It’s true that those of us who want to eat healthy have to put more time into planning, shopping, and cooking than others, research too, but I think what he’s saying is, it won’t kill you to eat an occasional non-nourishing meal if it means you have to isolate yourself from a joyful experience. I’m pretty sure that occasional meal is going to cause very little harm, so stop obsessing about it. It’s about the obsession; I don’t think he is arguing that eating healthy is a sickness.

I agree real foods taste better too, and I take a lot of joy in eating and preparing them as well, but if I go to a party and there is something non-nourishing that looks good, I’ll eat it and enjoy it, then go back to my normal habits the next day. Whenever I find myself obsessing I remember about the survivors of concentration camps during WWII. Those that survived the horrendous conditions (speaking physically), well, many of them healed and went on to live long lives. I figure if their bodies could heal after all of that trauma, one or two non-nourishing meals aren’t going to throw my health off (if you are a celiac or have allergic reactions to certain foods I’m not advocating eating things you know will screw you up). I tend to live on an 80/20 plan.

Lastly, joy and happiness in themselves are highly important to health and well-being, so I say, eat the pizza for a change and be happy doing it. You’ll be fine. Anxiety makes you tense and is a precursor to disease.

I guess why people might be so “obsessed” or “orthorexic” is because many people aren’t finding balance in modern diets. People are overweight and sick. And I guess because there is so much misinformation people just don’t KNOW what to eat. Other’s are obsessed with their weight and modern diets make them put on weight…so some just don’t eat (or eat badly)…(I think that’s the only example I have at the moment….but you get my point).

…..Real Food for the win!
.-= Michelle (Health Food Lover)´s last blog post …Sweet Breakfast Omelette What To Eat When You Don’t Eat Toast =-.

But anyway..I did read some of an ebook or something (maybe it was health food junkies) he wrote which I seem to not be able to find now..but it made me think of him as really cynical about healthy diets. And you know he practices alternative medicine too? I guess when you see a lot of sick people who don’t comply with (or perhaps incorrectly use) nutritional advice and they don’t get better it can get a bit distressing. I remember in class once how one of my lecturers told us how he had put a patient on an elimination diet but then they liked that diet and didn’t want to change back to a healthier diet. A similar story happened in Steven’s practice (from what I’ve read). But I guess healthy eating is all about compliance.

To me, orthorexia is when people take what they THINK is healthy eating, to the extreme and don’t listen to their bodies. Some raw foodists I believe could have orothrexia. Many look really emancipated and unhealthy and are probably quite malnourished. (Hope that doesn’t offend anyone)

A healthy diet, to me at least is one that you enjoy. I personally love food, REAL food. I love how food can not only keep me healthy and taste really great. But I don’t obsess about food. And if I’m out with friends I don’t care what I eat (cause most of the time I have a healthy diet) and I exercise . Healthy living is all about moderation. Though Orthorexia is an unhealthful extreme.
.-= Michelle (Health Food Lover)´s last blog post …Sweet Breakfast Omelette What To Eat When You Don’t Eat Toast =-.

My personal philosophy is that anything taken to an extreme can never be too good. The human body’s a very adaptable machine, and it’s been living on the same nutrients for millenia. To cut out something like fats completely, for example, isn’t necessarily healthy, even though excessive intake of fats can be. The key is balance.

Thanks for drawing attention to that.
.-= Edmund´s last blog post …Blue Duck Tavern =-.

Put another way, food is not your enemy.

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

If it means that if I’m conscious about what I’m putting into my body makes me have an ‘eating disorder’ then so be it, I’m happy to have this ‘disorder’.

Does that also mean that in 10-20 years time when an enormous proportion of the population (pardon the pun) are overweight then I will be considered to have another disorder because I choose to stay in shape?

What makes this even more remarkable is that this comment has come from a doctor who is supposed to be promoting the virtues of a healthy lifestyle not creating terms to describe people who are focused on eating healthy!
.-= Steve´s last blog post …Fruit Nutrition Facts Calories In Fruit =-.