How the western diet is the worst colonial export

A return to traditional methods of food preparation as well as a prioritisation of healthier food are necessary to fight obesity and depression, writes Rafia Zakaria

Eating a western diet will make you sadder and fatter. Photo by Sean Gallup / Getty Images

When the armies and agents of colonial powers ran rampant through the Middle East and South Asia in years gone by, they left many imprints on the lands that fell under their grip.

The history and culture, society and structure of these places would never be the same after being subject to the tinkering of the colonial power. All dimensions of the lands ruled by arriving colonists were repurposed s0 that they would entrench and anoint the new rulers. History existed to promote the lies that theirs was a “civilising” mission and all knowledge existed to underscore their intellectual superiority and their better ways of knowing.

It is no surprise, then, that once the colonial era ended and the pillaged lands were once again in the hands of those to whom they belonged, nearly all dimensions of life that had suffered the intrusions of colonial expansion were viewed with some scepticism and a lot of suspicion. Post-colonial reclamation required that all be reconsidered: clothing, history, art and knowledge all reclaimed in an attempt to return to what was.

One dimension of life that has escaped evaluation for its authenticity, its connection to tradition, is the post-colonial diet. We know that culture is imprinted on cuisine, its flair and flavour reflecting in some approximate way the life of those who have consumed it for centuries. This knowledge and the quest for cultural purity has not prevented the abandonment and marginalisation of traditional diet or of the old ways of preparing and eating food.

In its place are items from the western diet: pasta and cakes, cookies and pastries and of course, fast food. Admittedly, fast food is not technically a colonial import, but it is a neocolonial one brought over by companies not dissimilar from those that were the progenitors of colonialism itself. Like those companies of old, modern fast food franchises are clever in their efforts to appear local, they hire local labour and pretend to respect local mores.

They need not try too hard; the post colonial populations that welcome them seem to require little more than the addition of “Arabia” or “masala” to a hot dog or a burger to believe in its suitability and superiority. Thousands dig in daily and as a result hundreds and hundreds of western fast food franchises can be found all over the Middle East and South Asia.

All over the region there is no escaping the ubiquitous logos for deep fried chicken, greasy burgers and sugar-laden soft drinks that hover over the landscape and dominate the diet. Eating at them is at once a sign of status and a shortcut for convenience. There may be complete disagreement with the West’s politics, but there is complete delight at the West’s culinary offering.

Horrid history and colonial evils are not the sum total of arguments against the western diet and its mainstay “fast food”. It is also actually awful for your body.

A recent meta-analysis published in Psychiatry Research found that a “western diet” (and by “western diet” they mean just the sort of food peddled by fast food franchises: high in fat, fried, composed of processed flour and dairy products) is linked to a higher risk of depression.

The study looked at data from 10 different countries and also suggested that a move away from western dietary patterns and towards a greater consumption of seafood, fruits, vegetables and unprocessed grains, in turn lowers the risk of depression.

Nor is depression the only ill to come from it. A University of California study published in January found that two out of three people in the United States (one of the world’s largest consumers of fast food and the headquarters for the fat- and meat-rich western diet) are overweight or obese. The study found that chronic consumption of a western diet, as compared to a diet low in fat and sugar, increases the endocannabinoids in the bloodstream. An elevated level of these causes an increase in the consumption of calories.

Eating a western diet, then, will make you sadder and fatter. The burgers and fries and tacos and pizzas may taste good but are far from good for you.

A little of the zeal post-colonial societies invest in denouncing western policies must now be diverted to condemning the western diet. A return to traditional methods of food preparation, the grilling and roasting common in South Asia and the Middle East, a prioritisation of seafood over red meat and a complete avoidance of high fructose corn syrup and processed white flour, is necessary if the obesity and depression so endemic in the West is not to be replicated in all the rest.

Rafia Zakaria is the author of The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan