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Obsession with Health
I am keenly aware of the continual onslaught of medical studies that are written, supposedly to improve our health: studies that talk about eating disorders, obesity, helpful drugs, dangerous drugs, unhealthy foods, fiber-rich foods. And I stopped paying attention to them a while ago. No one is going to stop me from drinking my glass of zinfandel at dinner, my full-test coffee at breakfast, and my chocolate chip cookie after dinner. But I’m concerned about my fellow Americans, especially regarding their growing concerns about health. So I decided to do some research. I learned more than I wanted to know: we are obsessed with our health. I also came to the conclusion that these obsessions may say less about our health and more about our search for control, perfection and meaning.
Now I’ve been aware of this pre-occupation in our culture for many years. It’s important for me to state that I am not describing people who have serious, debilitating and painful health concerns; a number of Ricochettis bravely struggle with these kinds of issues. Instead I am speaking about the overload of information that we continually receive about what people should put into their bodies and how they respond to it. And we aren’t alone in this country; many articles I read were published in British newspapers. What does this obsession look like, and what is it telling us about ourselves?
Most of us know about the various eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and other conditions. Ironically we live in a time where obesity has become epidemic. Yet there are those who go in the opposite direction, focusing on everything they eat:
But there are signs that the modern wheat-free, dairy-free, gluten-free obsessiveness is taking a toll on people’s mental health, with the rise of the little-known condition called “orthorexia nervosa,” a fixation on eating healthily. The term was coined almost 20 years ago by an American doctor, Stephen Bratman, following his own obsessive illness. What starts as a healthy flirtation with kale juice can quickly spiral into something life-sappingly perfectionist.
Here is one medical opinion on this condition:
Orthorexia isn’t yet classified as an ‘official’ eating disorder but mental health professionals have seen a dramatic rise. Dr Bijal Chheda-Varma, a psychologist at the Nightingale Hospital in London describes a clear increase in patients who get anxious “if they eat anything ‘toxic’ like sugar”. Social media may have a big part to play. “My younger clients spend a lot of time on Instagram, looking at plates of ‘perfect’ lifestyles and their ‘perfect’ healthy food,” says Dr Chheda-Varma.
Some of the personal stories are difficult to fathom:
In a vegan cafe in New York City, Nisha Moodley pushes a glass crusted with the remnants of a berry-acai-almond milk smoothie across the table and begins listing the foods she excised from her diet six years ago.
‘Factory-farmed meats; hormone-laden dairy; conventional nonorganic fruits and vegetables; anything hydrogenated; anything microwaved,’ the slender 32-year-old health coach says. ‘I would not eat irradiated food; charred or blackened foods; artificial coloring, flavoring, or sweetener; MSG; white rice; sugar; table salt; or anything canned.’
It is worthwhile pointing out that some people may have an adverse reaction to a number of products and must avoid them in their diets. But it is the combination of arbitrary multiple restrictions that makes this lifestyle so insidious.
So how do you know if you, or someone in your life, is caught up in this behavior? One article suggested steps for recognizing that one’s obsession may have moved in a potentially life-threatening direction:
- When you do something “unhealthy,” you may get angry, have an anxiety attack or feel guilt or depression.
- Health is seen in moral terms. If you eat a piece of chocolate cake, you may see yourself as a bad person, questioning your sense of self-worth.
- You restrict your life to fit your health requirements. Your day centers around eating, exercise, and vacations or time away may threaten your need to control your activities.
- You’re missing your menstrual period. When you deprive your body of enough nutrients, your estrogen drops and you are at a higher risk of osteoporosis.
- You become paranoid about foods, fearing that certain foods are “poisonous.”
- You exercise even when you are injured or ill. This behavior can exacerbate injuries and delay recovery.
- You become defensive if someone tells you that you are going too far in “maintaining good health.”
If you or someone you care for is indulging in this behavior, it may be a time for self-reflection. You might also check out this piece by a nutritionist about this condition.
So why is this particular obsession manifesting at an increasing rate? Some medical authorities point to general anxiety and fear. People are terrified and feel their lives are threatened by outside forces that they cannot control. Even though these fears have always been around, we also now have to cope with super bugs, terrorism, unemployment, sexual confusion, and other cultural issues. So people are focusing on their bodies, those organisms over which they have some control with exercise and diet.
