Orthorexia? The new big thing in eating disorders...

themosthappy91 · July 2015

So I just read this interesting article about how more doctors and nutritionists are identifying people with this new form of eating disorder that can basically be summed up as "obsession with 'clean' eating."

I thought of y'all because there have been many discussions on here about how detoxing is BS, cleanses are BS etc.... and this article absolutely backs that up and suggests that that those kinds of buzzwords and concepts are doing a lot of harm.

Thoughts?

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/30/were_clean_eating_our_way_to_new_eating_disorders/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

lyndausvi · July 2015

I eat clean. I wash my fruits and veggies before eating. I make sure my food is free of dirt.

But really, it's all about balance. I mostly cook from scratch. I would say eat 2 meals a week away from home. I do not eat much in the way of "processed" foods.

However, I still the chicken tenders and french fries from the local restaurant. Not sure how they make them, I just know I like them. I like eating out in general. I like things like Hostess ding dongs Twix and Oreos. I eat fast food sometimes (mostly when traveling since we do not really have much in the was of fast foods here.

I do not eat at chain restaurants though. It just doesn't really taste good to me. I prefer local places. But that is a taste thing. Not a "they do not cook clean" thing.

hellohkb · July 2015

I think my step-S has this. She's obsessed with clean eating, won't eat anything prepared in a microwave (because of radiation poisoning or something), everything needs to be natural and organic. I'm a little crunchy too, but she's the extreme. Everything is unhealthy to her. She also tends to be very judgy of people who don't eat healthy or organic food.

My mom veers off in this direction too, honestly.

ohmrs2014 · July 2015

I'm more about eating healthy. I do enjoy my takeout meals though. I believe in treating myself when I get that craving (about once a week) because if I don't, I know I will binge eat.

I try to buy organic if its a fruit or veggie that I eat the skin of, like a pepper, but it doesn't matter to me if I peel the skin off, like a banana. If I can't get the organic, its not the end of world.

I use my microwave to heat up food, but I also use glass tupperware (not a fan of food being heated up in plastic).

I also make my meals from scratch when I can, but just like with takeout, if I have a craving for something, I'm going to make it, whether its from scratch or not.

Maggie0829 · July 2015

I eat what I want when I want. I think life is too short to not eat things that you want. If I want ice cream then I will eat ice cream. If I want some McD fries then I will eat the fries.

I watch how much I eat and try to balance the bad things with the good, but telling me that yogurt is a great substitution for ice cream, or a piece of fruit can replace chocolate, or a black bean burger is ZOMG more amazing then a juicy hamburger, sorry not sorry, but you are full of shit.

In the end it is all about balance. Eat what you crave just don't eat a ton of it. Make sure you get exercise, reduce your stress and just be happy with yourself and you will lead a very happy and healthy life. There are extremes to everything and I do think that being so extreme about everything you put in your body can be just as unhealthy as not giving a crap and eating 10 egg mcmuffins for breakfast.

Jells2dot0 · July 2015

I was extremely healthy- ate healthy things, counted calories, and exercised every day. I still got sick. I asked the oncologist if there was anything I could have changed or avoided consuming. Nope. It's just bad luck. So, I think like Maggie. Life is way too short.

redheadbride15 · July 2015

I think there is a huge difference between making a conscious effort to eat healthy stuff most of the time (lots of vegetables, organic stuff, non-processed food, hormone-free/free-range/grass fed meat and eggs) - vs. - absolutely refusing to eat anything that is not the above. The former is just healthy living, while the later is pathological. Lots of people fall into the first category, some are in a grey area somewhere in between, and a few quite clearly have unhealthy obsessions and restrictions.

Wegl13 · July 2015

My mom has gone a little off the deep end when it comes to Whole Paycheck (um I mean Whole Foods) as well. She's always shocked that I'm not super excited about them building one here, and that I'm not driving across town to go to Earth Fare.
Here's what I decided: if you are eating food that you prepare that's not, in general, Easy Mac or Stouffers dinners, you're doing pretty good on the health scale. If you can eat fruits and veggies every day, you're doing even better. I'm not going to spend twice as much or drive further away to get a version of something that the jury is still out on whether it's actually healthier or not. Honestly I think there's a lot more scientific proof behind the health of how much you eat (calories) and the balance of what you eat (fruit, grains, veggies vs dairy and simple sugars) than there is behind the organic/grass fed trends.

