Orthorexia, Clean Eating, and the Trap of Diet Culture | ANEW Ep 109

In this episode of the ANEW Insight Podcast, Dr. Supatra Tovar sits down with Robyn Goldberg—registered dietitian nutritionist, certified eating disorder specialist, and author of The Eating Disorder Trap—to explore how diet culture, orthorexia, and misinformation can derail health., Robyn reminds us that everyday health struggles often stem not from missing miracle cures but from harmful beliefs about food, body image, and worthiness.

With over two decades of private practice experience, Robyn unpacks how the pursuit of “clean eating” can spiral into orthorexia, why intuitive eating and HAES (Health at Every Size) offer a sustainable path forward, and how cultural pressures—from Los Angeles to Instagram—fuel disordered eating. Together, Dr. Tovar and Robyn share practical insights for clinicians, caregivers, and anyone caught in the cycle of dieting, restriction, and body dissatisfaction.

⭐ Episode Highlights

• Robyn Goldberg’s journey into dietetics and eating disorder recovery work
• The inspiration behind her book The Eating Disorder Trap
• How “clean eating” morphs into orthorexia nervosa
• Why orthorexia isn’t yet in the DSM—and why it should be
• Social and cultural pressures that intensify disordered eating
• How HAES and intuitive eating restore body trust
• Strategies to reframe medical misinformation and reclaim food freedom
• The role of curiosity, compassion, and body attunement in recovery

⏱️ Episode Notes / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction with Dr. Supatra Tovar
 01:00 – Robyn Goldberg’s career beginnings in dietetics
 04:00 – Transition from clinical nutrition therapy to private practice
 07:00 – Writing The Eating Disorder Trap and using illustrations for accessibility
10:00 – Defining orthorexia nervosa and its clinical impact
14:00 – Humor, culture, and pressures in Los Angeles
18:00 – Social media’s influence on body image and disordered eating
21:00 – Integrating intuitive eating and HAES with medical nutrition therapy
25:00 – Helping clients challenge misinformation from medical providers
28:00 – Why all bodies deserve nourishment and joy

📚 Resources & Links

📘 Read Robyn Goldberg’s The Eating Disorder Trap. Here are her social media platforms links:https://askaboutfood.com/,  https://www.yelp.com/biz/robyn-l-goldberg-rd-cedrd-los-angeles,  https://share.google/W7x5rysYIFZLyxjTp , https://share.google/jetwJkPq3YENcA6IU
 🌐 Learn more about ANEW Insight: anew-insight.com
📖 Read my book Deprogram Diet Culture
 🎓 Join the Deprogram Diet Culture Course for lasting transformation

Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:01

Robyn Goldberg is a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified eating disorder specialist, intuitive eating counselor and Health at Every Size or HAES practitioner. She began her career at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles focusing on cardiology and gastroenterology before transitioning into private practice. She provides supervision to other professionals, speaks nationally at conferences and contributes to media outlets, including the New York Times, Shape and Today's Dietitian. Robyn is also the author of the Eating Disorder Trap, A Guide for Clinicians and Loved Ones and has been featured in numerous television and podcast interviews.

Robyn Goldberg: 0:03

And I initially started out as an exercise physiology major, but couldn't handle the cadavers in schools. So I migrated into dietetics. As I, realized I was a collegiate tennis player, that I was, that was it. My career was ending in college. I was not gonna be professional.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:04

I love this. How did you transition then? You went from Cedar-Sinai doing, some more medical nutrition therapy and transferred into private practice and started to work with eating disorders and wrote your book, and I'd love to hear a little bit more about that.

Robyn Goldberg: 0:05

As when I started out, I only wanted to be, the dietitian for the Lakers. Always wanted to work in sports nutrition, and I, it's really awesome to see how I've expanded and I have many interests in area of specializations and I, had worked at the same time, actually, I was the nutrition director at an outpatient eating disorder program and IOP, and that actually that interest started because three of my roommates, when I was at Sonoma State, that's where I started playing tennis all had bulimia nervosa. So I would fall asleep at night to them purging. And that was my exposure and introduction initially. So I knew, private practice would be the long haul it was obtaining that experience. And as, as Supatra when we start out, we really wanna be able to get as much experience as we can so then we can really hone in on what our niche would be. So throughout my career, probably similarly to you, you'll hear colleagues and friends and family say, well, when are you gonna put out a book? And I've always been like, I would say the publicist for, all of our colleagues promoting this book and that book. And I had decided if I was ever going to write a book, I wanted to write a book that was different from the books that existed in the field. And what I mean by that is A, something that could be user friendly to all, not just clinicians, not just family members. B written in a way that. You don't have to have a PhD. It could be, the checker at the grocery store could read. So I had decided I really had a variety of topics I wanted to discuss and to be able to have illustrations before each subject matter that can then be a deep dive in on what that subject matter would be written in a very general, basic way. You, you walk into a grocery store, anyone in there could have one. So that's the first part. Also, questions that would be beneficial if you are a coach, if you are a religious figure, if you are a physician, that can be beneficial to incorporate in your conversations with folks as well as body language, I think can be very telling, like really learning how to be mindful and change the body language. Because sometimes that could be very activating for people and also really to understand like what's going on through one's mind and medically how every body part is impacted. So there was a lot, I was really hoping to achieve. Good question. I don't think anyone's asked me that before. Well, the original title I'm gonna tell you, so I was working with a trademark lawyer and I learned that you can't just like pick a title. It has to be researched to see if it is available. So the original title and I'm glad I have my title was actually the Hunger Games. So. My trademark lawyer was in touch with the Hunger Games trademark lawyer. I had a whole email with the author, and as I had explained like what this was about, of course there was a no go based on like, because the book, the film. So, by looking and I'll just grab. So on the Eating Disorder Trap. So there's a number of things I learned between metaphor of color and in it. So the background, I'm not sure if you can tell what the background actually is, Supatra, but the background is a vortex. It's the black hole and this is showing that a person's going down and so as you are going up, the color lightens and this shows that there is hope and there is a way out trap is like you're in serious trouble. So I, I learned probably like you, that you want to have a catchy title, not have so many words. And I had a number of titles that I was between, but this was actually it and the vortex was my husband's brainchild because initially when I had hired the designer for the book cover, first the covers, I was like no.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:11

Yes. And I think that there is a certain trap that people fall into when they're kind of descending toward an eating disorder. And if you could identify some of the traps that people might fall into, what would they be?

Robyn Goldberg: 0:12

I think one of the ones that's very common right now is this term with like clean eating. I always like to say, and I joke when I say this to clients, if you are wanting clean food, put it under the faucet. Give it a rinse. But I think, diet culture has marketed and branded and I was listening to someone yesterday and probably at least six times in like 10 minutes, he was like, well, when I'm eating clean and clean it's, I think unfortunately people have these feelings. If they're not eating a certain way, then they have failed and they are kind of going down this dark path. So I think that's one of one of the areas for sure. I think also people looking quote unquote normal or living in larger bodies and their providers or friends have no idea that they have disordered eating or thinking. Or they could be pretty entrenched in self obstructive behaviors, and because they like look normal, they don't appear emaciated. And that might not be just what their body's, geography is

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:13

But how does clean eating transfer into Orthorexia. And what? Define Orthorexia for our listeners. Yes, absolutely, and I have a few clients that have suffered from this. I would be very curious on the diet.

Robyn Goldberg: 0:15

So I'm gonna add a little humor to that because at first my initial reaction was like, don't live in Los Angeles. Don't be in Beverly Hills. I mean, I was listening to a client the other day, who's going to college here, who is from the Midwest, and he told me his clean eating, his eating disorder has exacerbated since coming here as opposed to, so I was joking, but I'm being serious because I think when you're in large mainstream cities, especially we're, we're in the land of entertainment and Hollywood, even if you do not work in that industry, it's like we are bombarded by it. So I think it's really eye-opening when, like when I lived in the South for my dietetic internship it was very different. And I remember my father would always say to me, when I moved to Virginia for that year and a half dietetic internship, every girl that grows up in Beverly Hills should have this experience because I had a rotation in the state penitentiary.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:17

Yes, exactly. It was it was a really lovely place to grow up and then wasn't devoid of people suffering from eating disorders. But moving out here, certainly everything was so centered around looks and really when you look at that kind of ideal, it was all emaciation at the time. The thinness was like so extreme. Kind of what we're back to now, which I wanna talk to you about in the second half of this podcast really wanna get into what's happening culturally now. their social media feed, they can really start to like weed out the influences that are making them feel terrible and put in the more inspiring content like Kevin Bacon singing to his goats. That's like one of my favorite things on earth. But back to your, the way that you treat people. You do integrate medical nutrition therapy, intuitive eating and HAES Health at Every Size principles.

