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Candida, food discipline and the dietary taming of uncertainty

dc.contributor.authorOverend, Alissa
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-17
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-31T01:43:59Z
dc.date.available2022-05-31T01:43:59Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractDiscourses of nutritional health are strongly associated with illness, and have recently been linked to the prevalence and management of chronic undefined disorders. Using the case of Candida—a yeast-related disorder of vague symptomatology—I explore the role of food in the narratives of twenty-four people living with Candida. As Candida remains a speculative illness within the boundaries of biomedical science, it is relevant to critically explore the often-focal role of food in the management of this condition, and to consider the range of personal, social and cultural motivations at work in its dietary regulation. Taking up Foucault's theory of docility, I trace the ways in which dietary practices can be understood as normalizing the Candidad-body by helping to create a sense of certainty and control in the persistent face of illness ambiguity. In drawing on Foucault's later work, I move beyond illness dieting as solely a disciplinary regime and explore the ways in which dietary regime can also be conceptualized as a practice in the care of the self, fostering a heightened, often-changing sense of self. While Candida dieting practices will never fully operate separate from the pervasive discourses of nutritional science, they can offer productive possibilities in the regulation and maintenance of an illness not fully recognized by biomedical science.
dc.description.urihttps://library.macewan.ca/cgi-bin/SFX/url.pl/CC1
dc.identifier.citationOverend, A. (2012). Candida, food discipline and the dietary taming of uncertainty, Food, Culture & Society, 16 (1), 145 – 160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2752/175174413X13500468045560
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2752/175174413X13500468045560
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14078/2349
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAll Rights Reserved
dc.subjectcare of the self
dc.subjectCandida
dc.subjectundefined illness
dc.subjectillness dieting
dc.subjectfood discipline
dc.titleCandida, food discipline and the dietary taming of uncertaintyen
dc.typeArticle

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