The article, "Health Food Junkie", published in the September/October 1997
issue of "Yoga Journal" magazine, has since been republished twice (with
further distribution reportedly in the works). For those who have not seen
the article or the related Internet discussion (on the raw-food, veg-raw
e-mail lists) in August/September 1997, the article "Health Food Junkie",
by Steven Bratman, M.D., discusses how obsession with dietary purity (a major
concern for many rawists, particularly the more extreme members of the raw
community), can become an eating disorder - a mental illness - that Dr.
Bratman names 'orthorexia nervosa'.
The article was discussed on the e-mail lists at the time of publication, and
it was quite controversial, at least on veg-raw (less so on the raw-food
list). Since then, the "Health Food Junkie" article has been republished:
- in the December 1997 issue of the SF-LiFE newsletter, where the reception
has been VERY positive (mainstream raw fooders appreciate it, even if the
extremists don't!),
- in the current (February 1998) issue of "Utne Reader", where it is mentioned
on the cover (it has a different title in "Utne Reader" - something like "When
Healthy Eating Can Make You Sick").
Additionally, the letters to the editor in "Yoga Journal" have been very
positive in support of the article, and I have personally received positive
e-mail on the article (folks in the eating disorder community may be taking
note of the article - it would not surprise me if orthorexia is eventually
recognized, formally, as an eating disorder). It seems that "Health Food
Junkie" is an idea whose time has come!
If you have not read the "Health Food Junkie" article, you can do so by
getting a copy of the back issue of "Yoga Journal", the current issue of
"Utne Reader", or by ordering a copy of the December 1997 issue of the
SF-LiFE newsletter. To get that issue, send a large envelope, self-addressed
and stamped (stamps for 2 ounces postage), plus a check for $1.00, made
out to SF-LiFE, to: Dorleen Tong, 662 29th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94121.
Include a note requesting a copy of the December 1997 newsletter.
I am attaching the two articles I wrote (below) that were published along
with "Health Food Junkie", in the December 1997 SF-LiFE newsletter. I hope
you find them interesting, and that it inspires you to read the original
article if you have not done so yet.
Regards,
Tom Billings
[log in to unmask]
===================================
Posting/Copyright Notice: This post is approved for posting on raw-food,
veg-raw, living-foods, Intestinal Health, and the Paleo diet e-mail lists.
It is also approved for M2M, "Health & Beyond" (and web site), and "REAL News".
Posting on any other list/website, or publishing in any other manner requires
advance approval. Those portions of the post below written by me are also:
Copyright 1997, by Thomas E. Billings; all rights reserved.
====================================
CLARIFYING THE CONCEPT OF ORTHOREXIA: OBSESSION WITH DIETARY
PURITY AS
AN EATING DISORDER
Comments on the "Health Food Junkie" article
by Tom Billings
Let me begin by thanking Dr. Steven Bratman (M.D.), for granting permission
to use his article, "Health Food Junkie", that appeared in "Yoga Journal"
magazine (October 1997). Dr. Bratman's EXCELLENT article provides profound
insights into the psychology of extreme diets and food obsessions. The
article should be read by all raw-fooders, and the information in the article
may help us to examine our own behavior, and our relationship with food.
Shortly after Dr. Bratman's article came out, I made a "pointer posting"
on Internet, identifying the "Health Food Junkie" article, encouraging
others to read it, and providing a number of relevant quotes from the
article. On the raw-food list, my posting attracted little reaction. On
the veg-raw list, the reaction was much stronger. A few people on veg-raw
became very defensive, and some sharply criticized the article. (I defended
the article from all criticism on veg-raw.) One could say that the article
struck a "raw" nerve - perhaps some raw-fooders recognized themselves as
being orthorexic/obsessed with food?
As a result of the Internet discussion of Dr. Bratman's article, the
following clarifications of the concept of orthorexia are given for your
consideration.
* Orthorexia is a long-term behavior pattern, not short-term. When one
switches to a difficult/restrictive diet, one must pay considerable
attention to food and related matters, until the new dietary regime becomes
habitual. Such a transition period may last for weeks. After the new diet is
a habit, then attention to food should decrease to a very low level. Paying
attention to food for a few weeks during a dietary transition is not
orthorexia; constantly obsessing on food over the long run, is orthorexia.
* In order for orthorexia to be a disorder, all that is required is that it
has a significant, negative impact on an individual's life. A person does
not have to think of food 100% of the time to be orthorexic (even those
suffering from severe anorexia nervosa, think of many things besides food).