But I believe a key issue that is driving these obsessions is man’s lack of meaning in life, particularly the dominance of secularism in our society. When people believed they could rely on G-d for spiritual strength and sustenance, they may have been better prepared for facing life and its threats and challenges. As long as secularism continues to grow, however, people will become more isolated, more fearful, more self-destructive, and angrier, and their obsessions will grow in their desperate attempt to save themselves. This downward spiral will only deepen their sense of helplessness and desperation.
Orthoexic is just another step toward human self-destruction. And I see no way to counter it. What do you think of this assessment? If you think it has merit, do you see a healing path forward?
Published in Culture
Another factor here is that restricted diets can also be dangerous in various ways. The best diet is one with a wide variety of foods. The gluten-free diet is one that science is finding many issues with. The body is made for lots of fiber, and grains are where most of that fiber comes from. Studies have shown various health problems coming from gluten-free diets. If you do not have celiac disease, do not do that to your body. (If you do have celiac disease, don’t even think of cheating on that diet. Trust me.) And have a bit of rich, crusty, whole grain bread for me.
Every morning, from now on, dedicated to you, O Furry One!
Gluten-free is the latest effort a friend of mine is making. I’ll have to research the information on damaging effects. I feel so bad for those of you with celiac disease. I don’t eat that much bread, but I would miss it terribly if I couldn’t eat it!
I briefly struggled with anorexia in college when I not only restricted my caloric intake, but also “purged” myself with excessive exercise running two times a day. I look back now and can’t believe I was able to function physically or mentally given how few calories I consumed. I ended up with severe shin splints (walking was painful) and I had to switch to cycling. I also began going to a counselor when my guardian at the time threatened me with not returning to college if I didn’t get help with my problem. However, I think what really got me turned around was finding a couple of friends who really enjoyed life. I started to see beyond my fabricated world of tight control and learned to loosen up. It wasn’t easy and if I’m honest, I still deal with a few issues, but overall, I’d say I have recovered.
My daughter, a perfectionist (like her mom) who really likes control (like her mom) and has undertaken orthorexic eating to a moderate degree, calls her approach “clean eating.” Watching her, I know what she is doing is more than just a diet. She certainly has foods which are “off-limits” for fear of them interfering with her figure and with her work out routines. She does get anxious when certain foods are not available or when she can’t run. I know the warning signs well because I lived them and we went through a period where we mandated weekly weight checks at college. Her weight has stabilized and overall I think she is improved, but I can’t say I am completely at peace with her eating habits or attitude about food.
As the OP theorizes, I do think the increase in this type of behavior is rooted in a desire for meaning. My husband and I have acquaintances who have undertaken triathalons in a big way – after abandoning any expression or practice of faith. One friend once remarked to me that running was, “her new religion” (this was after she had stopped going to weekly Mass). I’ve seen the fall out in broken marriages when one spouse is a born-again fitness fanatic and leaves a marriage because “G-d would want me to be happy.” Sigh. How do we even begin to counter these statements?
We are living in such a materially comfortable time, yet we seek new ways to deprive or even punish ourselves. There is a deep spiritual need going unmet and running marathons, or achieving 9% body fat isn’t going to fulfill it but a culture that continues to declare “Blessed are those who do cross fit for they shall avert old age” is an intoxicating one.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gluten+free+diets+bad&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
That should get you plenty.
My husband and son are celiacs and my husband constantly laments the new fad of “gluten-free lifestyle.” He would give his left arm to have a real bagel again. What I resent is how those adopting the new GF lifestyle make it that much harder for people with the real thing. My husband has to reiterate, “no, really, if I get gluten, I will be seriously ill for days.” And as Arahant notes, no cheating allowed for true celiacs. The short and long-term effects are devastating.
Exactly.
At least I can still eat corn (maize) and corn chips and use corn tortillas as my bread and for personal pizzas.
At church today, the spread at fellowship included waffles with what looked like some sort of apricot jelly or compote, three types of cookies, and brownies. There were also grapes, which were the only thing I could eat. My buddy reached for one of the cookies I was staring at, and I said, “Yes, have one of those and tell me how bad it is and how I’m missing nothing.”
He stuffed it in his mouth and made a disgusted sound, “Terrible, absolutely terrible!” Then he had another one.
