nutritionism means A paradigm that assumes that it is the scientifically identified nutrients in foods that determine their value in the diet. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “nutritionism” is a great word
A reductive ideology that the health value of any food can be wholly understood by summing its isolated, scientifically quantified nutrients. From nutrition (from Latin nūtrītiō, "a nourishing," from nūtrīre, "to nourish, suckle") + -ism (suffix forming nouns of action, system, or doctrine). Unlike "holistic nutrition," which emphasizes the synergy and irreducible wholeness of dietary patterns, or the neutral field of "food science," nutritionism is a specific paradigm that mistakes the chemical map for the culinary territory. It is the supermarket aisle where "fortified with iron" sells a sugary cereal, the earnest debate over a "low-fat" versus "low-carb" snack bar of indistinguishable processed ingredients, and the sterile calculation that assigns identical value to a synthetic vitamin pill and a sun-warmed blueberry—a modern faith where nourishment becomes a problem to be solved rather than a meal to be eaten.
Etymology
From nutrition + -ism.
noun
- A paradigm that assumes that it is the scientifically identified nutrients in foods that determine their value in the diet.