{"id":1753445,"date":"2026-02-05T15:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1753445"},"modified":"2026-02-05T15:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:11:00","slug":"what-we-get-wrong-about-disordered-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1753445","title":{"rendered":"What we get wrong about disordered eating"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/72-0-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435881.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/beauty\/article\/69515\/1\/amber-husain-author-interview-tell-me-how-you-eat-book-review-eating-disorders\" data-article-id=\"69515\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In the Mood for Love, 2000 (Film Still)\" class=\"img\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435881.jpg\" width=\"1280\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">In the Mood for Love, 2000 <span class=\"nowrap\">(Film Still)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T15:11:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - beauty\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\">Beauty<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\">Beauty<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>What we get wrong about <span class=\"nowrap\">disordered eating<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>In her book, Tell Me How You Eat, Amber Husain explores how the state of the world can impact our relationship <span class=\"nowrap\">with food<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T15:11:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-05T15:11:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/HalimaJibril\">Halima Jibril<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>I don\u2019t think about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/food\">food<\/a> often. Apart from when I\u2019m eating sweets, and remember an article I read about artificial sweeteners being possibly carcinogenic to humans; or when I\u2019m in the supermarket buying anything to satiate my hunger, and remember all the sweeteners and gums that are put in soups and plant-based milks, and the ways they will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/62108\/1\/how-glucose-trackers-became-a-status-symbol-cgm-zoe-wellness-trend\">spike my blood sugar<\/a>; or when I\u2019m eating packet ramen, and remember a TikTok where someone classified them as her \u201creproductive harm noodles\u201d. <\/span><span>I don\u2019t think about food at all, really, apart from when I\u2019m at home with my mum, who is in the midst of menopause and believes that her body is failing her. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/62690\/1\/is-wellness-culture-is-fuelling-a-health-anxiety-crisis\">Health anxieties<\/a> have calcified in her body as she reads the labels of everything before consuming it. I watch her grow more and more defeated as she realises she cannot afford the \u201chealthier\u201d options she thinks will improve and prolong her life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In actuality, I think about food all the time. But I try my best not to. \u201cIt\u2019s such a shame that we are made to feel so exhausted by food,\u201d Amber Husain, writer of <\/span><em><span>Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Liv<\/span><\/em><span>e, tells me. \u201cBecause it\u2019s great. It is one of life\u2019s great pleasures\u201d. Husain knows all too well the feeling of exhaustion and deep disinterest in food. A few years ago, she experienced an eating disorder \u2013 anorexia to be specific \u2013 but found that her disinterest in food had little to do with body-image issues, as is widely thought when a woman suffers from disordered eating. \u201cI was disgusted by the state of the world,\u201d Husain tells Dazed. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s something that gets ignored when we talk about women as only interested in their appearance and their bodies. They are obviously interested in and care ideologically and spiritually about what happens in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In <\/span><em><span>Tell Me How You Eat, <\/span><\/em><span>Husain attempts to challenge our understanding of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/eating-disorders\">eating disorders<\/a> by highlighting just how difficult eating is <\/span><em><span>made <\/span><\/em><span>for so many of us, and how we all deserve to exist in a world where it is the easiest and most pleasurable thing to do. Below, we spoke to Husain about her book, the Trump administration\u2019s obsession with whole milk and how we should all fight to ensure that food is not a privilege but a right.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>A lot of what I\u2019ve read about eating disorders has to do with beauty standards. But you argue that it can be a result of more than that; that the violence of the world can make us ill and uninspired to eat. Why do you think it\u2019s important to push our understanding of eating disorders beyond the body and aesthetics?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain: <\/strong><span>This was my understanding of eating disorders, too, until I got one myself. That\u2019s not to say it isn\u2019t often related to beauty standards. But because it is so much of the dominant cultural narrative, specifically when women struggle with eating, we accept that this is the only possible explanation. In some ways, it is an achievement of feminism that people think about the relationship between patriarchal beauty standards and the limitations that are imposed on basic things like survival and pleasure that we can get through food. But in another way, it\u2019s kind of a failure of feminism that we refuse to imagine that women\u2019s psyches, when it comes to these kinds of illness, could be driven by something other than beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This narrative is so strong that when I found myself really struggling to eat, I felt a weird sense of shame because I was like, \u2018Oh, I must care about this [beauty] more than I think.