Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder

reply to post by ModernAcademia


You know, I though I have heard and seen about everything, until NOW!

Heard this on Coast to Coast last nite.


The worst thing about this, is, that people will actually believe this!


Its the Big Pharma inventing conditions and diseases.

Whoever came up with this should fry on the stake!

At first I was a bit shocked by the very notion presented in the OP, until I went to the Guardian link and it all made a lot more sense. The article in the OP is pretty biased and seems to intentionally distort the notion of a disorder regarding an obsession with eating certain foods into an attack on everyone that chooses to eat healthy.

This is not the case though.
As the Guardian article points out:

Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out.

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 it isn't choosing healthy foods that is the disorder, that title is misleading, it is choosing healthy foods at the expense of peace of mind, normal human relationships, detriment to your mental health and a level of normality in life.

As was pointed out earlier by Nox and Benevolant Heretic, washing your hands isn't a mental disorder.
Washing them 100 times in a five minute period is.

There is a difference between eating healthy, and being so obsessed with eating healthy you end up an isolated hermit that would pass out at the sight of an oatmeal cookie.

The author of the Natural News article ignores this fact and seems to take the very idea of orthorexia nervosa extremely personal:

But you and I know the truth here: We are the normal ones. The junk food eaters are the real mental patients, and the only way to wake them up to the real world is to start feeding them living foods.
Natural News

"We're the normal ones?"

Sounds like someone is concerned and looking for validation and support. Even going so far as to claim people who eat junk food have the mental disorders instead. The truth is they even could as well, but so could those that choose to eat healthy. It isn't so much about the foods, it is how you mentally choose to handle them.

The article in the OP is agenda driven and seems to be on some sort of crusade.

- Lee

reply to post by lee anoma


Just remember this isn't the first time that Natural News has displayed their bias towards the mental health community. A few months ago they posted an article claiming that it was now a mental disorder to be angry. Of course they failed to mention that angry actually meant Intermittent Explosive Disorder, which involves people becoming so angry to the point of violence without any provocation. Although this was later explained people continued to be outraged and claim that psychology is one big conspiracy to control the human race.

They forget that pretty much the only people who become clinical psychologists and psychiatrists are those who truly want to help people. They spend at least 6 grueling years in grad school and then spend the rest of their lives hearing some of the saddest stories imaginable. To be able to deal with that, not only emotionally, but physically, one must believe in what their doing with their entire being. I can't think of any other profession that has a higher degree of burnout than psychologists and psychiatrists due to the fact that in order to be effective they must connect with every one of their patients and share in their pain. So, they must not only bear the weight of their own lives, but they must share the weight of all of their patients' lives as well.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Thanks for the heads-up.
This is my first experience with Natural News, and I almost fell for the hype.

Luckily there were other sources.

- Lee

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Thank you for setting this issue straight
with your facts and the proof to back it up.

Oh, wait. I guess you forgot the proof.

Nice story about psychiatrists though.
Very touching.

LOLs

reply to post by illusions


Here are some scholarly articles on licensed psychologists and burnout.

Google Scholar

Here is a link to a Psy D. program that requires seven years to complete.

Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology

Here is an article that links a client's perception of their psychologist's empathy to better therapeutic outcomes.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Now, please provide all of this evidence that supports the belief that psychologists and psychiatrists secretly hate everyone and are planning on taking over the world through medication and psychotherapy.

reply to post by ModernAcademia

Cheer up! It is not as bad a mental disorder as the one that affects those who think that they should be telling others what to eat or not eat.

What is the mental disorder for not liking beer or wine called? I don't drink, er I barely drink in general. I eat pretty healthy, a bit of bad, and a bit of good. It's all balanced.

reply to post by VneZonyDostupa

Why do people continue to take NaturalNews seriously? As several posters have pointed out, this article, like nearly every other article on that site, is full of half-truths and blatant lies in order to fit into their worldview/agenda.

I don't follow Natural News on a regular basis, but I have read many of their articles. Your statement above that "this article, like nearly every other article on that side, is full of half-truths and blatant lies" is false. I'm wondering how many articles you've really read on this website to make this claim.

well I'm eating a big fat chocolate brownie!

but most of the the time I eat fresh healthy foods

so I guess I'm only half crazy



seriously I 've known people who didn't eat meat wheat eggs milk products or anything they even suspected was a GMO

Originally posted by nik1halo
Well that's one view, although I personally would refute it and say that that is exactly why we cook our food, I accept that it's your view and I respect it.

I agree, I don't mean to push my views on others. I meant food should be able to be eaten raw, based on the research that went into the 'paleo diet' not that it has to be. Cooking meat is best, because it makes the protein easier to absorb. When humans figured out how to harness fire, they began cooking their meat. Fruits and veggies though, are best eaten raw, for maximum benefit and nutrition.

I personally tend to go for the "balanced diet" view, which includes meat and dairy in small quantities, simply because we have been getting along for millennia eating both of them with no real problems (as close to the natural diet of humans as we can know).

On the paleo diet, I eat alot of meat, and alot of fruits and vegetables. No processed food at all, like refined sugars. Very moderate salt. I eat nuts (not peanuts which are actually beans), and baked goods made of pure almonds ground up, arrowroot, and eggs you can bake breads that are not made of any grains at all, and don't spike your insulin in the least. They also keep you full for a long time. For milk, I substitute coconut milk. I used to LOVE milk and bread, and these substitutes are just as satisying for me, personally. As far as milk being part of our natural diet, grains, and dairy products are actually very new to us (on an evolutionary scale). People started farming grains and drinking milk @ 10,000 years ago, since then all kinds of diseases that were virtually non-existent (diseases of affluence) popped up. No adult mammal is really meant to drink milk. Cows milk is the worst, if you must drink milk, I would say to go for goats milk, since it's closer to human milk.

Obviously you should go for lower fat, organic meat or fish where possible.

Lean meat is the best, for sure. Lean cuts of beef, fish, chicken, turkey, game meats, etc. are the way to go.

And although dairy is not a necessity for most people (I myself need milk for medical reasons), the calcium is beneficial, but again in small quantities, as dairy is a leading cause of kidney stones if, and I stress IF it is consumed in large quantities.

Actually milk is so acidic, your body has a very hard time getting calcium from it. You can get plenty of calcium from greens, and when you cut all the acidic junk foods and get good vitamin D, you will actually absorb that calcium properly and your bones will strengthen significantly. I live in Phoenix, so vitamin D isn't a problem. People in cloudy areas can supplement vitamin D.

Eat wholegrain foods

Grains are actually (based on alot of research) not good for us, and are one of the most insidious things we can eat. Some people can't eat them at all, because of gluten intolerance. The rest of us may not suffer immediate effects, but the toxins that grains, and other plants like beans (legumes), and starchy tubers like potatoes produce to keep from being eaten probably affect all of us. That's why those plants cannot be eaten raw. Small amounts of those toxins build up over time, and cause our bodies to attack themselves from the inside, which is where inflammatory conditions like asthma, allergies, arthritis, stomach ulcers, etc. come from. Like I stated before, 3 months into this, and my asthma is GONE, completely, I also haven't had a stomach ache since.

What's the point in living forever if you can't indulge yourself every now and then?

I agree, it's a lot to ask of people to just dump the foods they love. In the book about the paleo diet, the author says you can still benefit from it while having up to 3 open meals a week. Personally, as open as I get is sweet potatoes. I liked breads and milk, but like I said before, there are natural and healthy alternatives that are awesome. So I don't have a problem sticking to this way of eating, based on what our ancestors evolved eating.

Again I say, that I don't mean to come across as pushy about what you should or shouldn't eat, just sharing my success with others, I'm not selling anything. You said you had a medical condition, it may be one that could improve or disappear if you adjust your diet. Here's a little more info for those interested....

paleodiet.com...




[edit on 30-6-2010 by 27jd]

reply to post by ModernAcademia


its true some of these mental cases are so obsessed with health food if any mental case said eating cow dung is organic and increases your metabolism, cattle farmers would pass microsoft as the richest corporation.
hearing some of these people talk is like listening to members of some wacky cult. they'll pay $9 for a loaf of bread because some yokel printed %100 organic on the label. organic food should be way cheaper than regular food because fertilizers and pesticides have the highest overhead on a farmer. instead its the opposite because of these nut jobs that pay 10x for food than its really worth.

reply to post by 27jd


wtf's up with your avatar, are u mentally disturbed.

[edit on 30-6-2010 by randomname]

Originally posted by randomname
wtf's up with your avatar, are u mentally disturbed.

Was that a question?

Originally posted by Xcalibur254
reply to post by illusions

 

Here are some scholarly articles on licensed psychologists and burnout.

Google Scholar

Okay, Thanks.
The first link I picked said this:

www.psych.umn.edu...
"Although there is a large body of literature on burnout,
little has been done to ascertain levels and correlates of burnout
in licensed psychologists. Studies intended to develop such data
have been limited in scope.?

So it appears that this is stating that there really is not the proof you speak of???

Anyway, lets assume that you are correct!

Psychiatrists do actually have the highest rate of burnout
of any profession.

Yikes! That is scary!
Especially when you read the information on burnout from here
en.wikipedia.org...(psychology) which follows...

Many theories of burnout include negative outcomes related to burnout,
including job function (performance, output, etc.);
health related outcomes (increases in stress hormones, coronary heart disease,
circulatory issues)
and mental health problems (depression, etc.).

Sounds as if the majority of psychiatrists may be suffering from a mental health issue
(According To Themselves!) if what you said is true!!!!

If it is true that psychiatrists are the most likely to suffer from burnout
This Is Quite a pickle?!!!

It appears that they "care so much" that they will likely burnout
which includes the symptom of loss of job function and not caring!!!
What a conundrum!

If psychiatrists in fact experience the highest number of burnout,
then many psychiatrists will suffer physical illness
due to thier burnout of the profession of psychiatry????!!!

Also, it appears that burnout is responsible for MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
such as depressions!

OH my! iF WHAT YOU HAVE SAID IS CORRECT...

IT APPEARS THAT THE PROFESSION OF PSYCHIATRY MAY ACTUALLY

BE NO LESS OF A MENTAL ILLNESS THAN EATING HEALTHY!


yOU ALSO STATED:

Originally posted by Xcalibur254
Now, please provide all of this evidence that supports the belief that psychologists and psychiatrists secretly hate everyone and are planning on taking over the world through medication and psychotherapy.

You must have me confused with someone else as I did not make the claims that you ask me to show evidence for.

Ooooorrrrr, it could be that you really think I made those statements when I didn't!

OH NOZ! That may mean that you have Delusional disorder!
en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
....and whoever made this test probably never stepped into a gym.

Gym? No one where I live goes to a gym. This gym thing is an obsession by 'townies'. If you had dogs and a vegetable patch of a reasonable size you would NOT need a gym.

You must be fairly young (i.e under 50) or you would have dropped the notion that a gym does anything for you other than relieve you of money for exercise you could get elsewhere doing something productive.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

Choosing healthy foods now called a mental disorder

www.naturalnews.com

This is no joke: If you focus on eating healthy foods, you're "mentally diseased" and probably need some sort of chemical treatment involving powerful psychotropic drugs.

"Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder" and goes on to claim this "disease" is called orthorexia nervosa -- which is basically just Latin for "nervous about correct eating."

If you eat processed junk foods laced with synthetic chemicals, that's okay with them. The mental patients are

(visit the link for the full news article)

I think you've taken it out of context

you said choosing healthy foods can now be called a mental disorder, but the article said fixation with healthy eating can be a sign of serios psychologyical disorder

Its like them saying fixating on skipping meals is called anorexia, and then you turning it into, if you miss any meal you are now classed as anorexic

Excellent. I'm thinking of getting myself declared mentally unfit, that way, the Government will have to cover the cost of all my healthy food as it's now a mental disorder, that can't be avoided due to health reasons (type II diabetes). I'm currently fixated on eating healthy, and take great steps to ensure that sugar, salt, fat, and carbs are all very restricted or eliminated completely.

With a mental disorder, I can't be reasonably expected to look after my own expenses in today's bleeding heart society.

[edit on 1-7-2010 by babybunnies]

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Don't be confused here.............while eating a diet of nutritionallly dense whole foods and water is idea for human health in all aspects ......the conditioned outlined within this disorder is not referring to eating a well balance healthy diet.....

It is a condition where you become so obsessioned with contamination and/or environmental toxins you eat practicallly next to nothing because you cannot find food "with a garnden of Eden" organic quality to it.......these people really have a health anxiety aneroxia type disorder.....and as such most are drasticallly underweight with potential failing internal organ funciton ...they are not referring to those compassionate about eating a well balance whole food diet that meets their caloric and health maintenance requirements.....

reply to post by PuterMan


Been lifting weights at a gym going on 40 years now and will tell you that I cannot get my conditioning/shape from any other exercise.........

Gyms are a waste of time for those so called group sessions, or those trying to lose weight........that is a matter of what you eat. But they must cater to this larger segment of the population that is not interested in serious ressistance weight training because there are not enough people who train that way to make it financially viable. As such, this larger segment of the gyms members end up socializing with very little if any results. They try to make the expereince "fun" but usually see a high turnover of members.......gyms love to collect membership fees from members that don't show up though......

But for building a balance of lean muscle mass of all the major muscle groups of the body a well equipped gym is essential.

You cannot duplicate the workout of 100's of thousands of dollars of equipment specifically designed for that purpose.......... with any other activity or even with a home gym.......