OllisaurusRex · July 2015

I eat very little processed food, simply because they are typically overly salty. I'd prefer my rice to taste like the chicken and veggies I cooked it with, not a giant salt lick that overwhelms everything on the plate.

I buy at Trader Joe's simply because it's close and I like their cheese selection vs my other nearby grocery store. Not because oh fancy blah blah..... It's because I'm a cheese lover.

Yes, the anti salt one loves every bit of cheese.

justsie · July 2015

This is interesting considering I have a patient come in today stating she had been diagnosed EDNOS with Orthorexia. She described it as having a phobia of consuming some foods. I just found it funny that that was the first diagnosed case I've come across and then I get home and boom its on the knot.

TrixieJess · July 2015

Most eating disorders are about control. This is an aspect that the person can control about the food that makes them feel in control. It's not about the food itself or whether it's healthy, it's about the mindset of the disordered eating.

novella1186 · July 2015

I agree with Maggie.

It also drives me nuts when parents instill this kind of eating on their kids. H's SIL is a bit... odd? and will only let her daughter eat organic, sugar-free, etc etc.

Last time H's brother and his daughter came to visit, SIL didn't even come with but she emailed a list of foods to H's mom that she needed to go buy from Whole Foods and instructed that her daughter could have nothing but those things.

It was so strict and so narrow that I thought, "JFC. Let the kid be a kid a little." I mean my parents encouraged me to drink water and eat veggies, but they didn't have a breakdown if I ate some Lucky Charms. I don't like the extreme foods thing, on any end of the spectrum.

sarahufl · July 2015

Most of the time, our meals consist of some sort of fresh veggie and some sort of meat. I like to cook at home and prefer not to eat frozen meals or overly processed stuff.

But you bet your ass I will dig into a pint of Ben & Jerry's if the mood strikes. Or I will sometimes swing by Wendy's on the way home because I love salty french fries. I exercise daily and take good care of myself. I refuse to deprive myself of the tasty things in life from time to time.

There is a girl I am friends with on Facebook who is constantly posting about her clean eating- putting up photos of what she eats and talking about how she used to eat french fries. Know what? She looks terrible. She has lost SO MUCH weight that her "healthy" habits are clearly taking a turn for the unhealthy.

beachyone15 · July 2015

I try to eat healthy but I don't deprive myself. I know that certain foods aren't good for me, but dammit if I have a craving then I'm likely going to get what I'm craving.

Apparently, DH always thought hot dogs were green until he got older. His mom always bought some kind of veggie or spinach-dogs growing up. She's always tried to instill healthy eating habits to her children. Which in a way I am thankful for because H is not a picky eater and loves vegetables. I just find the green hot dog thing hilarious!

MIL crossed the line the other day though. She made mashed cauliflower (with no salt or butter) and tried to pass it off as "just as good as mashed potatoes". No. Just no.

monkeysip · July 2015

Maggie0829 said:

I eat what I want when I want. I think life is too short to not eat things that you want. If I want ice cream then I will eat ice cream. If I want some McD fries then I will eat the fries.

I watch how much I eat and try to balance the bad things with the good, but telling me that yogurt is a great substitution for ice cream, or a piece of fruit can replace chocolate, or a black bean burger is ZOMG more amazing then a juicy hamburger, sorry not sorry, but you are full of shit.

In the end it is all about balance. Eat what you crave just don't eat a ton of it. Make sure you get exercise, reduce your stress and just be happy with yourself and you will lead a very happy and healthy life. There are extremes to everything and I do think that being so extreme about everything you put in your body can be just as unhealthy as not giving a crap and eating 10 egg mcmuffins for breakfast.

THIS THIS THIS. All my health friends telling me, "You don't need dessert, just eat a piece of fruit!" A piece of fruit? FRUIT? Yeah, that's the same as an ice-cream sundae or a piece of cake.

onefootinthebayou · July 2015

I have been waiting for awhile for a clinician to put a word on what I thought was a trend I was noticing but that turns out to be a legitimate disorder.

I have a few friends who obsess about organic foods, exercise, and have bizarre ideas about certain nutritious foods. For example, a friend I have who went absolutely HAM with Cross Fit has convinced herself she can't have gluten (she doesn't have Celiac), doesn't eat grapes b/c they are "pods of pure sugar". This girl is in tremendous shape but I've known her for about 16 years and I've never known her to not be struggling with some sort of injury. She also now "juices" nearly 80% of her calories (her figure, no idea if that's accurate) but either way, she drinks a fuckload of juice and doesn't eat much. I can't imagine any health care professional would recommend that.

Another petite and very high strung friend of mine (really the gf of a good friend) is straight up nuts about her food. I've known her for about 5 or 6 years and I've watched her go from a healthy eater to vegetarian to vegan to raw with MANY restrictions. While I don't believe that any of these diet choices are disorders and I respect those choices, I say "nuts" in her case b/c she's so obsessed with her diet, talking about it, etc. Here's an example: I was invited to a party at her house last month and there was food out. I ate something off of the wrong plate (it was on the table with all the other food - people were drinking and it was a very casual party) but she FLEW over to the table and said, "Oh no, that's MY special plate, I measure everything!" and it was such a crisis. I felt terrible and it was slightly humiliating. Everything she does workout wise is to the extreme (multiple spin classes PER DAY), etc. I guess I just noticed an overall obsession with "health" that went to the far or extreme side. She does not hesitate to place her demands on her hosts if she's a guest in your home (I've had her over for dinner and made some extra vegan options which I enjoyed b/c I love cooking and love eating vegan food sometimes. I like to be creative too and not just give her salad. I made fucking quinoa vegan SUSHI for christsakes!. What I DID mind was her hovering over me and trying to get in and make the food herself) and if we go out to eat, her self-imposed limitations will dictate where we go.

Finally, I started following some posters on Instagram recommended by SELF Magazine. Some of them are fine but it led to me going down a rabbit hole of accounts that went from pretty girls in yoga poses eating organic foods to VERY thin, borderline (or over the border) eating disorder-having girls who cloak their disorder with the veil of "clean eating, raw foods, whole foods, etc.". Sure enough, one of the accounts I followed b/c she always had pretty pics of fruit made a post a few months ago about how she had finally begun to seek treatment for her eating disorder after landing in the hospital. That's when I knew this was a "thing".

I'm glad that this disorder has a name. I was primarily annoyed with these type of people b/c like basically all PPs here on this thread, I believe in everything in moderation, balance, etc. I also believe that exercise is absolutely integral to health but there was something "holier than thou" with these people I was sensing and it rubbed me the wrong way. Now that we know it's actually a condition, I can be a little more sympathetic and will hope these people eventually get the help that they need.

Sorry this is so long, I have just been sensing this for quite awhile and am happy that it is finally being discussed by the health care community.

***Edited b/c "Celeriac" is not a condition but a delicious root vegetable. I have veggies on the brain from this post!

southernbelle0915 · July 2015

I think there's a big difference between people who are committed to clean eating and then people who are so obsessed with it that it consumes/disrupts their lives and they have a mental diagnosis of this new disorder.

Kind of like how people nonchalantly slap the "OCD" label on someone who likes to clean.

If someone literally chooses to starve over eating something from a vending machine, then yea, they likely have a problem. But I do get a little tired of the over-labeling for people who don't actually have a mental disorder.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

Yeah, like PPs, I eat healthy food as often as possible, but I'm not going to freak out if someone offers me fast food, either. FI and I tend to shop at Whole Foods simply because they have a wide selection of vegetarian protein and it makes cooking quick meals easier, but I actually don't go out of my way to buy anything organic. TBH I think "organic" is really just a trendy buzzword that companies throw around, potentially without truly sticking to actual standards (like "all natural"). I wash all of my fruits and veggies before I eat them, so it doesn't matter IMO. (Maybe I'm just totally missing something?) But for real, Whole Foods pisses me off when I can't buy me some Triscuits.

lyndausvi · July 2015

beachyone15 said:

I try to eat healthy but I don't deprive myself. I know that certain foods aren't good for me, but dammit if I have a craving then I'm likely going to get what I'm craving.