\u2019 By the time I noticed that there was a problem, it became clear to me that I wasn\u2019t thinking about beauty, because what I was going through was very unbeautiful. I didn\u2019t care about what I was wearing; I had thin, horrible hair. And so, I knew on some level that if I wanted to understand what was going on, I needed to pursue other possibilities. I was disgusted by the state of the world, and I think that\u2019s something that gets ignored when we talk about women as only interested in their appearance and their bodies. <\/span><span>They are obviously interested in and care ideologically and spiritually about what happens in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not enough that people are fed; it matters <\/span><em><span>how<\/span><\/em><span> they\u2019re fed. If you have been crushed by the world and insulted with bad food that you perceive as harmful to you, it makes sense that you would lose the will to nourish yourself \u2013 Amber Husain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You write about the conditions of society and the ways they can inspire one to eat or not. It made me think about Liam, the five-year-old boy who ICE kidnapped in Minnesota. I read an article last week that said he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/liam-ramos-ice-detention-center-health-b2910289.html\">sick<\/a> because the food they give him is of poor quality. \u2018He has stomach pain, he\u2019s vomiting, he has a fever, and he no longer wants to eat.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain<\/strong><span>: In the book, I talk a lot not just about the ways we as individuals choose to eat, but also about the ways we\u2019re <\/span><em><span>made<\/span><\/em><span> to eat and the kinds of food cultures and institutions we exist within, such as the family, schools and prisons. They have a huge impact on how we understand ourselves\u2026 It\u2019s not enough that people are fed; it matters <\/span><em><span>how<\/span><\/em><span> they\u2019re fed. If you have been crushed by the world and insulted with bad food that you perceive as harmful to you, it makes sense that you would lose the will to keep trying to nourish yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s also very striking that while ICE are murdering people in communities in Minneapolis, ordinary people are feeding each other because people are scared to leave the house. These people are essentially being starved. What effect does that have on your capacity to hope? Your capacity to build a future for you and the people around you? But more optimistically, what does it do to demonstrate to your community that you care about each other and are prepared to organise to make sure that people are fed through mutual aid and food banks?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>We\u2019re all like \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019 and not like \u2018wait, eating should <\/span><em><span>not<\/span><\/em><span> be a privilege, and we should do something about it.\u2019 We shouldn\u2019t just feel good about having won this game of privilege \u2013 Amber Husain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>While you were in group therapy for your eating disorder, therapists would say to you and the group that if you just ate the right foods, you would \u2018transform into the right kind of beings\u2019. Do you think this is what the Trump administration is also trying to push with its new whole-milk agenda?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain<\/strong><span>: This narrative that if you eat the right kinds of foods, you\u2019ll become the right person taps into what theorist Lauren Berlant famously called \u2018cruel optimism\u2019. The government will make life really hard and unequal, but then will tell people that if they make good choices, everything will be fine. Food is a really useful lever for that. It\u2019s a really easy idea to sell: that there are foods that will make you live forever, give you a good life, increase your status, and get you more opportunities because you are seen to eat in this way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is part of what I diagnose in the book \u2013 the ways we are made to feel exhausted by thinking about food. We are made to feel anxious about making the right food choices, and we are responsible for making them as individuals, which is a complete fantasy because so much of which food is available to us is determined by social factors over which we have only a complicated kind of control. Their message [Trump administration] is very seductive, though. Sometimes, as I write in the book, it can feel easier to want what is wanted for you when it comes to food.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"edd628af-dd91-40eb-a1f0-b3e800b1a034\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436459.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.8\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"AZ_AmberHusain_110425_011\" class=\"img\" height=\"2505\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436459.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Alice Zoo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>One of my favourite parts of the book is when you write about the phrase \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019. People (myself included) will often say it to remind themselves to be grateful for the food they have, but the thought never goes beyond that.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain: <\/strong><span>Listen, there\u2019s no harm in being grateful for things. But it is kind of insane to me that it mostly stops there. We\u2019re all like \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019 and not like \u2018Wait, eating should <\/span><em><span>not<\/span><\/em><span> be a privilege, and we should do something about it.\u2019 We shouldn\u2019t just feel good about having won this game of privilege. Ultimately, it matters much less what an individual eats, whoever they are, and more that everyone has the opportunity to eat as much as they want and need. That\u2019s something that gets missed from the conversation when we think too much about our personal responsibility to eat in a way that is conscious and grateful for the privilege of eating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You have so many wonderful and deeply moving historical anecdotes about food in this book. From the Black Panthers\u2019 breakfast programme to feminist restaurants from the 1970s \u2013 what story inspires you the most optimistic about creating a world where food is not a privilege and where eating is easy for everyone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>I really love this story that\u2019s in Audre Lorde\u2019s biography <\/span><em><span>Zami: A New Spelling of My Name<\/span><\/em><span>, where she talks about these parties in the 50s. One is a house party thrown by white women, with a genteel atmosphere and not enough food. The other party is this one thrown by black women, and there\u2019s loads of booze and yummy food, and she describes how this food ramifies in the bodies of the people in the room, how it affects the way they move, interact with one another, and how it makes something