Robyn Goldberg: 0:20

I'm glad that you asked that Supatra because since coming from I would say the University of Cedar-Sinai. I see many people with medical issues, and when I started my career is when the first edition of Intuitive Eating came out. So for example, when you're seeing someone who's in renal insufficiency and they're trying to avoid dialysis, they're not going to physically feel if they are having more protein than their kidneys will handle, as opposed to if you're someone with diabetes, you're able to physically, especially as you're paying attention to your body, be more aware when your glucose levels are rising due to having more grams of carbohydrate than your body's capable of of, burning off essentially. And, giving them the choice to say like, you know what, let's experiment. Let's see what it would feel like. When you're having more of X, Y, and Z. Do you feel like you're, having more loose stools? Are you having a flare up with your Crohn's, with your colitis? So I really like to approach it from that angle with. having them go through the place of curiosity and, being able to quiet that inner critic of course takes time. But really being able to look at like, no one knows what works best for your body, but you, I don't live in your body, your doctor doesn't live in your body. And really being able to create a sense of kindness and self-compassion, really, because I think like when we're critical and judgmental, where does that get us? So I really like to, celebrate the wins with whomever I'm sitting with, no matter how small or how large they are. Like, I was, discussing with a client two days ago, I see a lot of males, I'm thinking of another male. And he was, talking about how, there was not this specific binge that happened and he was speaking about what he had done and I was like, look, there's like three things you just described that were you actively trying to be in the moment and think about what you could differently. And, giving them the choice to say like, you know what, let's experiment. Let's see what it would feel like. When you're having more of X, Y, and Z. Do you feel like you're, having more loose stools? Are you having a flare up with your Crohn's, with your colitis? So I really like to approach it from that angle with. having them go through the place of curiosity and, being able to quiet that inner critic of course takes time. But really being able to look at like, no one knows what works best for your body, but you, I don't live in your body, your doctor doesn't live in your body. And really being able to create a sense of kindness and self-compassion, really, because I think like when we're critical and judgmental, where does that get us? So I really like to, celebrate the wins with whomever I'm sitting with, no matter how small or how large they are. Like, I was, discussing with a client two days ago, I see a lot of males, I'm thinking of another male. And he was, talking about how, there was not this specific binge that happened and he was speaking about what he had done and I was like, look, there's like three things you just described that were you actively trying to be in the moment and think about what you could differently.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:23

Yes. Oh my goodness. You and I are so aligned. I think that one area that people , when they struggle with disordered eating or eating disorders, is actually becoming kind of dissociated from their body. They're not listening to their hunger cues. They're often not listening to their fullness cues as well, and they Dis, erase the old medical model of, thinness equals health because we know that's actually not true. We do know that if you do, go past a certain point in terms of obesity, you are more prone to, metabolic disorders and things like that, but that doesn't necessarily translate for everybody.

Robyn Goldberg: 0:25

So the first thing I always like to say, because I find this kind of has carried over just with, and other providers. So, I liked to use the term larger bodies and smaller bodies because it's offensive and stigmatizing to call someone, quote unquote obese. So it's different if they, identify as I am, quote unquote, a fat person. But with many people having lack of confidence and trust in their bodies, they will fall down, this path or go down this path of, oh, my doctor's right? Saying, like, I'm at this size, I, I'm not worthy and deserving to eat food that tastes delicious to me. So I really like to educate and reframe that, all bodies deserve to be able to have food that nourishes them. Also all bodies deserve to have what I call vitamin J food that gives them joy. It's fun. Whether it's chips or gummy bears, I think really looking at will that give me long-term sustaining energy is, the way my sandwich would. No. But to be able to say and I think part of it too is if we're quote unquote picky ears, which I know we're gonna talk about, or if there was this, restriction or being denied or not having access to it, a younger part in their life where they were not, allowed to eat these different foods. I have many adults that have, the pallets of children because they want to eat what they want when they want and not have anyone tell 'em that they can or cannot have it, or, we don't have access. So the first thing I always like to say, because I find this kind of has carried over just with, and other providers. So, I liked to use the term larger bodies and smaller bodies because it's offensive and stigmatizing to call someone, quote unquote obese. So it's different if they, identify as I am, quote unquote, a fat person. But with many people having lack of confidence and trust in their bodies, they will fall down, this path or go down this path of, oh, my doctor's right? Saying, like, I'm at this size, I, I'm not worthy and deserving to eat food that tastes delicious to me. So I really like to educate and reframe that, all bodies deserve to be able to have food that nourishes them. Also all bodies deserve to have what I call vitamin J food that gives them joy. It's fun. Whether it's chips or gummy bears, I think really looking at will that give me long-term sustaining energy is, the way my sandwich would. No. But to be able to say and I think part of it too is if we're quote unquote picky ears, which I know we're gonna talk about, or if there was this, restriction or being denied or not having access to it, a younger part in their life where they were not, allowed to eat these different foods. I have many adults that have, the pallets of children because they want to eat what they want when they want and not have anyone tell 'em that they can or cannot have it, or, we don't have access. You're having sandwiches, you're having a burrito, you're having a bowl, you're having a salad, et cetera, and being able to explain like what that looks like.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:28

And I think if we can help the medical community de-stigmatize the way you know that people in larger bodies are treated, we certainly can improve their health outcomes better than we can ever do by shaming them. So I'm so glad that you're doing this work and it is so important. I can't believe we're out of time.