The Algorithm Trap: How Social Media Keeps Us Stuck in Diet Culture 

By Lucy Chermak, MBA, RDN, Director of Nutritional Services, EDCare

March is National Nutrition Month, a time dedicated to fostering a more balanced relationship with food and nutrition. But in today’s digital world, what we consume online can shape our eating habits just as much as the food on our plates.

Algorithms shape how we think about food, nutrition, and body image, often reinforcing harmful diet culture narratives. A 2022 survey of high school students found that those who spent more than two hours daily on social media were 1.6 times more likely to experience body image issues. Similarly, a University of Vermont study found that 44% of TikTok’s nutrition-related content promotes weight loss, with 20% showcasing weight transformations — a trend linked to disordered eating behaviors and unhealthy body image perceptions.

How Algorithms Fuel Diet Culture

Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube operate on engagement-based algorithms, meaning the content you interact with — whether it’s a video about “clean eating” or a post on weight loss — determines what you’ll see more of in the future.

The problem? These algorithms don’t differentiate between healthy, evidence-based nutrition information and the latest fad diet. Interacting with just one piece of diet-related content can quickly turn a feed into a flood of weight-loss challenges, “What I Eat in a Day” videos, fitness influencers pushing restrictive meal plans, and misleading “wellness” trends that often disguise disordered eating behaviors.

This constant exposure to diet culture messaging can lead to:

  • Increased food guilt: Feeling pressure to eat “clean” or cut out entire food groups.
  • Body dissatisfaction: Comparing yourself to filtered, unrealistic body standards.
  • A heightened fear of food: Overanalyzing every ingredient or calorie count.
  • Triggering eating disorder thoughts: Particularly for those in recovery.

How to Break Free from the Algorithm Trap

Reclaiming control of your social media experience is possible with intentional steps:

  1. Audit Your Feed. Unfollow or mute accounts that promote rigid food rules, weight loss challenges, or unrealistic body ideals. Instead, follow intuitive eating/anti-diet dietitians, recovery advocates, and body-positive creators who promote a balanced, compassionate approach to food.
  2. Diversify Your Content. Engage with non-diet culture content such as mental health pages, creative hobbies, nature photography, or accounts that inspire you beyond appearance-based goals.
  3. Be Wary of “Wellness” Trends. Many popular health trends, like detox teas, intermittent fasting, and “cheat day” mentalities, reinforce restriction and binge cycles. Ask: Does this encourage food freedom, or does it promote guilt and shame?
  4. Question Health and Wellness Apps. Calorie-tracking apps, fitness monitors and food journaling tools can seem helpful, but they often reinforce rigid thinking and disordered eating patterns. One study found that apps like MyFitnessPal can actually trigger and reinforce disordered eating behaviors, with 73% of 105 sampled users reporting that it contributed to their eating disorders.

Before downloading any health or fitness app, be sure to ask yourself the following:

  • Who developed the app? Is it a commercial entity looking to make money out of the product? What clinical experts are involved?
  • Are there any trials or published evidence in peer-reviewed journal articles that show this app is safe and effective?
  • Is this app truly supporting my well-being, or is it fueling anxiety around food and movement?

Shifting the Narrative This National Nutrition Month

Social media isn’t inherently harmful but the way algorithms push diet culture content can be. By curating a feed that supports food freedom, rejecting harmful wellness trends, and embracing intuitive eating, we can step out of the algorithm trap and into a healthier, more balanced relationship with food.

At EDCare, we help individuals navigate eating disorder recovery with a focus on intuitive eating, body neutrality, and sustainable nutrition habits. If social media has made your relationship with food more complicated, you are not alone. Reach out to our team for evidence-based support and compassionate care.

EDCare offers FREE, confidential assessments and housing accommodations for those who do no reside near our facilities. We are proudly in-network with most major insurances, including Colorado Medicaid.

To learn more about our program or speak with a member of our compassionate team, please contact the center near you.