107: Unpacking Wellness through Personalized Nutrition & Genetic Diets with Dr. Tina Sikka

“In the way people are looking for genetic testing to get a sense of their background, it’s the same data that is then used to say, ‘Here is a particular diet tailored to your genetic information that will allow you to reach these expectations around health and wellness.’ … I found them to be quite difficult to deal with, on a personal level, as it felt like any neuroses I had around food, exercise, control, and perfectionism was really exacerbated by using these apps. ”
— Dr. Tina Sikka

With increasingly wearable and seamless tech experiences, there is a growing ability for us to monitor almost every phase of our day: what we eat, how much we eat, how we exercise, and how it all aligns with our bodies in a personalized level. These all can come together to create a perspective of what health “should” be, rather than what it could be or what it is for a lot of people with diverse gender and ethnic identities, as well as for those who have disabilities.

My guest this week is Dr. Tina Sikka, returning to the show today to talk through some of the big tech and health issues she researched for her new book. Dr. Tina Sikka is Reader in Technoscience and Intersectional Justice in the School of Arts and Culture at Newcastle University, UK. Her current research includes the critical and intersectional study of science, applied to climate change, bodies, and health, as well as research on consent, sexuality, and restorative justice. 

Dr. Sikka’s book, Health Apps, Genetic Diets, and Superfoods: When Biopolitics Meets Neoliberalism (Bloomsbury, 2023), uses autoethnography, science and technology studies, and new materialism to examine what constitutes ‘good health’ and explore possibilities for enacting health justice. If you caught her last interview, you’re in for a treat, as she discusses how health and personalized nutrition apps work in a very biomedical system to shape health experiences into a hegemonic practice. We also look at her realistic approaches to alternatives in a tech-heavy world, and how to navigate online communities that are trying to make sense of health and nutrition as much as we all are.

Learn More About Dr. Tina Sikka: