The Blurring of Health and Beauty

This week, we’re doing something a little different with Friday 5 at 5.

We have been thinking a lot about this and it's taken time to gather and formulate our thoughts around the blurred lines between health and beauty.

Health or Beauty? For Many, It’s Not Clear

Beauty has always held a certain cultural weight-rosy cheeks and glowing skin are often seen as signs of vitality. Now, the beauty industry seizes on this, selling us pills and potions to “perfect” ourselves in the name of health. The danger is obvious: if beauty is equated with health, then those who don’t fit the narrow standard can feel defective, overlooked, and shamed. 

The message being, if you’re not “beautiful or thin”, you are therefore unhealthy.

This is particularly true for people living with obesity, a condition often misunderstood and stigmatised as a mere “willpower” failure or a cosmetic issue. The reality is very different. Obesity is a chronic, complex metabolic condition. Genetics, hormones, trauma, and environment can all play a role. It’s linked to serious health risks, and it demands proper medical treatment, not superficial quick fixes or empty promises

Medicine and Aesthetics 

Doctors are involved in the blurring of health and beauty and have been for centuries. Many would argue they are just meeting consumer demand. Cosmetic surgery dates back hundreds of years. Medical aesthetics are booming: anti-ageing injectables, skin boosters, and non-surgical treatments are now as familiar in medical clinics as blood pressure checks. 

The arrival of GLP-1 medications, originally developed for diabetes, now widely used for weight loss-has further muddied the waters. These drugs can be transformative for those with metabolic health issues and chronic obesity, but their rise in the beauty industry risks reducing a complex clinical tool to a risk-free, beauty-enhancing product like a lipstick. 

When public figures like Serena Williams endorse GLP-1 medications for post-pregnancy weight loss, it’s easy for the narrative to shift from necessary treatment to aspirational aesthetic. One of the most vulnerable times for women is the post-baby period, when their body no longer belongs just to themselves, when their time is no longer their own, and the social narrative dictates they must return to their pre-baby body ASAP. 

Now the thing is, Serena Williams may well have developed a metabolic health condition. This is not uncommon in elite athletes once they finish the intense sport that protected them. Cathy Freeman is an example of this as she now lives with type 2 diabetes. We don’t know whether this is the case with Serena, as this is not the narrative being promoted.  

The messaging in the Serena Williams case is clearly around aesthetics, not health further compounding the story that women’s bodies are not allowed to change.

Oversimplification and Stigma

The consequences run deep:

• We risk trivialising metabolic disease, upholding the myth that thinness equates to health or worth.
  
• Those living with obesity may feel further stigmatised, believing their health battle is really a beauty contest.
  
• GLP-1 medications promise results, but they are not miracle solutions. They require ongoing support-medical, nutritional, and psychological.
  
• The rush for visible results ignores the invisible drivers of health: trauma, relationships, sleep, and mental well-being.
  
  

Risks We Need to Name

This relentless pursuit of “health-as-beauty” invites peril:

• Diet culture persists: Reinforces the myth that thin equals healthy, beautiful equals valuable. For those recovering from food addiction, trauma, or disordered eating, this messaging is toxic.
• Medical risks: Drugs like GLP-1s have side effects-nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss, and psychological strain. The hype obscures the reality that every intervention requires careful medical supervision and is rarely risk-free.
• Emotional harm: When beauty is marketed as health, self-worth becomes conditional. This can trigger shame, compulsivity, and alienation in already vulnerable populations.

True health is not about appearance. 

For those managing metabolic conditions-especially obesity-it’s crucial to receive respectful, evidence-based care. That means proper diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing support. It means separating true medical intervention from the pressures and profits of the beauty industry.

Let’s uphold the dignity of everybody, celebrate diversity, and keep advocating for nuance: understanding that health is complex, rooted in biology and lived experience, and never simply defined by outward appearance.

We love the phrase Healthy On The Inside 

Let’s aim for that 

Let's aim for being a HOTI

Yay for the HOTIs

Here are 5 episodes of the Real Health and Weight Loss Podcast that help unpack diet culture:

Episode 160 - What This Doctor Has to Say About Weight Loss

Episode 201 - Why is Clothes Shopping so Hard?

Episode 207 - Do You Need to Wear Yoga Pants

Episode 250 - What Should You Do When You Hate Your Photo

Episode 237- Flexibility Beats Diet Dogma

With love and great health

Dr Lucy and Dr Mary XX 
 

Dr Mary Barson and Dr Lucy are the founders of Real Life Medicine. They help women who have been on every diet under the sun, optimise their health and achieve long lasting weight loss without feeling miserable or deprived.

They do this with their 3 step framework that

• Improves metabolism
• Develops mindset skills
• Provides tools to implement it easily into busy lives

With this comes increased energy, vitality and confidence.

You can avoid chronic disease and stop living life on the sidelines!