Apparently, DH always thought hot dogs were green until he got older. His mom always bought some kind of veggie or spinach-dogs growing up. She's always tried to instill healthy eating habits to her children. Which in a way I am thankful for because H is not a picky eater and loves vegetables. I just find the green hot dog thing hilarious!

MIL crossed the line the other day though. She made mashed cauliflower (with no salt or butter) and tried to pass it off as "just as good as mashed potatoes". No. Just no.

That is just wrong.

Potatoes are veggies. They grow in the ground, not processed, can be organic. Why the need to replace it with something else? Fuck that. I want a real spud, not another veggie trying to up their status by being be something they are not.

For the record, I like cauliflower. DH does a great roasted cauliflower with a whipped goat cheese dip. OMG. So good. However, cauliflower has no business trying to be just like a potato.

[Deleted User] · July 2015

onefootinthebayou said:

I have been waiting for awhile for a clinician to put a word on what I thought was a trend I was noticing but that turns out to be a legitimate disorder.

I have a few friends who obsess about organic foods, exercise, and have bizarre ideas about certain nutritious foods. For example, a friend I have who went absolutely HAM with Cross Fit has convinced herself she can't have gluten (she doesn't have Celeriac), doesn't eat grapes b/c they are "pods of pure sugar". This girl is in tremendous shape but I've known her for about 16 years and I've never known her to not be struggling with some sort of injury. She also now "juices" nearly 80% of her calories (her figure, no idea if that's accurate) but either way, she drinks a fuckload of juice and doesn't eat much. I can't imagine any health care professional would recommend that.

Another petite and very high strung friend of mine (really the gf of a good friend) is straight up nuts about her food. I've known her for about 5 or 6 years and I've watched her go from a healthy eater to vegetarian to vegan to raw with MANY restrictions. While I don't believe that any of these diet choices are disorders and I respect those choices, I say "nuts" in her case b/c she's so obsessed with her diet, talking about it, etc. Here's an example: I was invited to a party at her house last month and there was food out. I ate something off of the wrong plate (it was on the table with all the other food - people were drinking and it was a very casual party) but she FLEW over to the table and said, "Oh no, that's MY special plate, I measure everything!" and it was such a crisis. I felt terrible and it was slightly humiliating. Everything she does workout wise is to the extreme (multiple spin classes PER DAY), etc. I guess I just noticed an overall obsession with "health" that went to the far or extreme side. She does not hesitate to place her demands on her hosts if she's a guest in your home (I've had her over for dinner and made some extra vegan options which I enjoyed b/c I love cooking and love eating vegan food sometimes. I like to be creative too and not just give her salad. I made fucking quinoa vegan SUSHI for christsakes!. What I DID mind was her hovering over me and trying to get in and make the food herself) and if we go out to eat, her self-imposed limitations will dictate where we go.

Finally, I started following some posters on Instagram recommended by SELF Magazine. Some of them are fine but it led to me going down a rabbit hole of accounts that went from pretty girls in yoga poses eating organic foods to VERY thin, borderline (or over the border) eating disorder-having girls who cloak their disorder with the veil of "clean eating, raw foods, whole foods, etc.". Sure enough, one of the accounts I followed b/c she always had pretty pics of fruit made a post a few months ago about how she had finally begun to seek treatment for her eating disorder after landing in the hospital. That's when I knew this was a "thing".

I'm glad that this disorder has a name. I was primarily annoyed with these type of people b/c like basically all PPs here on this thread, I believe in everything in moderation, balance, etc. I also believe that exercise is absolutely integral to health but there was something "holier than thou" with these people I was sensing and it rubbed me the wrong way. Now that we know it's actually a condition, I can be a little more sympathetic and will hope these people eventually get the help that they need.

Sorry this is so long, I have just been sensing this for quite awhile and am happy that it is finally being discussed by the health care community.

The gluten-free trend is driving me NUTS!!!!! Except I'm like...more for me, bitches! But seriously Celiac disease is a real and painful condition for people who actually have it. I don't, but I am pissed off for them when someone just sticks their nose in the air over bread. The potentially only good thing that has come out of this trend is that people with Celiac now have more options (at least, I am guessing, since manufacturers have jumped on this cash cow).

novella1186 · July 2015

abcdevonn it drives me nuts too. I have a close friend who legitimately cannot have gluten-- diagnosed by a doctor-- and I've witnessed how horribly sick she gets if she eats it (we were college roommates).