happen. It\u2019s not necessarily the most political moment in <\/span><em><span>Zami<\/span><\/em><span> or in my book, but it demonstrates really beautifully and powerfully how eating in a certain way and spirit can make something happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Live<em> is out\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/461635\/tell-me-how-you-eat-by-husain-amber\/9781529154337\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/461635\/tell-me-how-you-eat-by-husain-amber\/9781529154337\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<div class=\"article-series\">\n<h4 class=\"heading\">More on these topics<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series\"><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\">Beauty<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/food\">food<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/feminism\">Feminism<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/body-image\">Body Image<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp-text-container\">\n<h3 class=\"lava-lamp-subheading\">Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69515\/1\/beauty\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">READ MORE<\/h2>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid tag-article-list\">\n<div class=\"swiper swiper-latest\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69515\/1\/amber-husain-author-interview-tell-me-how-you-eat-book-review-eating-disorders\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In the Mood for Love, 2000 (Film Still)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/71-0-1082-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435881.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">What we get wrong about disordered eating<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69505\/1\/in-2026-women-are-going-bald-tiktok-shaving-head-buzzcut\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bugonia, 2025 (Film Still)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-1152-766\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435589.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">In 2026, women are going bald<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69537\/1\/anok-yai-i-ve-really-learned-to-listen-to-my-body\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Caffeine reset + Lip boost - Anok Campaign imagery\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-395-2000-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436226.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Supermodel Anok Yai: \u2018I\u2019ve really learned to listen to my body\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69489\/1\/in-photos-capturing-joy-whimsy-and-heritage-of-long-hair-in-south-america\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Las Pelilargas Irina Werning 8\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-1-2000-1330\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435277.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Dynamic photos that celebrate Latin America\u2019s long-haired women<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69536\/1\/zara-larsson-grammys-2026-look-mua-sophia-sinot\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"chri404-038\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-150-1535-1021\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436182.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Unpacking Zara Larsson\u2019s \u2018midnight sun\u2019 look for the Grammys<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69503\/1\/horoscopes-february-2026-aquarius-eclipse-neptune-saturn-conjunction-aries\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"MV5BMjA5MzEyODQ3NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjExNDA0Ng@@._\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/158-0-1732-1152\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435858.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Horoscopes February 2026: Brace yourself for major changes!!!<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69522\/1\/cute-meets-kitsch-as-starface-x-ashley-williams-drops-i-love-me-stickers\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Starface x Ashley Williams collab\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-115-2499-1662\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436022.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">\u2018I \u2764\ufe0f me\u2019: Starface and Ashley Williams team up for new collab<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69518\/1\/skincare-brand-dieux-donates-all-profits-to-immigrant-defence-funds\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dieux skincare sad girls\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-143-1080-718\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1340\/3\/1343871.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Skincare brand Dieux donates profits to immigrant defence funds<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69517\/1\/charlie-le-mindu-hair-couture-show-ss26-catwalk\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Charlie Le Mindu, SS26 Couture\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-87-2586-1720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435923.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">In pictures: Charlie Le Mindu reinvents couture with hair<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69413\/1\/everyone-trying-regulate-their-nervous-system-tapping-tiktok-meditation\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Regulate your nervous system\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/200-0-619-412\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/4\/1434895.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Regulating your nervous system is so hot right now<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69498\/1\/minneapolis-tattoo-studio-chinga-la-migra-tokki-tokki-anti-ice-tattoos\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"620879742_18548592880005547_824016229342909505_n\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/14-236-601-400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435558.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">This Minneapolis tattoo studio is offering anti-ICE tattoos<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69473\/1\/wellness-anarchy-the-movement-rejecting-the-puritanism-of-fitness\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Heated Rivalry (2025) wellness anarchist\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/175-0-1202-800\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/4\/1434906.