What Are Your Thoughts on Diet Culture vs. Intuitive Eating?
15 Dec 2025 · 9 min
Episode transcript of JJ Virgin's 'Ask the Health Expert' podcast in which JJ addresses a listener question about diet culture versus intuitive eating. JJ argues that short-term, therapeutic diets (e.g., the Virgin Diet, Sugar Impact) are useful to detoxify, identify food intolerances, and reset addictive patterns so that intuitive eating can work; she does not endorse perpetual dieting but reframes 'diet' as a short-term learning tool that informs a long-term healthy-eating lifestyle. The transcript also contains multiple sponsor ad reads (Wayfair, Earth Breeze, Ray‑Ban Meta Glasses, Monarch, McAfee) and a guest/promo segment by Anne Bogle.
Chapters
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What are your thoughts on diet culture versus Intuitive eating? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and Fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Ann Lafeez from Instagram asks, what are your thoughts on diet culture versus Intuitive eating?
Ooh, I've got a lot to say on this one.
I'll be right back with the answer.
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All right, Ann Lafeeze, thanks for asking us. This is actually going to be worked into my next book. More to come on that it's going to be to celebrate the anniversary of the Virgin Diet, the 10th anniversary of the Virgin Diet in November 2022. That is how long it takes to really get a book out there. So here's the thing. I don't believe in diets the way that we think of diets. So everyone says diets don't work, but that's because I think we've been looking at them all wrong. See, I think that we need two different words in our vocabulary. One is for a diet and I'll explain what I mean by that. And one is for the way that you eat every day, your healthy eating lifestyle. And here's the thing, diets like the Virgin diet are sugar Impact Diet, for example, was never put together for you to be on for the long term. It was put together for you to learn something that you could bring into your healthy eating lifestyle. So a diet should be something you do short term to learn something about yourself for a therapeutic result like Sugar Impact diet helps you get rid of your sugar cravings and helps you balance your blood sugar. Virgin Diet helps you heal your gut and figure out your hidden food intolerances. You go through that, you figure out which foods work for you and which foods don't and then you bring them into your healthy eating lifestyle. The reality is we're teaching you, I'm teaching you to be your own best intuitive nutritionist. However, here's the challenge. Can your intuition really work when you've got addictive issues with processed foods? See, one of the challenges is if you've got a hidden food intolerance, say to gluten or dairy or corn or soy. One of the key signs, hallmark signs of a food intolerance is craving the very food that hurts you. If you've been eating sugar, it's been sneaking into places you'd never suspect. You've been eating more sugar than you thought. You're actually become a sugar burner and you're a little addicted. Could you trust your intuition because you've got a sugar addiction? Or if you're eating more processed food where they've been putting in gluten, they've been putting in msg, they've been putting in sugar, that's trigger cravings. Can you really listen to your internal gps? The answer is no, it wouldn't make sense. So before you can really listen to your intuition, you've got to go through the process. You've got to use a diet short term to help you detoxify, heal and reset so that you get your new normal of what feeling good really feels like. And then you ready to connect the dots between what you're eating and how you're feeling so that your intuition so that your inner guidance system can take over. All right. I'm really passionate about this, so I'm so glad you asked about that and I would love to hear your questions. Just DM me on Instagram JJ Virgin and if you have not yet subscribed to the show, it's easy. SubscribeToJay.com There you go. See you next time.
This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert.
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Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week, I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change, or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read. With a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I read next podcast.com to find out more.
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