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 trendAccessing your own intuition Subscribe to get your weekly dose of NYC-style-sarcasm, nutritional nuance and messages of healing. 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!)  Work 1-on-1 with a functional Registered Dietitian at Michelle Shapiro Nutrition LLC Learn more about the practice Follow the pod on IG Follow Michelle on IG Sign up for the Newsletter Join our FREE membership community!  Functional nutrition conference 2023 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