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Wellness anarchists: The movement shunning the strict rules of fitness<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>I don\u2019t think about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/food\">food<\/a> often. Apart from when I\u2019m eating sweets, and remember an article I read about artificial sweeteners being possibly carcinogenic to humans; or when I\u2019m in the supermarket buying anything to satiate my hunger, and remember all the sweeteners and gums that are put in soups and plant-based milks, and the ways they will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/62108\/1\/how-glucose-trackers-became-a-status-symbol-cgm-zoe-wellness-trend\">spike my blood sugar<\/a>; or when I\u2019m eating packet ramen, and remember a TikTok where someone classified them as her \u201creproductive harm noodles\u201d. <\/span><span>I don\u2019t think about food at all, really, apart from when I\u2019m at home with my mum, who is in the midst of menopause and believes that her body is failing her. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/62690\/1\/is-wellness-culture-is-fuelling-a-health-anxiety-crisis\">Health anxieties<\/a> have calcified in her body as she reads the labels of everything before consuming it. I watch her grow more and more defeated as she realises she cannot afford the \u201chealthier\u201d options she thinks will improve and prolong her life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In actuality, I think about food all the time. But I try my best not to. \u201cIt\u2019s such a shame that we are made to feel so exhausted by food,\u201d Amber Husain, writer of <\/span><em><span>Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Liv<\/span><\/em><span>e, tells me. \u201cBecause it\u2019s great. It is one of life\u2019s great pleasures\u201d. Husain knows all too well the feeling of exhaustion and deep disinterest in food. A few years ago, she experienced an eating disorder \u2013 anorexia to be specific \u2013 but found that her disinterest in food had little to do with body-image issues, as is widely thought when a woman suffers from disordered eating. \u201cI was disgusted by the state of the world,\u201d Husain tells Dazed. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s something that gets ignored when we talk about women as only interested in their appearance and their bodies. They are obviously interested in and care ideologically and spiritually about what happens in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In <\/span><em><span>Tell Me How You Eat, <\/span><\/em><span>Husain attempts to challenge our understanding of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/eating-disorders\">eating disorders<\/a> by highlighting just how difficult eating is <\/span><em><span>made <\/span><\/em><span>for so many of us, and how we all deserve to exist in a world where it is the easiest and most pleasurable thing to do. Below, we spoke to Husain about her book, the Trump administration\u2019s obsession with whole milk and how we should all fight to ensure that food is not a privilege but a right.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>A lot of what I\u2019ve read about eating disorders has to do with beauty standards. But you argue that it can be a result of more than that; that the violence of the world can make us ill and uninspired to eat. Why do you think it\u2019s important to push our understanding of eating disorders beyond the body and aesthetics?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain: <\/strong><span>This was my understanding of eating disorders, too, until I got one myself. That\u2019s not to say it isn\u2019t often related to beauty standards. But because it is so much of the dominant cultural narrative, specifically when women struggle with eating, we accept that this is the only possible explanation. In some ways, it is an achievement of feminism that people think about the relationship between patriarchal beauty standards and the limitations that are imposed on basic things like survival and pleasure that we can get through food. But in another way, it\u2019s kind of a failure of feminism that we refuse to imagine that women\u2019s psyches, when it comes to these kinds of illness, could be driven by something other than beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This narrative is so strong that when I found myself really struggling to eat, I felt a weird sense of shame because I was like, \u2018Oh, I must care about this [beauty] more than I think.\u2019 By the time I noticed that there was a problem, it became clear to me that I wasn\u2019t thinking about beauty, because what I was going through was very unbeautiful. I didn\u2019t care about what I was wearing; I had thin, horrible hair. And so, I knew on some level that if I wanted to understand what was going on, I needed to pursue other possibilities. I was disgusted by the state of the world, and I think that\u2019s something that gets ignored when we talk about women as only interested in their appearance and their bodies. <\/span><span>They are obviously interested in and care ideologically and spiritually about what happens in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not enough that people are fed; it matters <\/span><em><span>how<\/span><\/em><span> they\u2019re fed. If you have been crushed by the world and insulted with bad food that you perceive as harmful to you, it makes sense that you would lose the will to nourish yourself \u2013 Amber Husain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You write about the conditions of society and the ways they can inspire one to eat or not. It made me think about Liam, the five-year-old boy who ICE kidnapped in Minnesota. I read an article last week that said he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/liam-ramos-ice-detention-center-health-b2910289.html\">sick<\/a> because the food they give him is of poor quality. \u2018He has stomach pain, he\u2019s vomiting, he has a fever, and he no longer wants to eat.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain<\/strong><span>: In the book, I talk a lot not just about the ways we as individuals choose to eat, but also about the ways we\u2019re <\/span><em><span>made<\/span><\/em><span> to eat and the kinds of food cultures and institutions we exist within, such as the family, schools and prisons. They have a huge impact on how we understand ourselves\u2026 It\u2019s not enough that people are fed; it matters <\/span><em><span>how<\/span><\/em><span> they\u2019re fed. If you have been crushed by the world and insulted with bad food that you perceive as harmful to you, it makes sense that you would lose the will to keep trying to nourish yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s also very striking that while ICE are murdering people in communities in Minneapolis, ordinary people are feeding each other because people are scared to leave the house. These people are essentially being starved. What effect does that have on your capacity to hope? Your capacity to build a future for you and the people around you? But more optimistically, what does it do to demonstrate to your community that you care about each other and are prepared to organise to make sure that people are fed through mutual aid and food banks?