I feel bad for her when we go to restaurants and she asks for things to be gluten-free and then gets snark or a shitty look from the waiter because they assume she's just trying to be trendy. Or someone we're with gives her shit about it, like "can you REALLY not have gluten?" or "oh, so you're doing the gluten-free thing?"

She gets super frustrated and it sucks.

onefootinthebayou · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

I think there's a big difference between people who are committed to clean eating and then people who are so obsessed with it that it consumes/disrupts their lives and they have a mental diagnosis of this new disorder.

Kind of like how people nonchalantly slap the "OCD" label on someone who likes to clean.

If someone literally chooses to starve over eating something from a vending machine, then yea, they likely have a problem. But I do get a little tired of the over-labeling for people who don't actually have a mental disorder.

I see your point on this. I'm still learning about actual "Orthorexia" but in my limited experience I wouldn't be surprised that like OCD, there is actually a spectrum of behavior that can range from slightly bizarre/obsessive to a disorder that requires medical intervention. The Instagram poster I mentioned (and of course I don't know her, can't verify any of the merits of her claims, etc) seemed to go from posting about how great a raw, clean diet was and posting lots of fruit pics to coming out with an admission that she was seeking help for an eating disorder that had landed her in the hospital with before and after pics where she looked like a skeleton and then looked healthy.

I guess I was just interested to actually have a label for a condition (or behavior?) where people went so far with their ideas of what is healthy that they were actually being very unhealthy and sending a harmful message to anyone they were trying to influence.

VulgarGirl · July 2015

There are a lot of forms of disordered eating. We're most aware of anorexia and bulimia. But I could see someone with orthorexia also flirting with bulimia and anorexia. Refusing to eat if it didn't fall within certain parameters. Or eating food "against the rules" and then making themselves purge.

I don't think everyone who wants to "eat clean" has orthorexia or suffers from disordered eating. But I certainly think it's possible.

jenna8984 · July 2015

onefootinthebayou said:

I have been waiting for awhile for a clinician to put a word on what I thought was a trend I was noticing but that turns out to be a legitimate disorder.

I have a few friends who obsess about organic foods, exercise, and have bizarre ideas about certain nutritious foods. For example, a friend I have who went absolutely HAM with Cross Fit has convinced herself she can't have gluten (she doesn't have Celiac), doesn't eat grapes b/c they are "pods of pure sugar". This girl is in tremendous shape but I've known her for about 16 years and I've never known her to not be struggling with some sort of injury. She also now "juices" nearly 80% of her calories (her figure, no idea if that's accurate) but either way, she drinks a fuckload of juice and doesn't eat much. I can't imagine any health care professional would recommend that.

***Edited b/c "Celeriac" is not a condition but a delicious root vegetable. I have veggies on the brain from this post!

Ugggh really? This reminds me of a friend who does "low carb" and tells me that she cannot eat apples or broccoli because they are full of sugar, and instead she eats salads topped with heavy blue cheese dressing and bacon bits. Because you know, they are low carb so clearly better for you than some broccoli.

Another person on my FB posts daily those stupid Shakeology shakes that she drinks. It's like do people even really research this? Because I've seen many third party studies that found non-safe levels of lead in Shakeology. So why would you drink that rather than just whipping up your own fruit smoothie is beyond me.

But all in all, I live my life like Maggie. Try to cook decent meals all week, if someone brings in donuts once a month I won't turn them down. Weekends, we have some pizza or fried seafood because life would really suck without those.

novella1186 · July 2015

jenna8984 said:

show previous quotes

onefootinthebayou said:

I have been waiting for awhile for a clinician to put a word on what I thought was a trend I was noticing but that turns out to be a legitimate disorder.

I have a few friends who obsess about organic foods, exercise, and have bizarre ideas about certain nutritious foods. For example, a friend I have who went absolutely HAM with Cross Fit has convinced herself she can't have gluten (she doesn't have Celiac), doesn't eat grapes b/c they are "pods of pure sugar". This girl is in tremendous shape but I've known her for about 16 years and I've never known her to not be struggling with some sort of injury. She also now "juices" nearly 80% of her calories (her figure, no idea if that's accurate) but either way, she drinks a fuckload of juice and doesn't eat much. I can't imagine any health care professional would recommend that.

