Jessica Ainscough - writer, wellness warrior, and holistic health coach - has written a piece just for Josie's Juice, all about a kind of backlash against healthy eating. Read it below:
Does eating healthy make you a crazy person?
So, did you hear that eating healthy is now considered a “mental disorder”? Yep, you heard right. The psychiatric industry has come out saying that if you care about what you’re putting into your body you more than likely suffer a “disease” called orthorexia nervosa – which is basically just Latin for “nervous about correct eating.” Orthorexia nervosa has been the subject of many features in the mainstream media recently. The Guardian newspaper reports, "Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder." Are they kidding? I know there are some very real and very serious eating disorders out there that are not to be treated lightly, but how can going out of your way to eat healthy be bad for you?
The Guardian goes on to report, "Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out."
According to these “experts”, trying to avoid chemicals, dairy, soy and sugar now makes you a mental health patient. If you attempt to avoid pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified ingredients like soy and sugar, there's something wrong with you. It gets worse. Not only does eating healthy make you a nutter, but eating junk food is considered normal. According to The Guardian, "The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished."
Confused? Me too. Eating good, healthy, organic food is supposed to cause malnutrition. These sorts of messages lead the public to believe that eating bad foods is the better option. Its no wonder the modern world is so overweight and diseased. We have the mainstream media telling us that eating healthy can lead to malnutrition and a mental disorder! I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty hard to believe. I’m no nutritionist, but I do have a brain and a bit of common sense (except when it comes to driving). I am one of these so-called “crazy” people who has made the decision to cut out meat, dairy, salt, sugar, processed food, pesticides, herbicides, soy, caffeine, alcohol and gluten for the sake of my health. I’m not underweight, I don’t appear to have a mental disorder and I am extremely well nourished.
So, why are we being fed this rubbish? There is no money to be made off healthy people. It’s sad and cynical, but it’s true. If people become aware of the fact that processed, junk food is poisoning them and everyone started eating healthy, organic, live foods so many major companies would be out of business. Doctors wouldn’t have anyone to treat. Drug companies would have no one to medicate. Catch my drift? This is a subject that angers me like no other. I could rant about it for weeks, but I won’t (cue sighs of relief). I will say this though. There is no escaping the false messages and propaganda being spread by the mighty and powerful. It’s up to us to use our heads, question these messages and decide for ourselves whether what we are eating is good for us or not.
What are your thoughts?
For more blogs by Jessica, see: www.thewellnesswarrior.blogspot.com/
Check in for more guest bloggers on Josie's Juice.
So, did you hear that eating healthy is now considered a “mental disorder”? Yep, you heard right. The psychiatric industry has come out saying that if you care about what you’re putting into your body you more than likely suffer a “disease” called orthorexia nervosa – which is basically just Latin for “nervous about correct eating.” Orthorexia nervosa has been the subject of many features in the mainstream media recently. The Guardian newspaper reports, "Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder." Are they kidding? I know there are some very real and very serious eating disorders out there that are not to be treated lightly, but how can going out of your way to eat healthy be bad for you?
The Guardian goes on to report, "Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out."
According to these “experts”, trying to avoid chemicals, dairy, soy and sugar now makes you a mental health patient. If you attempt to avoid pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified ingredients like soy and sugar, there's something wrong with you. It gets worse. Not only does eating healthy make you a nutter, but eating junk food is considered normal. According to The Guardian, "The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished."
Confused? Me too. Eating good, healthy, organic food is supposed to cause malnutrition. These sorts of messages lead the public to believe that eating bad foods is the better option. Its no wonder the modern world is so overweight and diseased. We have the mainstream media telling us that eating healthy can lead to malnutrition and a mental disorder! I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty hard to believe. I’m no nutritionist, but I do have a brain and a bit of common sense (except when it comes to driving). I am one of these so-called “crazy” people who has made the decision to cut out meat, dairy, salt, sugar, processed food, pesticides, herbicides, soy, caffeine, alcohol and gluten for the sake of my health. I’m not underweight, I don’t appear to have a mental disorder and I am extremely well nourished.
So, why are we being fed this rubbish? There is no money to be made off healthy people. It’s sad and cynical, but it’s true. If people become aware of the fact that processed, junk food is poisoning them and everyone started eating healthy, organic, live foods so many major companies would be out of business. Doctors wouldn’t have anyone to treat. Drug companies would have no one to medicate. Catch my drift? This is a subject that angers me like no other. I could rant about it for weeks, but I won’t (cue sighs of relief). I will say this though. There is no escaping the false messages and propaganda being spread by the mighty and powerful. It’s up to us to use our heads, question these messages and decide for ourselves whether what we are eating is good for us or not.
What are your thoughts?
For more blogs by Jessica, see: www.thewellnesswarrior.blogspot.com/
Check in for more guest bloggers on Josie's Juice.
Being a bit of a fan of good science reporting I cringe when reading this post. It begins with the lead:
ReplyDeleteSo, did you hear that eating healthy is now considered a “mental disorder”?
Though the post lacks links so that the reader can check for themselves, even the one quote within the post contradicts the lead:
Healthy eating is not considered a mental disorder but rather, according to the Guardian - a fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder.
I imagine its similar to a fixation with being clean being a potential sign of a serious psychological disorder ie OCD.
Perhaps instead of quoting the guardian, you could have better served your readers by examining the original research sans the sensationalism.
Help determine want was meant by healthy eating and reinforcing good nutritional habits backed by evidence.