* Adherence to strict religious food disciplines is not orthorexia. Religions
are based on love (at least in theory), so religious food disciplines are
also based on love, hence are not pathological (orthorexia is a pathological
fixation on food). In contrast, the motivations for rawism promoted by some
extremists - fear/hatred of cooked food, mucus, protein - when they become
obsessive, can indeed become pathological. In short, love is not pathological,
while fear, hate, and extremism, are pathological.
When Close Attention to Diet Is/Is Not Appropriate
Close attention to diet is appropriate under the following circumstances:
* For a short period, while one is transitioning to a new diet. After the
new diet becomes habit, your attention to dietary details can/should reduce.
* Those who are are following a (nearly 100% raw) diet as part of a program
for healing from serious illness, may need to strictly follow the diet, for
an extended period. However, per the above, once the diet becomes habit,
then attention to the details can be reduced. Also, once a person's health
improves sufficiently, one may be able to be a bit less strict regarding
the details of diet. Note also that attention to diet motivated by health
is not pathological unless it is obsessive and/or based on predominantly
negative motivations (e.g., such as fear of cooked foods, mucus, protein;
other pathological motivations include obsessive fear of illness, aging,
death).
CLARIFYING THE CONCEPT OF ORTHOREXIA (continued)
Close attention to diet is usually not necessary, when the following apply.
* One is established in a diet (it is habitual), it requires little thought,
and one is not emotionally attached to the diet.
* When one is stable in good health, then one may be able to make occasional
exceptions to the usual dietary regime, with limited or no antagonistic
side effects.
Choosing the Middle Path in Diet
Before discussing the middle path, moderation, in raw foods diets, let us
first examine the extremes, as follows.
Cult of Indulgence. This is any hedonistic diet in which your eyes, nose,
and tastes select the food you eat, regardless of any other criteria
such as how the food affects you, and so on. It is sometimes called the
"see-food" diet; you see food (any food that appeals to you), and you eat
it. [Side note: although it emphasizes the sensual appeal of foods,
instinctive eating is not part of the cult of indulgence, as it emphasizes
selection of original foods, and eating until one gets a "stop signal".]
Cult of Discipline. This is any diet that is, figuratively, loaded with
dogmatism, rules, and/or negative motivations. The effect of difficult
rules, and powerful dogma, is to remove all the fun of eating. Instead
of being a pleasant experience that nurtures you, eating becomes an
exercise in stress and/or ego, as the eater tries to conform to the
rules and dogma of the (usually restrictive) 'ideal' diet. An example of
the cult of discipline would be a 100% raw diet that is motivated primarily
by strong/obsessive fear (of cooked food, protein, or mucus), and which
places *extreme* importance in details - e.g., is the food good enough?
(100% organic? fresh? local? in season?), did I combine correctly? am I
chewing the food sufficiently?, etc. Such obsessive concern with details
promotes stress, rather than nourishment.
The above example of 100% raw could be replaced by 100% cooked, where
the food must be prepared by a skilled macrobiotic chef, and the person
dogmatically believes that macrobiotics is the "one true way", and all other
diets are inferior/harmful. The point here is that the cult of discipline is
not limited to raw. I would also point out that one can be 100% raw, or
100% macrobiotic, and not be caught up in the cult of discipline. To avoid
the cult of discipline, one must have positive motivations and attitudes,
realistic expectations, and love yourself enough to see clearly that your
total health (physical, mental, and spiritual) is far more important than
any dogma - vegan, rawist, or macrobiotic.
The Middle Path. This is the way of moderation, of common sense, and is
open and honest. In this path, diet is a tool for good health, and health
is always considered to be more important than dogma/ideology. Here
diet has a small place in life (whereas it is life-controlling for the
orthorexic), and is regarded as simply a support function. This is the
philosophy of "eat to live" rather than "live to eat".
If you backslide on the middle path, rather than doing penance in the form
of fasting, one should do a self-analysis and see what lessons can be
learned from the episode. Then put the matter out of your mind, but do
remember it if you feel drawn to backslide again. (Note: you might find that
keeping a journal or diary of your experiences is helpful - it can remind
you of the negative impact on your health that occurs when you backslide.)
The middle path, the path of moderation, is a relatively even path.
Those who binge-fast, or binge-starve, are not following the middle
CLARIFYING THE CONCEPT OF ORTHOREXIA (continued)
path. Rather, they are like a yo-yo going from the cult of indulgence
to the cult of discipline. Some people might find it necessary to
pass through such a "yo-yo" stage, in their transition to the middle
path. However, it is desirable to avoid that - if possible - and go
directly to the middle path. (Note that avoiding a "yo-yo" stage may
be easier said than done - progress in life is usually not a smooth,
even process.)
It should also be noted that occasional, short fasts are suitable for
many people, and may be beneficial (where they are not contraindicated).
Thus fasting can be a part of the middle path, if done correctly and
in moderation.
