, capital letters for the first time ever. I refused to be weighed. The nurse said it was just routine and I felt like panic rise like it always does, but then your voice popped into my head. I hear that happens. People are. Always saying, Terri, I was doing this. And then I heard you say sorry, influencing you. Um, uh, but then your voice popped into my head. I calmly said, I'd rather not be weighed unless it's medically necessary for today's appointment. And she didn't even push back. She just nodded and carried on a few weeks ago. I'd never have even questioned it. I'd have stepped on the scales. And then spiraled about it, about the number for days, but your confident conversations with your doctor calls gave me everything I needed. The exact confidence, the exact words, the mindset shift. All of it. I'm actually looking forward to going back now because I know how I can speak up for myself and that nothing bad will happen. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I couldn't have done it without your course. What's the next one you're releasing, by the way? I want to buy it already. Thank you, Melissa. I know that Melissa's a podcast listener, so Melissa, you are the best. Thank you so much, and I can put these resources out there. It's you implementing it. That is awesome. So that's just, it's so brilliant, so, so brilliant. So the link to that, if you're interested, if you wanna be like Melissa and come out of your appointments feeling awesome, then get it. Just go get it. And also, and no one banging on about it now, but also do you know there's a split pay option? So. If it's too much for you to buy in one go now. Then what you can do is use Klarna or Clear Pay or one of the options that you get at the checkout, and you can do it on split pay. So you can break it down into like three payments or whatever. Um, that is it. I have for you today. Thank you for allowing me to indulge myself with a testimonial. I know I don't do that very often, but I just thought Melissa's message was so awesome that I wanted to share it, and that is what I'm giving you today instead of a listener comments section. Um, have a great week. I dunno what you're doing. I dunno what you're doing'cause you haven't told me. Uh, I dunno what I'm doing either. Not an awful lot planned, I don't think. But yeah, whatever happens. Have a great week and I'll speak to you next week. Bye-bye.