It’s good to have friends.
Nerina, thank you so much for the candid sharing of your life experience. You’ve shown a lot of courage in your efforts to get healthy, and to help your daughter, too. It must be extremely difficult to watch her struggle. Good for you in your determination to help and guide her. I also wish you and your husband the best in managing celiac disease; it is so hard to give up the foods that it involves. I wish you and your family a life of, health, peace and blessings.
I had my first and Last squirrel pie last Summer. I ate most of it but could not exactly watch myself forking it in.
Recently a NEW World of celery carrots spinach rice olive oil broccoli-rabe water oranges apples can’t more highly recommend. Thx Quinn!
This puts me in mind of a sign I saw in a gift shop: “I’d give up chocolate, but I’m not a quitter.”?
Dark chocolate is the way I visit the dark side. :-D
Which more people will find out when their govt-provided* insurance won’t pay for certain maladies they regard as ‘self-inflicted.’
As it happened, I read this while sipping a coke and having a few chips…
*It could happen – single payer, that is.
Chesterton went on for longer than usual on the topic. I don ‘t remember where nor can I paraphrase him, but the gist was that when the big sins are no longer sinful, people obsess over life’s minor pleasures. Chesterton was defending his cigars and other appetites. There is nothing more pleasant than a big meal, lots of wine and a table full of family and friends and I will always miss the cigar.
Lemme see, way back in the 1970s, all my friends (and me, too) read Adele Davis and many had subscriptions to Prevention magazine, edited by J. J. Rodale. I began to lose interest in food and diet advice by such “experts” when Adele Davis died of cancer, and Rodale dropped dead of a heart attack while being interviewed on some television talk show.
Diet fads have had various levels of popularity since time began, as far as I can tell.
I can see the point about foodies seeking a replacement for religion, but here in my Orthodox Jewish community, we have several strict dieters — i.e., far beyond the requirements of kashrut — vegan, all-“organic”, only-“natural,” no dairy, etc. So far, two of the all-organic folks have died of cancer, in spite of their cancer-prevention diets and water purification devices.
An interesting side-topic might be the connection between religious practice and food regulations (Brahmin (no meat, fish or eggs); meat and non-meat-eating Buddhists; Seventh Day Adventist health programs; Mormon bans on tea and coffee; regular fasting, etc.).
Now, my younger daughter in middle age has decided to be vegan. This comes after having to deal with her daughter’s celiac disease (I’ve seen what happens when this lovely girl accidentally ingests gluten, oy vey). My daughter’s turn to vegan seems to derive from an exaggerated love for animals. I was hoping that her husband, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert, would persuade her not to go all-vegan, but he is vegetarian himself.
So, I am mystified — and worried. Nutrition is one of the most complex subjects ever studied, and each week we are bombarded with diet and exercise advice, much of it later disproved or having to be modified, because the studies reported used too small a sample, or the journalists reporting on science don’t know how to read a scientific paper, let alone write about it.
I can think of a couple of vegan runners who dropped dead of heart attacks at young ages.
Thanks for this comment, Little My. Fads do come and go, and I tend to ignore them (although I remember liking things about the Pritikin Diet; I mainly made my own granola.) My biggest concern is just as you describe it: the bottom line is that we pretty much don’t know what will hurt us (unless you have something like celiac disease or an allergic reaction to a particular food). Going vegan can be risky, but hopefully she’ll eat foods that in part substitute for what she’s eliminating.
I just want to emphasize Arahant’s comments on gluten-free diets: if you don’t need to follow them, but you do, you could be taking serious risks. The link he referenced in comment #35 provided some good information for me to give to a friend. Thanks, Arahant.
You nailed it.
Minor nutritional observations of varying value and accuracy get clumped together to form cult-like moral obligations. It is The Church of Portlandia (but without the laughs).
I have to ask how many animals she encounters regularly. While I was driving home to visit my parents I counted about half a dozen deer that had been hit by cars. I don’t hunt, but I’m in favor of both preventing accidents and getting some use out of them.
We never paid attention to what we ate until my husband grew increasingly ill with stomach issues. After medical tests and elimination, we identified gluten as the culprit. Believe me, if he could eat it, he would. It’s the thorn in his flesh.