The middle path is not a rawist path or a cooked path. On the middle path,
one experiments to find what works best. You let your body tell you how much
raw/cooked to eat. Good health is what counts, not blindly following dogma
and trying to be 100% raw (or 100% cooked, or 100% anything). Remember: your
health is more important than any dogma! (Note: those who adopt raw for
healing, may need to be nearly 100% raw for some time. If it is done in
the name of health, without obsessive fear, it is still the middle path.)
In closing, let me mention again that the "Health Food Junkie" article is
truly excellent (the best writing on obsession and extreme diets, that I
have ever read), and every raw fooder should read the article.
P.S. Please note that the middle path will be discussed in greater detail
in future articles.
Tom Billings
---------------------------------------------------------------------
EVALUATING THE ROLE OF DIET IN OUR LIVES
Q/A on Orthorexia and the "Health Food Junkie" article
by Tom Billings
After I posted a notice on Internet regarding the "Health Food Junkie"
article, the following question was asked. As the question and answer
are of likely interest to others, I present the following edited Q/A.
The text of the question is used with the permission of the person asking,
and the name of that individual will not be published.
Question:
>Thanks for letting us know about this article. It sounds a lot like me, I
>must admit. Does this mean I should now start eating cooked foods? I'm not
>sure what to do, and I am certainly extreme in my eating habits (wanting
>to eat 95% raw vegan food).
My Response:
No, you don't have to eat cooked food. You can eat 95% raw, and still be
mentally healthy - but some effort may be required to maintain balance and
mental health on a high (%) raw diet.
What to do? Don't let food rule your life, as orthorexia occurs when food
dominates your life, or, figuratively, "eats you". View diet as a tool for
health. Aim for high (%) raw, if you wish, but don't obsess about it. If
you find it appropriate to eat some cooked food, don't feel guilty about it,
EVALUATING THE ROLE OF DIET IN OUR LIVES (continued)
and don't go on a fast as penance for past dietary "sins", or in an
obsessive search for dietary purity.
Don't let your diet determine your sense of self-worth. Don't make diet
an important part of your self-identity. "I'm an imperfect human being,
surrounded by other, similar human beings" is the attitude, not "I'm a
100% raw vegan surrounded by 'inferior' consumers of cooked foods or animal
foods". In my opinion, the latter quote is based in ego and hatred, and is
what drives some extremists (unfortunately). Such negative attitudes also
promote social isolation (a real problem for rawists), and polarize
society by dividing it into "us" ("good" rawists/vegans) versus "them"
("bad" meat eaters or cooked food consumers). The egotistical elitism that
divides society into "us" versus "them", directly contradicts the
compassion that is supposed to be at the heart of veganism.
Another way to look at the above is that "I'm a person" should be first
in your mind, not "I'm 100% raw", or "I'm a vegan". Those are just dietary
labels: your status as a human being is more important than dietary dogma
(i.e., what your lunch is). This point might seem unnecessary, but in my
opinion, the e-mail lists (raw-food and veg-raw) have seen some prime examples
of extremists who appear to place dietary dogma above the rights, humanity,
and even the existence, of other people. People come first, before dietary
dogma - unfortunately certain extremists appear to think it should be the
other way around!
Let's return to the question of what to do here. Examine your attitude towards
diet and your personal relationship with food. Does the quality of your diet
determine how good you feel about yourself, in the same way that daily body
weight determines how an anorexic feels? (It should not - your feeling of
self-worth should not be determined by your diet.) If you go off your diet,
do you do "penances" like fasting to "atone for your dietary sins"? (You
should not.) Do you think people with other diets are animals, or less than
fully human? (You should not.) Do you think that someone who eats meat is
a murderer because "meat is murder"? (You should not - others have the right
to choose their diet. Those who regard themselves as superior to others
because they eat a "better lunch" are practicing "lunch-righteousness".)
Does your diet make you feel superior in any way to those with other diets?
(It should not.) Has your diet become your religion, or a functional substitute
for religion? (It should not.) Are you looking for happiness, or the meaning
of life, in your diet - i.e., on your lunch plate? (If so, you won't find it
there.) Do you think that your diet is the one true way, the only good or
"natural" diet on the planet? (If so, you are suffering from delusions, or in
denial of reality.) Is food the most important thing in your life? (It should
not be.) An honest self-evaluation can be very helpful in clarifying our
personal relationship with food.
The ultimate thing to do here is to change one's attitude towards food,
if you have orthorexic/anorexic/bulimic behavior or attitudes. Such
behavior and attitudes are far more common in rawism than some of the
"experts" or "role models" are willing to admit.
I hope the above clarifies things some. Thanks for your question!
Tom Billings
|
