Are You Just Self-righteous, or Do You Have an Eating Disorder, Too?
- Posted by: Morgan Clendaniel
- on August 17, 2009 at 8:41 am
Do you try to eat only healthy, locally sourced food? Do you maybe not eat when the situation involves you not eating healthy food? If you were on a long road trip, and the only food option for the next eight hours was McDonald’s, would you refuse to eat?
Congratulations, you might be orthorexic. According to doctors, the number of people who unhealthily fixate on only eating healthy and good food is on the rise, and it sometimes isn’t pretty:
“The obsession about which foods are ‘good’ and which are ‘bad’ means orthorexics can end up malnourished. Their dietary restrictions commonly cause sufferers to feel proud of their ‘virtuous’ behaviour even if it means that eating becomes so stressful their personal relationships can come under pressure and they become socially isolated.”
So, be careful. Sometimes you just have to eat, no matter what the food is. If you can’t get behind that, you should probably see a doctor.
DISCUSSION: 14 Comments
To answer the question: Self righteous, for sure.
I eat local when it’s available at the supermarket or restaurant I’m at. I just went on a trip to Kauai where I only ate foods that were grown local on the island. I didn’t go out of my way to find local fruits and vegetables while on vacation because “good” foods surrounded me everywhere. But while at the airport, “good” foods aren’t as easy to come by. The best option I could find was a veggie burger from Burger King.
It’s important to know where your food comes from. I’m aware that Burger King doesn’t use organic or local ingredients but I had to eat. If you can’t buy local try and find out where the produce was grown that you’re buying.
Hopefully the pattern of scaring people with a diagnosis and absurd disinformation will cease to be in vogue at some point…
Do people who are concerned about what is in their food really qualify as mental health cases, or are they being targeted because “sufferers tend to be aged over 30, middle-class and well-educated”? (and, therefore, strong candidates for medical treatment to cure this “disease”)
Some people take everything to extremes. I wonder if this disorder is a product of unhealthy fixation on food, or a result of extreme personalities. Like people with addictive personalities, people who find themselves going to extremes in general many times suffer from eating disorders.
I only eat organic and mostly local foods. On occasion I’ll eat out to certain places and eat what they offer. If I’m starving I’m not going to take more energy from myself to find something better that is offered at me at the time. But some people over react to their healthy lifestyles and want to almost kill themselves trying to find good food. You can get good healthy food mostly every where. Just look for it. Don’t make yourself sick, what’s the point in eating healthy if you’re going to do that? ,
I always come back to Michal Pollan’s NYT piece called Unhappy Meals —
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html
It seems that people would rather address this problem as a “psychological disorder” rather than a bigger issue within our society: the availability of decent food. If the only food around for miles is McDonald’s, then that’s the issue, not the mental health of individual people.
Bad food is better than no food. But, I can definitely identify with the compulsion to forgo meals while on the road due to there being no healthy options (though lately there seems to be a Ruby Tuesday’s salad bar at every major exit). It’s a lot like my compulsion to suffer rather than use public restrooms. It’s pure neurosis and self-torment.
I love how snarky this is! It’s like someone from NYmag transferred over to GOOD!
I agree with taip, if Mc’s the only choice, something is wrong. This is no big surprise to anyone who has been on a road trip in the last fifteen years. This article does make me laugh though, as if not eating for 8 hours is breaking some kind of a code; sure, its not the best thing to do, but there are far worse. When I was a teenager and on those lovely summer road trips, I used to get glared at by restaurant staff when I requested, “a plain bowl of strawberries, or fresh fruit.” People thought I was insane. Finally, I got wise and started bringing my own whole grains on the road trip. Now, that I’m older, I don’t care all that much, but there is this stigma that if you ask for healthier food there is something wrong with you, and that, is what’s wrong with the big picture.
A veggie burger from Burger King! Good lord, Amrit…I’d rather eat something they do well like a real hamburger than that!
Exactly! Sometimes any food is better than no food, because everything is only good in moderation, even eating the “right foods”
,NEITHER…I am not really into dieting and the like. I love food (especially those not highly recommended for healthy eating). I am envious of those individuals who have the self-discipline to regulate their food intake.
in any case, i think balance is best…..unless of course you have some sort of (medical) condition where you can’t eat meat (i.e., kidney conditions?).