Having to deal with this “thorn” has made us more aware of what’s in the food we eat. Input chemical crap, get bad results. Eat real food, get better results. It’s not a fail-safe: humans aren’t built to live forever. You’re not going to “healthy” your way to a fulfilling life by subtracting.
But I don’t understand the knee-jerk reaction of many people on the political right to a healthy lifestyle. Maybe it’s the reaction to anyone telling us what to do about our personal choices? Seriously though, if you don’t want single-payer health care and high insurance prices, you might want to consider the nasty links between corporate welfare, food supply, and what you eat.
My mother was an OBGYN for 40 years, and she said that when she started her practice, she only operated on obese women several times a year. By the time she retired this year, it was every week, almost every surgery. There were more complications, higher risks, and longer hospital stays.
(As an aside, my mom is 5’2″. Imagine standing on a stool with your short arms trying to get in and around 400lbs of person for 5 hours with no break).
I think the obssessive behavior we are seeing with diet has much more to do with people’s emotional and spiritual health than the simple desire to eat more real, whole food so you can be around to play with your grandkids.
Agreed.
I guess it depends on what you mean by that. The government has been putting out dietary information for years, which tends to contradict itself. If we’re talking about people like in the OP, I don’t have the desire to spend that much time or money on figuring out what I can eat, nor would I want to risk my mental health to improve my physical health. Similarly, I’m not big on latching on to every food fad that comes by.
Especially when this month’s very good thing is next month’s very bad thing and vice versa.
There’s not that much fiber in whole grain bread, and I’ve heard that whole grains can actually interfere with micronutrient absorption. It’s all too complicated to really know what’s going on, so strike whatever combination of enjoyment and whatever theory of nutrition you find convincing.
I think that’s part of it, Anthea. I’m not sure that the political right objects to a healthy lifestyle. I think, in spite of the kidding around on this post, many of the commenters take a healthy lifestyle seriously. I think a big key is moderation, rather than the extremes (which you point out). I also think some of the negative reaction comes from the kinds of thing the Obama administration was doing, eliminating foods from school cafeteria menus because they weren’t healthy. Again, rather than take an obsessive approach, balance in menu design would have made more sense.
BTW, I’m so sorry about your husband’s condition. It must be so hard.
Agreed about the food fads. What I mean about the knee-jerk reaction is that when someone says, “Hey, thinking about what you put in your mouth might be a good idea,” and the reaction is to reply, “Vegetables are only for wealthy liberals!” It seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. The conservative should say, “Eat whatever you want, but be prepared to pay the consequences yourself without demanding my help.”
I think my point probably doesn’t belong in this thread since it doesn’t pertain to the topic at hand, which is people’s unhealthy obsession with perceived “bad” foods. I am in agreement with the article and the general direction of the comments.
Yes, agreed! I hate all the manipulation by the Obama administration and others of their ilk. I understand their desire to help kids be more healthy, but as always, their solution was a top-down, government solution which did not work. The sad thing is that we do pay out large sums of money in Medicaid and other subsidies to take care of unhealthy kids who become unhealthy adults. A better answer is to link behaviors to costs at the individual level. But who thinks that’s going to happen anytime soon?
(The con to being gluten intolerant is that gluten-free bread is terrible. The pro? More steak).
I think I understand your comment here, Anthea, but could you elaborate?
Sure – right now the real financial costs for an unhealthy lifestyle are mostly hidden. People do pay some of the cost for their lifestlye choices in lost energy, immobility, and quality of life, but they don’t pay out of pocket for the medical cost. The insurance provided by your employer, with a few exceptions, costs the same whether you are pre-diabetic or not, overweight or not, etc. That means that insurance for everyone costs more because the price of the insurance is not linked to the personal cost of weight-induced (and other lifestyle choices) illness. It’s much worse for government programs like Medicaid and CHIP, because people don’t pay much of anything, including premiums.
I’m not minimizing the health issues people have that they can’t do anything about. But there is a cascade of costs associated with unhealthy lifestyles that we don’t see and therefore don’t take into account. If you had to pay out of pocket for those extra thirty pounds because it increases your health risks and therefore the price of your insurance, you might reconsider before eating the whole bag of Oreos. It’s Thomas Sowell-type trade-offs.
That sounds mean. I’m really not a mean person!