Photo: Instagram
Is her lifestyle healthy for her and her kids?
By Zayda Slabbekoorn — Written on Nov 16, 2022
It’s no secret that all eyes are on the Kardashians at all times.
Everything from their social media photos, their bodies, their parenting, and anything else you can think of, are constantly scrutinized.
Kourtney Kardashian is no exception — recently, moments from the Kardashian’s new Hulu show showing her intense diet fads have sparked outrage in the health and wellness community.
A dietician on YouTube caught wind of Kourtney Kardashian's lifestyle and made a video about it.
YouTuber and dietician Abbey Sharp released a new video walking through this Kardashian’s diet lifestyle — her supplement line, her restrictive diet routine, and her ban on candy for her kids.
Starting the video, Sharp addresses that she only uses the video as an educational tool for viewers — in no way does she want to attack the Kardashian sister, only supporting people who may see her diet as "the only way."
The first clip from a "Keeping Up With The Kardashians episode" shows her telling her ex-boyfriend Scott Disick that she’s “cutting out cheese and bread” from her diet — because she’s allergic to it.
Disick pushes back, saying she ate something with cheese earlier in the week, but she stays adamant that the restriction is in the "name of health."
In awe, Sharp immediately discloses that this restriction is incredibly unhealthy: she shares her own story, “thinking I was allergic to a bunch of foods that I was not…you can actually make yourself more intolerant.”
Following the image of her “glamorous healthy life,” Sharp says, this Kardashian’s misleading allergy tests provide her with a crutch to restrict dairy and gluten from her diet.
The dietician says Kourtney Kardashian's gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free is problematic.
Sharp notes that removing all these foods does not make someone's diet "healthy."
Her reliance on these restrictive foods can be a "display of elitism and sign of financial elitism," Sharp shares.
Kim Kardashian is front and center in the next clip, which is taken from an episode in which the sisters feud over a Candyland-themed birthday event they were throwing for their daughters.
Kim says her sister wants the party to be a health-conscious event.
"A completely sugar-free, gluten-free, hearty-free, fun-free zone, because Kourtney has decided that. It just doesn’t make sense.”
While Sharp respects her efforts to keep high-processed sugars out of her kids' diets but finds it “not best practice” at the very least to be “sniffing donuts for thrills and banning candy at a Candyland-themed party.”
Kardashian’s rule banning sugar from her children’s diets is dangerous.
Sharp says the ban and negative talk over candy for children can only delay their consumption of it — they’ll become young adults and will likely turn to overconsumption.
She shares that kids often absorb the negative self-talk that "mom" might have when she eats sugar herself — causing them guilt and negative emotions when they might eat something similar.
Instead, she suggests playing the “long game” with children.
“It’s not deserving of being put on a pedestal or obsession – we can be relaxed about it because we know it’s not going away for good.”
“The ironic thing about Kourtney’s unique combination of restrictions… most gluten-free products contain more sugar…than their regular counterparts.”
Kardashian’s diet rules may also include restricting natural sugars — like fruit.
Sharp shares an online source that reveals Kardashian’s menu for her children, things like lean protein, gluten-free waffles, and steamed vegetables.
She notices that there is no fruit, which she points out to be suspicious — hoping that her children are given the option.
Restrictive eating practices may promote overeating tendencies later in life.
Sharp ends her video with a few different worries she has for Kardashian’s children as they’re raised in a restrictive environment.
“When children feel deprived of certain foods, they’re more likely to overeat, hoard, or binge on the forbidden foods in secret.”
Children with restrictions may grow into an unhealthy ‘diet-driven’ lifestyle.
“Exposure to dieting at a young age only increases the likelihood of dieting in adulthood — which can open up a big can of worms, including risky dieting behavior, more weight cycling episodes, and higher body weight.”
Ultimately, Sharp believes that a lot of Kardashian’s talk surrounding restrictive dieting can be harmful to both herself and her children — isolation, guilt, prejudice, disordered eating, and the development of eating disorders are all concerns she shares.
“I know that we are all just doing our absolute best trying to keep our kids happy and healthy with the tools that we have access to. This is not so much a critique of Kourtney herself, seeing as this experience is just so common amongst so many health-concerned parents.”
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango. They cover topics ranging from pop culture analysis to human interest stories. They are currently based in East Lansing, MI. Catch up with them on their Instagram or TikTok.