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of diet-related illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. My objective,
however, in this study is to critically engage certain group doctrines and practices involving
diet that might be harmful to members. The diets of some groups, in some instances,
contain potentially harmful dimensions that reflect the control issues of leaders as well as
the power structures embedded within the group organization and operation. Following
Michel Foucault, we see that the body is, ―…a target and vehicle of modern disciplinary
practices‖ (Sawicki, 1991: 95) but in this instance, the disciplinarians are ideological
leaders. Through severe food restrictions, these leaders enhance their influence over the
individual and in turn, the individual develops the illusion of gaining control over his or her
own body.
Traditional Notions of Food and Religion
In the traditional religious studies literature dealing with diet or food and religion, several
themes are prevalent. From a religious studies perspective, Paul Fieldhouse‘s study of the
role of diet in religion examines the use of food to communicate with God or with
otherworldly deities (Fieldhouse, 1995:120). Communication usually takes place with a
food sacrifice involving a ritualistic or symbolic act, such as taking the Eucharist in
Christianity. The Eucharist is a highly symbolic act in protestant Christianity, whereas in the
Catholic tradition, the bread and wine become the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ through
the process of transubstantiation (Fieldhouse, 1995: 103 Oxtoby, 1996: 220).
Another traditional notion surrounding food and religion is that food practices demonstrate
one‘s faith (Ayoub,1996: 382 Fieldhouse, 1995: 120). For example, Jewish, Muslim, and
Hindu dietary laws express followers‘ acceptance of the reputed word of God. Furthermore,
religious followers deny food to reject worldliness (Amore and Ching, 1996: 219
Fieldhouse, 1995: 120). Fasting is the most common way that religious devotees reject the
world to practice asceticism6—a point to which I will return, as it is very important for my
theoretical discussion. Food practices also enhance group feelings of solidarity and identity
(Fieldhouse, 1995: 120). As Fieldhouse articulates, ―[I]individuals who observe codified
food rules make a public demonstration of belonging to a group, and every day provide
themselves with a private affirmation of identification with the group. In this way, a sense
of belonging is constantly reinforced‖ (Fieldhouse, 1995: 122).
Food practices relate to religion because they are an expression of separateness from other
religious or nonreligious groups (Fieldhouse, 1995: 120). This function of separation is clear
in Jewish and Muslim dietary laws, and Hindu caste rules are very specific about who can
and cannot eat certain foods (Fieldhouse, 1995: 122 Narayanan, 1996: 89 Segal, 1995:
108). Finally, religious followers use food practices in a spiritual context for ecological
reasons, such as vegetarianism or veganism in the New Age spirituality movement
(Fieldhouse, 1995: 120).
These traditional notions and themes surrounding the religious functions of food are valid
and useful perspectives, but are incomplete. Fieldhouse‘s discussion, for example, does not
identify that some ideological groups use food and diet restrictions to control followers in a
pervasive and comprehensive manner. In addressing this omission, I argue that some high
demand ideological leaders use dietary restrictions in attempts to govern followers‘ bodies
as if they were surrogates for their own bodies.
Anorexia Nervosa
Some high-commitment ideological groups that exact dietary restrictions are analogous to
anorexics7 who restrict their own diets in attempts to regulate their lives (Bruch, 1978
Bruch, 1997 Brumberg 1988 Lelwica, 1999 Miles, 1995). In this context, anorexia
nervosa is a disease that completely encompasses the sufferers‘ lives. They make basic,
everyday decisions based on their relation and desire for self-regimentation. The anorexic

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feels that she can manipulate all aspects of her life if she can control her body and its
desires. Similarly, some ideological groups use dietary instructions and restrictions to
subjugate their ‗social body‘ of followers.
Several eating disorders exist, but I focus on anorexia nervosa, and particularly one social-
psychological explanation of it, because it allows for the clearest comparison to religious
starvation. Two other explanatory models for anorexia are the biomedical model and the
socio-cultural feminist model. The biomedical model assumes that anorexia is rooted in
physical and not mental problems. The biomedical model focuses on biochemical
imbalances in the brain as causation for anorexia (Brumberg, 1988: 24-25 Lelwica, 1999:
23). The biomedical model looks to the signs and symptoms of anorexia such as:
emaciation, amenorrhea, malnourishment, lanugo, depression, and hair loss, etc.
(Buckroyd, 1996: 5). In my view, however, these biomedical problems are effects of
anorexia not causes of it. The biomedical community still debates whether biochemical
imbalances cause or are components of anorexia (Lelwica 1999: 24).
The socio-cultural feminist model proposes that anorexia is a ‗culture-bound‘ syndrome
(Lelwica, 1999:25). Women become anorexic because they are overwhelmed with the
demands of womanhood (Buckroyd, 1996: 63). The expectation on women is to be selfless,
caring, and nurturing, while at the same time to be independent, self-reliant, and powerful
(Lelwica, 1999: 26). In this model, fear of the demands of womanhood and fear of their
own bodies causes anorexia, and anorexia is the result of women attempting to ‗keep‘ their
bodies childlike (Lelwica, 1999: 25). Often the proponents of the socio-cultural model look
to the fashion industry for causation of anorexia, as well as the over-representation of thin
women in the media. Throughout the past several decades, the ‗ideal‘ size of women has
shrunk (Buckroyd, 1996: 53). One can see the ‗shrinking‘ phenomena in the popular
media: ―[a] series of well-known studies point to the declining weight since the 1950s of
fashion models, Miss America contestants, and Playboy centerfolds‖ (Brumberg, 1988: 254).
The social-psychological explanation for anorexia is based on the assumption that its cause
is a desire to have complete control over one‘s body (Bruch, 1978 Brumberg, 1988
Lelwica, 1999 Miles, 1995 Orbach, 1986). As Joan Jacob Brumberg discusses, ―the
anorectic makes her body a stand-in for a life she cannot control‖ (Brumberg, 1988: 28).
Psychologist Hilde Bruch was one of the main pioneers of this theory, and she stresses that
the anorexic‘s desire for control is in opposition with her desire to be complacent and
obedient (Lelwica, 1999: 22).
The idea that regulation over food and diet creates a sense of total management over the
anorexic‘s life is well documented. Bruch discusses a seventeen-year-old anorexic who
talked about her own disease in the context of self-regimentation, stating, ―This was
something I could control. I still don‘t know what I look like or what size I am, but I know
my body can take anything‖ (Bruch, 1997: 218). Anorexics use their diet as the one part of
their lives over which they have complete and utter control, and then by extension are able
to feel a sense of power over other aspects of their lives. As one anorexic describes this
feeling of command, ―‗I felt powerful as an anorexic. Controlling my body yielded an illusion
of control over my life.… I had reduced my world to a plate of steamed carrots, and over
this tiny kingdom I proudly crowned myself queen‘‖ (quoted in Lelwica, 1999: 110).
The feelings of total self-rule that an anorexic feels while dieting are powerful and insidious.
The simple act of denying the body physical needs creates a feeling of domination over the
body and the self (Lelwica, 1999: 89). This domination and self-regulation that the anorexic
holds over herself is akin to the regulation that some ideological leaders impose upon their
members through diet and food restrictions.