The Effect of Social Media and Healthy Lifestyles
As the trends for a gluten-free diet are becoming more popular within society, the popularity of blogs relating to this diet is also becoming more prominent. Through the discovery of social media pages such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr, these bloggers are able to share their ideas and discoveries through a variety of different social media methods. Some of the blogs that I have personally found include “Gluten-Free Girl”, “Gluten-Free Goddess” and “Delightfully Gluten Free”. The popularity of sharing gluten-free recipes has specifically become very popular. Because many foods that people are unaware of contain gluten, the importance of sharing ideas and recipes is very important. When an individual is first diagnosed with a gluten-sensitivity or self-diagnoses, the transition is known to be very difficult. So, in order to help with this, social media experts write about their own experiences and share their ideas that they have created in the kitchen.
In order to make the adjustment from a gluten to gluten-free lifestyle an easier and less intense process, bloggers and social media experts flood their pages with recipes and diet tips to make the transition more natural.
Not only does social media help with the initial transition of becoming gluten-free easier by ways of helping people find delicious meals to cook, but it also allows individuals to feel a sort of connection during this transition. Although many people do become gluten-free as a personal choice, rather than as a necessary health concern, the online gluten-free community finds a way to link all of these individuals together going through the same processes. The development and expansion of social media throughout the years has allowed people going through all sorts of health changes such as Celiac, gluten-sensitivity, and other “diets” such as low FODMAPS and dairy-free, to be an easier transition. These online communities allow people to connect with each other and encourage each other when the dietary lifestyle change seems to be very difficult to keep up with.
I personally have found social media to be of great help when it comes not only to dieting techniques, but to healthy cooking in general. I follow quite a few health food Instagrammers and even some bloggers. I am constantly on the Internet trying to find more recipes that are not only healthy, but also easy and affordable to make. By following many of these people on Instagram, it makes the process of searching for recipes a lot less difficult. Because they post new recipes almost everyday, I easily am drawn to recipes as I scroll down my social feed. I think that social media has a very strong effect on the lives of individuals and is able to help people with whatever dietary needs they are personally trying to meet. Whether it be just for healthy food options, dairy-free, gluten-free, or any other health-related diet that an individual needs, social media is a great place for people to feel connected and find new ideas.
