In this episode, Michelle sits down with Sarah Edmondson, actor and NXIVM whistleblower, to talk about how exactly to identify a “cult” or “culty” selling tactics in the nutrition and diet industry. They compare the manipulative messaging in both cults and diet culture, with tangible tips for how to access your own intuition in these situations. 

They discuss: 

• Sarah’s background and experience in the NXIVM cult 
• Comparison between cult messaging and manipulative messaging in diet culture 
• Red flags to look out for with fad diets or self-help programs 
• Cult-like behavior in healthcare sales tactics 
• How to spot coercive control in diets & personal development programs 
• Choosing that health components that resonate with you vs. blindly following a diet fad or trend
• Accessing your own intuition 

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Links –

Sarah Edmondson’s resources: 

A Little Bit Culty podcast

Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM

Cult Recovery Resources

Follow Sarah on IG 

Work with Michelle and her free resources: 

Quiet the Diet

Podcast Page

Episode Page (with transcript!) 

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Timestamps:

(1:23) Intro to Sarah Edmondson and the NXIVM cult 

(11:24) The cults within diet culture 

(24:34) How to spot cult-like messaging in diets, health programs, and healthcare practitioners

(33:33) Accessing your own intuition to create your own system of health beliefs 

(39:57) Red flags of culty sales tactics 

(44:11) What makes you prone to culty diet culture tactics

(52:15) Divisiveness in the health, nutrition, and diet space