Veganism and/or RAW is an eating disorder...
I hear the "vegan diets are eating disorders" argument all the time, and I truly think it's a cheap shot and a sign of someone who clearly knows nothing about a vegan diet. People focus too much on what a vegan CAN'T eat, and not enough on what they do. Just think about all the fresh fruit, the crisp vegetables, the grains, the fiber and protein packed beans, etc, etc, etc.
But now there's more focus on this eating disorder "orthorexia". Basically, wanting to eat too healthfully is an eating disorder.
What is orthorexia? Identified in 1997 by Colorado physician Steven Bratman, MD, orthorexia is Latin for “correct eating.” Here, too, the focus isn’t on losing weight. Instead, sufferers increasingly restrict their diets to foods they consider pure, natural and healthful. Some researchers say that orthorexia may combine a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder with anxiety and warn that severely limited “healthy” diets may be a stepping stone to anorexia nervosa, the most severe - and potentially life-threatening - eating disorder.
Orthorexics: Those affected may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides. Beyond that, orthorexics may also shun caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, wheat and dairy foods. Some limit themselves to raw foods.
Health consequences: Limiting your diet to only a few foods - because you’re a picky eater or have a long list of foods you deem unhealthy - can lead to potentially dangerous nutritional deficiencies. At its most extreme, a diet limited to only a few foods perceived to be healthy is described as orthorexia nervosa and can lead to the same emaciation and health risks seen with anorexia nervosa.
Orthorexia: Cognitive behavior therapy designed to change obsessive thought patterns regarding food is usually recommended.
Found this on Yahoo's front page. http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real
I nearly sh!t myself when I saw it. I'm p!ssed about it. I don't drink alcohol, I avoid artificial colorings, sweeteners, flavorings, etc. I buy organic and minimally processed foods, I don't buy or eat frozen meals, etc. But I don't believe I have an eating disorder. Today I had Kashi cereal with strawberries, almond milk, I made bread and cooked a stew using tempeh, potatoes, carrots, etc. I had tea and then made a salad loaded with beans and some ground walnuts.
I also had a teacher once tell my class that "once vegetarians go vegan, they have an eating disorder. Once you start cutting all these foods out of your diet it just means that you lack control over something in your life so you try to control what you eat to feel like you can be in control of your life. It's like cutters who self-harm, they do it so they can have some sort of control over their pain." I was ready to flip my sh!t.
Anyways, thoughts? Are you immune to this criticism, does it drive you crazy, or do you... think they have a point?
-Alika613
PS: This article doesn't speak specifically about vegans and RAW diets, but I still hear the connection enough for it to drive me up the wall.
The vegetable/fruit categorization is often based on how the foods are used and whether they're sweet, not the biologic categorization. Same goes for FDA food pyramid.
Immature corn IS a vegetable. Mature corn seeds, from which popcorn, polenta, cornmeal, etc are made, is a grain. The composition of those kernels changes as the plant ages.
The vegetable/fruit categorization is often based on how the foods are used and whether they're sweet, not the biologic categorization. Same goes for FDA food pyramid.
Immature corn IS a vegetable. Mature corn seeds, from which popcorn, polenta, cornmeal, etc are made, is a grain. The composition of those kernels changes as the plant ages.
The pyramid is supposedly based on daily recommendations of food groups based on the nutritional qualities of each specific food group. This recommendation is made irrelevant if the foods are not categorized correctly. Specific culinary uses, personal choices regarding cooking methods, or sweetness of taste should have no bearing on what category a food is placed in.
fresh, immature corn is of a different nutrient composition than corn grain.
The FDA categorizes culinary vegetables (that are biologic fruits) as vegetables. Even if you can't see it in the FDA food pyramid graphic, it's evident by using the mypyramid tool on their site.
I'm not saying that's how it SHOULD be done, but this vegan pyramid doesn't differ from the FDA in that aspect.
I guess I have an eating disorder then :-D I'm semi-immune to it depending on whom it comes from. I've been called every name under the book and my family tells me my healthy eating is an eating disorder, however anyone around me more often than not would tell you otherwise. I've also done a strict raw foods diet, which there is nothing wrong with.
Others act like I'm a crazy idiot who doesn't know basic things like... the Food Pyramid... ummmm, for one, I know very few omnis who follow it, or even eat a diet remotely resembling it. I know I'm eating better now than I ever did on an omni diet, but they just can't accept it. It makes me so angry and frustrated that their minds are so closed, that they are so blind, and so self-serving. They're so wrong, but convinced that they are right. It's sick.
Rant over. Wow. that felt good to get off my chest.
We have our OWN pyramid!!
Oh, hey. I just link the pic...but I think they sell posters of it and stuff. If that's not cool to link let me know.
ETA: its a free-to-download and distribute non-commercially poster too!!
*distributes!!*
http://veganfoodpyramid.com/images/vegan-pyramid-1024x768.jpg
I just thought I'd point out that a lot of the pictures in the "vegetable" section of that pyramid are actually fruits, not vegetables. It also looks like there is an ear of corn under vegetables. Why should we follow a vegan food pyramid if it doesn't even accurately categorize it's food groups.
true story, this hangs on my fridge next to my food combining chart and serving size chart and has for almost 5 years now LOL! :)>>> Heres proof:
http://www.faylinameir.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fridge1.png
http://www.faylinameir.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fridge2.png
That's cool! But what's even cooler are those spice containers.
That's cool! But what's even cooler are those spice containers.
^.^ I made them myself, the part of my fridge you can't see I have about 40 more of them on there. I need to redo them though with different magnets.
Those spice containers are the greatest thing I've ever seen. I will definitley be making some of these soon. That'll free up so much precious cabinet space!
What a bunch of hooee! I admit, I fell off the bandwagon a while back, but I decided about a year ago to go back to being vegan, but to do it slowly by giving up one thing at a time. First it was pork, then beef, then dairy, then chicken, now I say that if I get a craving for me that can't be denied I can have a piece of fish or an egg, but eventually I want to get rid of that too.
I am hardly anorexic! Being 40lbs overweight I LOVE to cook and EAT!!!
I am finding that sticking to a vegan diet is WAY easier if I eat a LOT of high protien vegan foods like tofu, tempeh and beans. If I crave meat I eat a bowl of bean soup or something like that and I feel better. So I haven't had fish or eggs in almost 2 weeks now! Yeah!
they link vegan diet with an eating disorder because most of the time it will be an excuse for anorexics not to eat much,when that's not true at all.it's very different from eachother.
i think "ortho-rexia" is an eating disorder... but just trying to eat healthy doesn't mean you have an eating disorder
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They're just trying to justify what THEY eat. They don't want going vegan to be the right way to go, because they're selfish a-holes. And with that said, don't let it get to you. Theres going to be plenty of people telling you that being vegan is wrong. Many people will give you so many, might I add very stupid, reasons on why you shouldn't be vegan. So just brush them off, because you know they're the ones who are actally wrong. One day society as a whole will realize their mistakes, it just might take hundreds of years, if not thousands, because society is extremely stupid after all.
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