***Edited b/c "Celeriac" is not a condition but a delicious root vegetable. I have veggies on the brain from this post!

Ugggh really? This reminds me of a friend who does "low carb" and tells me that she cannot eat apples or broccoli because they are full of sugar, and instead she eats salads topped with heavy blue cheese dressing and bacon bits. Because you know, they are low carb so clearly better for you than some broccoli.
Another person on my FB posts daily those stupid Shakeology shakes that she drinks. It's like do people even really research this? Because I've seen many third party studies that found non-safe levels of lead in Shakeology. So why would you drink that rather than just whipping up your own fruit smoothie is beyond me.
But all in all, I live my life like Maggie. Try to cook decent meals all week, if someone brings in donuts once a month I won't turn them down. Weekends, we have some pizza or fried seafood because life would really suck without those.

SIB
She should read labels. A lot of salad dressings-- including blue cheese-- have sugar. But it's not natural sugar like what apples have. It's refined sugar, which is way worse.
And no, I think in a lot of cases, people do not research. They hear a commercial on tv or see something in a magazine, on pinterest, or on facebook and believe it.
My aunt is one of those people. She called me all amped up about this miracle, all-natural, anti-aging drug that just hit the market. It claimed to use an ingredient that-- I know for a fact, thanks to my job-- has not made it to human testing. Only a small number of animal studies have been done so far, and results could not be translated to humans because of factors that are known to cause cancer in humans. I told her this, and she wouldn't believe me. "No, but the commercial said!" Ugh. People, just google this stuff.

themosthappy91 · July 2015

This article resonated with me because one of my best friends has definitely struggled with this (as well as bulimia). She just gets it in her head that she will literally die if she eats certain foods. It's so irrational but has such a powerful hold on her, and she knows it.

She made herself quit using MyFitnessPal for a while because she realized she was getting really obsessive about the chart on there that breaks down how much protein/carbs/fat you've eaten and was getting really upset with herself when her chart for a day wasn't like 85% protein at least.

From a selfish point of view, it sucks not ever being able to get lunch out with her or order a pizza or something, especially when we vacation together (which is usually once or twice a year). She basically only eats plain chicken, quinoa and beans now. It's frustrating but I know if I were to put her in a position where she felt encouraged to just eat some pasta or something she would probably just throw it up, so I'd rather her be extremely limited in what she'll eat if that's the only alternative.

twoleighs · July 2015

novella1186 said:

I agree with Maggie.

It also drives me nuts when parents instill this kind of eating on their kids. H's SIL is a bit... odd? and will only let her daughter eat organic, sugar-free, etc etc.

Last time H's brother and his daughter came to visit, SIL didn't even come with but she emailed a list of foods to H's mom that she needed to go buy from Whole Foods and instructed that her daughter could have nothing but those things.

It was so strict and so narrow that I thought, "JFC. Let the kid be a kid a little." I mean my parents encouraged me to drink water and eat veggies, but they didn't have a breakdown if I ate some Lucky Charms. I don't like the extreme foods thing, on any end of the spectrum.

My Mom was similar to your SIL. Guess what I did as soon as I turned 18 and moved out? Yup, ate every piece of food I could find that I had been denied all those years. I've gone up and down in 50lb increments ever since and I still struggle with feeling like if I don't eat it now it might be my last opportunity before it's "taken away" or "not allowed".

southernbelle0915 · July 2015

novella1186 said:

I agree with Maggie.

It also drives me nuts when parents instill this kind of eating on their kids. H's SIL is a bit... odd? and will only let her daughter eat organic, sugar-free, etc etc.

Last time H's brother and his daughter came to visit, SIL didn't even come with but she emailed a list of foods to H's mom that she needed to go buy from Whole Foods and instructed that her daughter could have nothing but those things.

It was so strict and so narrow that I thought, "JFC. Let the kid be a kid a little." I mean my parents encouraged me to drink water and eat veggies, but they didn't have a breakdown if I ate some Lucky Charms. I don't like the extreme foods thing, on any end of the spectrum.

Personally, I would not do the bolded. If a kid gets dropped off at my house and the mom/dad sends me a big list of crap they want me to buy from Whole Foods....sorrynotsorry, that kid is going to eat whatever we're eating.

