Scrolling through “clean eating” posts on Instagram is often seen as a harmless way to get inspired to eat healthier. However, new research published in Frontiers in Psychology paints a more complicated picture. 

Contrary to the popular belief that health-focused content is uplifting, the study shows that even brief exposure to clean eating posts can dampen mood and subtly lower body satisfaction — whereas pleasure-focused foodie content actually improves how people feel. These findings suggest that the emotional impact of seemingly “healthy” online trends may be far less benign than many assume. 

I recently spoke with the lead author of the study, Professor Andrea Hartmann Firnkorn — researcher at the department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence at the University of Konstanz — about why clean eating content carries these psychological effects, what makes this trend so potent, and how individuals can navigate it more mindfully. Here’s a summary of our conversation. 

What made you study the effects of clean eating content on social media?

The sheer presence and ubiquity of this content on social media, especially Instagram, as well as its frequent appearance alongside “fitspiration” or “thinspiration” content, caught our attention.

Although it’s often seen as a “healthy” trend, previous research has shown that clean eating is linked to eating disorder pathology and orthorexic symptoms, suggesting it may also have harmful effects. There was also a lack of experimental studies — the kind of research design needed to establish causal links.

What is “clean eating,” and why is it so popular on Instagram?

While there is no universally agreed-upon definition of clean eating, it can be described as an eating behavior characterized by the consumption of mainly non-processed foods, such as self-prepared and/or raw food and seeds. These foods are contrasted with ingredients like refined sugar and alcohol, which are considered impure and should therefore be avoided, creating a perceived categorization of food into “good” and “bad” foods that is often tied to a strict diet.

The reasons for its popularity are likely many and may differ across individuals. There may even be subgroups of people who have different motivations for posting or consuming clean eating content. 

Individuals in Western societies, where most of the studies have been conducted, seem to be focused on improving themselves in all areas of life, including personality development, health, self-care, diet, appearance and work-life balance. Clean eating is likely an expression of this drive for self-improvement. It has also been suggested that clean eating can serve as a socially acceptable way to restrict one’s diet, including calorie intake, under the guise of healthy eating. 

Finally, there’s the idea that it can be self-serving for self-esteem, allowing individuals to portray themselves as “morally doing the right thing” by eating “valuable” food. All these reasons, likely not exclusively, may draw people to the concept.

How can following clean eating influencers affect mood and body satisfaction?

According to our study, which was the first to examine this experimentally, there wasn’t a strong immediate effect overall, but we observed a slight trend in body satisfaction — it decreased after consuming five minutes of clean eating content, in comparison to foodie content. 

It’s important to keep in mind that most people spend much longer than five minutes on Instagram and may also interact with or create this type of content themselves. As a result, the real-world impact is likely to be much larger.

Other studies that examined Instagram use — both the amount of time spent and different indicators of psychological well-being — found links between how much clean eating content people consumed and various negative outcomes. 

In one study, women aged 18 to 30 completed an online questionnaire comparing exposure to fitspiration content, clean eating content, and travel imagery. The results showed that engagement with fitspiration and clean eating material, whether posting or viewing, was significantly associated with higher levels of compulsive exercise and athletic-ideal internalization. However, only viewing (and not posting) this content was linked to internalizing the thin ideal and showing symptoms of disordered eating.

Additionally, beyond traditional eating disorder symptoms, other research has found that both clean eating and fitspiration content — which often highlights the ideal of a toned body — may contribute to the development of orthorexia nervosa. This is a disorder characterized by a compulsive fixation on healthy nutrition, often leading to restrictions in other areas of life, such as reduced social interactions and health problems in adolescents and young adults of both genders. 

In sum, there isn’t conclusive evidence yet about the immediate impact of clean eating content on mood and body satisfaction, but there are some clear indications that it may have subtle negative effects. 

What advice do you have for people who enjoy clean eating content but feel bad about their body or mood?

First, I would reflect on the reason behind my consumption of this content. Is it for inspiration or as motivation to diet? If it’s linked to my mood or body satisfaction, reducing the time spent on these profiles and diversifying the content I follow could be helpful.

Second, there are often more “balanced” clean eating profiles that connect healthy eating with a more enjoyable, flexible approach. These tend to generate fewer feelings of shame or failure if the behaviors shown don’t match one’s own life.

Third, it can also help to focus on positive, real-life activities outside of social media that genuinely boost mood or body satisfaction.

Are there any surprising benefits of clean eating content?

It can indeed help people learn about healthy foods, improve their diet and make healthier choices. As with many social media trends, the harm usually comes from applying the content rigidly rather than using it as general inspiration, and from how much of this type of content a person consumes compared to other content.

Like many trends, clean eating content can be informative, but search habits and algorithms often create a distorted picture of how most people actually eat, which can give it an outsized influence on individuals who consume it.

Have you been consuming too much clean eating content? Take this science-backed test to find out if it’s cause for concern: Body Image Questionnaire