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>We\u2019re all like \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019 and not like \u2018wait, eating should <\/span><em><span>not<\/span><\/em><span> be a privilege, and we should do something about it.\u2019 We shouldn\u2019t just feel good about having won this game of privilege \u2013 Amber Husain<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>While you were in group therapy for your eating disorder, therapists would say to you and the group that if you just ate the right foods, you would \u2018transform into the right kind of beings\u2019. Do you think this is what the Trump administration is also trying to push with its new whole-milk agenda?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain<\/strong><span>: This narrative that if you eat the right kinds of foods, you\u2019ll become the right person taps into what theorist Lauren Berlant famously called \u2018cruel optimism\u2019. The government will make life really hard and unequal, but then will tell people that if they make good choices, everything will be fine. Food is a really useful lever for that. It\u2019s a really easy idea to sell: that there are foods that will make you live forever, give you a good life, increase your status, and get you more opportunities because you are seen to eat in this way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is part of what I diagnose in the book \u2013 the ways we are made to feel exhausted by thinking about food. We are made to feel anxious about making the right food choices, and we are responsible for making them as individuals, which is a complete fantasy because so much of which food is available to us is determined by social factors over which we have only a complicated kind of control. Their message [Trump administration] is very seductive, though. Sometimes, as I write in the book, it can feel easier to want what is wanted for you when it comes to food.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"edd628af-dd91-40eb-a1f0-b3e800b1a034\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436459.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.8\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"AZ_AmberHusain_110425_011\" class=\"img\" height=\"2505\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/6\/1436459.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Alice Zoo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>One of my favourite parts of the book is when you write about the phrase \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019. People (myself included) will often say it to remind themselves to be grateful for the food they have, but the thought never goes beyond that.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Amber Husain: <\/strong><span>Listen, there\u2019s no harm in being grateful for things. But it is kind of insane to me that it mostly stops there. We\u2019re all like \u2018eating is a privilege\u2019 and not like \u2018Wait, eating should <\/span><em><span>not<\/span><\/em><span> be a privilege, and we should do something about it.\u2019 We shouldn\u2019t just feel good about having won this game of privilege. Ultimately, it matters much less what an individual eats, whoever they are, and more that everyone has the opportunity to eat as much as they want and need. That\u2019s something that gets missed from the conversation when we think too much about our personal responsibility to eat in a way that is conscious and grateful for the privilege of eating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>You have so many wonderful and deeply moving historical anecdotes about food in this book. From the Black Panthers\u2019 breakfast programme to feminist restaurants from the 1970s \u2013 what story inspires you the most optimistic about creating a world where food is not a privilege and where eating is easy for everyone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>I really love this story that\u2019s in Audre Lorde\u2019s biography <\/span><em><span>Zami: A New Spelling of My Name<\/span><\/em><span>, where she talks about these parties in the 50s. One is a house party thrown by white women, with a genteel atmosphere and not enough food. The other party is this one thrown by black women, and there\u2019s loads of booze and yummy food, and she describes how this food ramifies in the bodies of the people in the room, how it affects the way they move, interact with one another, and how it makes something happen. It\u2019s not necessarily the most political moment in <\/span><em><span>Zami<\/span><\/em><span> or in my book, but it demonstrates really beautifully and powerfully how eating in a certain way and spirit can make something happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Live<em> is out\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/461635\/tell-me-how-you-eat-by-husain-amber\/9781529154337\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/461635\/tell-me-how-you-eat-by-husain-amber\/9781529154337\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/beauty\/article\/69515\/1\/amber-husain-author-interview-tell-me-how-you-eat-book-review-eating-disorders&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1080\/72-0-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/5\/1435881.jpg&#8221;] In the Mood for Love, 2000 (Film Still) February\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 Beauty \/ Q+A Beauty \/ Q+A What we get wrong about disordered eating In her book, Tell Me How You Eat, Amber Husain explores how the state of the world can impact our relationship with food February\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 February\u00a0 5,\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1753445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1753445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1753445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1753445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1753445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1753445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}