If the parent gives me pre-packaged meals for "Dinner - Tuesday" or "Breakfast - Wednesday" that comply with their special ingredients and preparation then fine, whatever. I will gladly serve those meals. But I will not purchase a special grocery list or cook two meals simply to appease a preference (we are not talking food allergy/sensitivity here).

Wasn't there a thread on this a long time ago? I feel like chicken nuggets with the breading removed was the subject.

KnotAlwaysRight · July 2015

TrixieJess said:

Most eating disorders are about control. This is an aspect that the person can control about the food that makes them feel in control. It's not about the food itself or whether it's healthy, it's about the mindset of the disordered eating.

This. The particular way it manifests isn't really the point. I think the most interesting thing about this "new big thing" is that it's a way to disguise (to an extent) disordered thinking and behavior around food in a way that's much more socially acceptable (or even considered praiseworthy in some circles) than starving or purging. I've definitely seen women in the early stages of trying to recover from anorexia and bulimia use this kind of rigid, inflexible clean eating as a way to retain elements of the control they are missing when they stop being active in those disorders.

sarahufl · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

show previous quotes

novella1186 said:

I agree with Maggie.

It also drives me nuts when parents instill this kind of eating on their kids. H's SIL is a bit... odd? and will only let her daughter eat organic, sugar-free, etc etc.

Last time H's brother and his daughter came to visit, SIL didn't even come with but she emailed a list of foods to H's mom that she needed to go buy from Whole Foods and instructed that her daughter could have nothing but those things.

It was so strict and so narrow that I thought, "JFC. Let the kid be a kid a little." I mean my parents encouraged me to drink water and eat veggies, but they didn't have a breakdown if I ate some Lucky Charms. I don't like the extreme foods thing, on any end of the spectrum.

Personally, I would not do the bolded. If a kid gets dropped off at my house and the mom/dad sends me a big list of crap they want me to buy from Whole Foods....sorrynotsorry, that kid is going to eat whatever we're eating.

If the parent gives me pre-packaged meals for "Dinner - Tuesday" or "Breakfast - Wednesday" that comply with their special ingredients and preparation then fine, whatever. I will gladly serve those meals. But I will not purchase a special grocery list or cook two meals simply to appease a preference (we are not talking food allergy/sensitivity here).

Wasn't there a thread on this a long time ago? I feel like chicken nuggets with the breading removed was the subject.

IMO, I take care of your kid, I decide what to feed them. Unless, like you said, there is an allergy.

novella1186 · July 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

show previous quotes

novella1186 said:

I agree with Maggie.

It also drives me nuts when parents instill this kind of eating on their kids. H's SIL is a bit... odd? and will only let her daughter eat organic, sugar-free, etc etc.

Last time H's brother and his daughter came to visit, SIL didn't even come with but she emailed a list of foods to H's mom that she needed to go buy from Whole Foods and instructed that her daughter could have nothing but those things.

It was so strict and so narrow that I thought, "JFC. Let the kid be a kid a little." I mean my parents encouraged me to drink water and eat veggies, but they didn't have a breakdown if I ate some Lucky Charms. I don't like the extreme foods thing, on any end of the spectrum.

Personally, I would not do the bolded. If a kid gets dropped off at my house and the mom/dad sends me a big list of crap they want me to buy from Whole Foods....sorrynotsorry, that kid is going to eat whatever we're eating.

If the parent gives me pre-packaged meals for "Dinner - Tuesday" or "Breakfast - Wednesday" that comply with their special ingredients and preparation then fine, whatever. I will gladly serve those meals. But I will not purchase a special grocery list or cook two meals simply to appease a preference (we are not talking food allergy/sensitivity here).

Wasn't there a thread on this a long time ago? I feel like chicken nuggets with the breading removed was the subject.

Totally agree. I felt bad for H's mom cuz the nearest Whole Foods is about 40 minutes from her house, and she made a special trip all the way there just to get this special list of stuff. And the kid ended up not eating most of it, because she wanted what everyone else was having, and her dad was like "Well, mom's not here. Just eat the normal food."

Orthorexia? The new big thing in eating disorders...

Re: Orthorexia? The new big thing in eating disorders...

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