By The Editorial Board
The ‘90s are back. In fashion, patterned skirts, spaghetti strap tanks and kitten heels are cool again. There’s one ‘90s trend making a not so stylish return — diet culture.
Today’s influencers are indulging in green powders and carnivore diets, and Pilates is becoming more popular than traditional yoga. Starting as a trend among celebrities in the ‘90s, Pilates has proven to be a low–impact way to work out and improve your metabolism. This “trend” has been taken up by particularly Gen Z women who find value in how Pilates incorporates a “mind-body” connection.
Pilates has been endorsed by celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, along with boasting 3.9 billion posts under its tag on TikTok. But the search for a more “holistic” lifestyle is more than just Pilates; it’s a cultural shift toward reliving the trends that made the ‘90s iconic.
The Atkins diet, which was popular in the late ‘90s, centered on eating high–protein, high–fat and low–carb foods. This restrictive diet shows a lot of similarities to the newly popular carnivore diet. The goal of this diet is to cut out potential allergens and inflammatory plant-based foods that go against our supposed nature of “animal-based nutrition.”
Both diets focus on eliminating carbs and putting our bodies into the state of ketosis. This is evident when we go into the grocery store and encounter the wide display of high–protein, low–carbohydrate items. People are now more aware than ever of how food affects their bodies.
However, the shift towards weight loss and wellness has its consequences. Many of the influencers who promote a healthy lifestyle have a poor track record of being 100% honest with their audiences.
This push of unrealistic expectations forces people to find short–term solutions that won’t serve them in the future. Adding green powder to your diet won’t instantly make you lose weight, and adopting a keto diet can take several months to see any progress. But influencers appear to have never looked better, often thanks to Photoshop, steroid use or medical treatments like Ozempic, which makes this whole weight loss phenomenon pretty misleading.
The rise of Ozempic exemplifies how social media expectations market a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. Ozempic was originally intended for managing Type 2 diabetes, but it is now part of a vain weight loss conversation. It is a great tool to effectively assist in weight loss, but its off-label use for quick results poses an ethical issue and health risk.
The revival of ‘90s–inspired trends should be taken with caution. While it can be enabling to see people take an interest in overall health, we must be mindful of not chasing quick fixes and instead focus on long-term practices that promote our overall well-being.
