Given the number of “healthy” diet plans circulating online and the sheer volume of “What I Eat in a Day” videos flooding social media sites, it may seem like everyone follows some sort of food rules. Whether they’re avoiding gluten, cutting dairy, or sidestepping seed oils, both influencers and everyday people seem excited to share the eating rules that have supposedly transformed their lives for the better.

Thanks (but no thanks) to diet culture, food restriction has, in many ways, become normalized. And while restricting or eliminating certain foods may be important in some specific scenarios, the truth is that externally imposed rules and restrictions on eating generally tend to do more harm than good. Not only that, but food restriction can be a slippery slope to an eating disorder. So are food rules inherently bad? Read on to hear what the experts say.

What are food rules?

Food rules are just what they sound like: rules and boundaries about what and how you eat. These rules are typically influenced by external sources, usually have a sense of obligation at their core, and you likely feel compelled to follow them—and guilty or ashamed when you don’t.

“​​Food rules are self-imposed guidelines for eating that can lead to high levels of distress if broken, or restriction to avoid breaking them,” says Equip Lead Registered Dietitian Dani Castellano, RD, CEDS.

While it may be medically necessary for some people to avoid certain foods or have rules around these foods in order to protect their health, food rules are most commonly associated with the fear of weight gain or pursuit of weight loss. These types of food rules may involve avoiding a food or food group entirely because of a belief that that food will cause weight gain or have a negative impact on your health. Unfortunately, diet culture and the countless non-experts sharing info online has normalized following food rules that may actually be problematic or dangerous.

“Because of diet culture and anti-fat bias, foods are consistently being considered “good” or “bad,” and our body sizes and health are considered things we have the ability to control entirely,” Castellano says. “It’s associated with superiority if you have the self-restraint to be eating ‘healthy’ foods and are as thin as possible.”

Understanding the risks and benefits of food rules

When food rules are driven by external factors like a strict diet, social media, or wanting to look a certain way—rather than by true health reasons—they tend to have several harmful characteristics and consequences. These rules are generally rigid, not allowing for any flexibility when it comes to what, when, and how much you eat, and encouraging you to ignore your own hunger and fullness cues.

According to Castellano, the risks of these types of food rules include:

• Inadequate energy intake. “Because overall calories are restricted due to avoiding certain foods, this makes it difficult to meet the body’s energy needs,” Castellano says. This can put you into a negative energy balance, which carries consequences for both physical and mental health and can lead to an eating disorder.
• Isolation. “It’s difficult to engage in normal social activities, which often revolve around food given that we need to eat every few hours to meet our energy needs,” Castellano says.
• Development of an eating disorder. “There is never one cause of an eating disorder, but food rules leading to inadequate intake can cause weight loss, which can lead to the development of an eating disorder due to the impact of weight suppression for individuals with genetic predisposition for eating disorders,” Castellano says.
• Initiating a binge-restrict cycle. “I see this happen frequently when people avoid eating energy-dense foods and then experience loss-of-control eating or binge eating, which becomes cyclical,” Castellano says. “People often think that because they inevitably eat these foods, they aren’t restricting. But because of the ‘mental restriction’ of feeling like they’ve done something wrong, it often has the same effect.”

Can food rules ever be okay?

But are all food rules inherently bad, or can they be beneficial? It’s clear that rigid, externally-driven food rules are linked to disordered eating and mental distress, but in very specific scenarios (allergies, celiac disease, etc.), an individual may need to adhere to certain food rules for their own health and overall well-being. But generally speaking, in the absence of an allergy or medical condition, experts typically advise against implementing hard and fast food rules.

“I think the term ‘rule’ is so tricky here, because rules imply they can’t be broken which leads to rigidity,” Castellano says. “Unless someone is allergic to a food, I wouldn’t advise implementing food rules. Several of the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole focuses on how to challenge food rules and the importance of doing so. This can be a really great starting point for people to dig in and learn more.” (You can also learn more about intuitive eating on the Equip blog.)

For those with specific health conditions that require adherence to certain food rules, Castellano says eating disorder dietitians often speak to food choices that impact health conditions as “nutrition by addition,” as opposed to nutrition by subtraction or restriction. For example, someone with diabetes who intentionally balances their plate with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber-rich foods to support blood sugar stabilization may need specific, gentle rules in place to manage their health condition through the addition of certain foods.

The connection between food rules and eating disorders

Research has shown that following food rules can be the link between perfectionism and various signs of disordered eating—meaning those with perfectionistic traits are more likely to develop eating disorder symptoms because they use rigid food rules. One 10-year longitudinal study found that dieting (aka restricted food intake or rigid food rules) and disordered eating behaviors predicted an increased risk for problematic outcomes, like eating disorders, in adolescents and young adults.

“Many people in our society engage in dieting and have some kind of rules regarding what they do or do not eat,” Castellano says. “And even though this often leads to a level of restriction or disordered eating, the reality is not everyone is going to end up with a diagnosable eating disorder. However, most people struggling with an eating disorder have food rules as a symptom of their eating disorder.”

The psychological aspect of food rules plays a large part in the connection to disordered eating. One study found that the cognitive effort involved in following food rules is a key pathological factor that predicts problematic eating. Another study which used daily diary data from college students, found that rigid food rules can make people more vulnerable to disordered eating when their ability to self-regulate was affected by issues like feeling mentally drained or experiencing intense cravings.

How to break free from food rules

Breaking free from rigid food rules is a process of unlearning diet culture, rebuilding trust with your body’s internal cues, and moving forward with compassion, patience, and in some cases, professional support, especially if you think the rules are part of an eating disorder Here are a few ways to start separating from food rules:

Challenge each of them, one by one.

Castellano recommends ranking your food rules from those that would be the least distressing to break to those that would be the most distressing to break. Start by breaking the least distressing ones first, then gradually work your way up the list. “Continue to incorporate these challenges to reduce the anxiety over time,” she says. “It can be helpful to do these challenges with a trusted support person and to have some coping skills in mind to deal with anxiety that may arise.”

Practice positive self-talk and mantras.

“Write out messages or affirmations that you want to be true and review them regularly, such as, ‘all food is good food,’” Castellano says. “Because our brains have neuroplasticity, we can form new pathways through exposure and doing things differently.”

Go fact-finding and get support.

“Seek information from eating disorder or HAES-informed professionals and activists via social media, books, and podcasts that debunk some of the myths that led to these rules in the first place,” Castellano advises. “If necessary, seek treatment with a therapist and dietitian specializing in eating disorders to support you in the process, where they can tailor treatment methods based on your diagnosis and severity of symptoms.”

When to seek help for rigid eating patterns

If rigid food rules are affecting your everyday life or the life of a loved one, it’s important to get support from a professional as soon as possible. According to Castellano, it’s essential to seek help for rigid patterns if the food rules:

• Lead to undereating and/or result in weight loss
• Cause nutritional deficiencies
• Result in a binge-restrict cycles
• Lead to isolation from friends and family
• Cause high levels of distress or inability to tolerate if they’re broken

“Talk to a trusted support in your life and ask for help in finding treatment,” Castellano says. “Eating disorders thrive in secrecy and you do not have to do this alone.

Equip’s website has a lot of information for starting points, and reaching out to your PCP or insurance company for options can be other helpful routes to get started.” You can also schedule a call with an Equip team member to talk through your concerns and discuss potential treatment options.