Karen vanBarneveld
Karen vanBarneveld
Eat Pray Obey: The Worst Cult Diets in History (Part 1)
Eat Pray Obey: The Worst Cult Diets in History (Part 1)
Eat Pray Obey: The Worst Cult Diets in History (Part 1)
Tuesday 13th May 2025
Explore history's worst cult diets, from Jonestown's lentils to Heaven's Gate's pudding. Discover how food controls in spiritual movements.
52 minutes
informative
challenging
darkly humorous
disturbing
curious
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Author:
Karen vanBarneveld
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Nutritional Pathways to Recovery
Recovery Reimagined
Understanding Addiction & Recovery
Family Recovery from Addiction
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Get the buttons here!Cult Diets: History's Most Deranged Meals
Episode Overview
- Cult diets often involve extreme food restrictions.
- Food is used as a tool for control in spiritual movements.
- Jonestown's diet included rice and lentils in harsh conditions.
- Heaven's Gate enforced strict dietary rituals.
- Purification themes are common in cult eating practices.
If I was going to make a cult, it'd be about praising food actually, to be fair. The food would be amazing.
In this episode of What The Food, hosts Miles Dickinson, Andy Cantor, and Dom Gray delve into the unsettling world of cult diets. These diets, often centered around extreme restrictions and bizarre rituals, serve as powerful tools for control within spiritual movements. The episode opens with a vivid description of life in Jonestown, where followers endured harsh conditions and meager meals of rice and lentils.
Food in Jonestown was not just sustenance; it was a means to exert control and maintain the spiritual and physical hold over its members. The hosts explore how cults use food to manipulate and purify their followers, often promising spiritual enlightenment through dietary asceticism. Jonestown is infamous for its diet during its final days, where meals consisted of rice, gravy, and wild greens, reflecting the dire circumstances and the manipulation exerted by its leader, Jim Jones.
Moving on to Heaven's Gate, the podcast discusses the cult's fascination with purification through food. Founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, Heaven's Gate enforced a diet of steamed vegetables, herbal tea, and applesauce, with occasional protein powders. These restrictive diets were part of the broader control mechanisms within the cult, alongside identical dress codes and other rituals. The episode also touches upon the concept of food-related deaths in cults, with a humorous aside on Jack the Ripper's diet.
Throughout, the hosts maintain a darkly humorous tone, making the disturbing content both engaging and informative. Listeners are invited to consider the psychological and spiritual implications of these diets and how they contribute to the cult's hold over its members. As always, the hosts encourage sharing thoughts and feedback, promising even more intriguing content in future episodes.