Why do Americans Question Food Safety?

The Downward Spiral to Orthorexia

At a time when Americans are obsessing over healthy living, a new type of eating disorder has emerged.  It is called orthorexia nervosa and unlike bulimia or anorexia it is not an obsession with being skinny, but an obsession with the health value and purity of food that becomes psychologically and physically unhealthy.  The term orthorexia, coined by Dr. Stephen Bratman, is derived from the Greek word “orthos” meaning correct, or right, and “orexsis” meaning hunger.  Dr. Bratman says, “people become orthorexic by falling in love with a dietary theory.  They run across an idea like macrobiotics or raw-foodism, and embrace it like a religion.  There is a personality type, an obsessive type of person who is prone to embrace them [these diets] in a quasi-religious way.  It’s really a way to try to organize the chaos of everyday life by exercising strict control in one area … using a severely limiting diet to cover for the fact that they are afraid of the outside world.”  As the orthorexic follows their restrictive and ritualistic diet they eliminate more and more categories of food over time, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies.  Their obsession with eating only “pure” foods results in strained personal and social relationships and a disturbed state of mind.  The causes of orthorexia, which are usually hidden behind an attractive theory or belief, are found in the illusion of total health, with no risk of developing disease, the desire of total control over one’s life, the search for identity and spirituality in an eating behavior, and the belief that one’s own theories on eating are absolute and indisputable.

Much of the information available regarding raw-foodism is incorrect, out-of-date, or misleading, and sadly, this is not always evident to the audience.  An orthorexic only considers what they understand about food and health to be correct, and their beliefs are commonly derived from these over-simplified, inaccurate theories provided by self-appointed health gurus.  They do not question themselves about validity of their eating behavior or their source of information, because they are caught up in a habitual, maladaptive, and compulsive behavior pattern which reduces the ability to criticize.  Emotions and obsessions relating to their diet prevail over common reasoning, and they feel no need to obtain information from qualified, reliable sources.

Listen to your body and be reasonable.

False Prophets with Profits in the Millions

Every year, three-million tons of toxic chemicals are released into the air, land, and water by U.S. factories.  Forty percent of rivers and forty-six percent of lakes are not fit for swimming or fishing, because they are too polluted.  Our environment becomes increasingly toxic every year, and even the foods we consume contain preservatives, hormones, artificial flavors, and pesticides, all of which have a negative impact on our health.

 

Americans are now more aware of the environmental dangers that threaten their health, and many are no longer dieting to lose weight – they are dieting to in order to achieve maximum health and to prevent the onset of disease.  The cries for a diet promoting optimal nutrition and detoxification did not fall on deaf ears, but were answered by the reverend few who offered endless advice and personalized products, at a price, of course.  These preachers consist of nutritionists and other, sometimes of questionable expertise, entrepreneurs who had suddenly, alas discovered the key to life and the fountain of youth.  And what was this magnificent, wondrous discovery?  The same thing health officials and parents have been telling children for decades, even centuries – eat more fruits and vegetables.  They call it the raw food diet.

The raw food theory states that an all raw diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, and nuts is the most natural diet for humans, because this is how man lived before he learned to cook food, and that heating food over 112 degrees Fahrenheit destroys essential enzymes needed for digestion.  It is understood by the scientific community that enzymes in food are denatured by digestive juices and are not used in the digestion process, and their main function is to aid in spoilage.  Second, it is also understood by the scientific community that cooked foods are easier to digest and absorb nutrients from, which helps explain the evolution of man and our large, high-functioning brains.

But the raw food gurus are not simply telling us to eat more fruits and vegetables, they recommend a diet consisting of 75-100% raw foods, otherwise, they warn, you could become diseased and even die young.  Toward the end of his raw food seminar, which appears on the Go Raw trailer, Markus Rothkranz, in an attempt to convince his audience to go all raw, gravely states “Life or death – It’s your choice.”  The author of purelyraw.com writes that an all raw diet can cure any disease and that “cooked food is poison.”  Roger Haeske, who runs too many raw food websites to keep track of, boldly states on one of his blogs, “To eat cooked food is like saying to yourself you want to be a fat pig, whose always getting sick, feels depressed and is purposely planning to die of cancer.”  And if you do find yourself motivated to eat raw by these terrifying messages, don’t bother worrying about how you will manage to make every meal uncooked; they have plenty of books and products for you to buy in order to achieve this feat.

Those standing behind the raw food movement claim the diet cures disease, provides increased energy, makes you feel better, and is essentially the new “fountain of youth.”  They also tell us that if we don’t eat a raw diet we will get sick and die!  They must be very concerned with our health, or could they be concerned with their own pockets?  A decade after Americans spent millions preparing for another terrorist attack, many entrepreneurs are now making a profit by convincing us our food will kill us.  “Eat only raw, buy organic, buy our food processors, our dehydrators, our food products, our books, or be unhealthy,” is essentially what they tell us.  A leading raw food pioneer, David Wolfe, began his journey selling raw food books out of the trunk of his car.  He now runs the raw food website Nature’s Law, which pulls in approximately $10 million in revenue annually.  There is nothing wrong with telling Americans that they need to eat healthier, but using fear and promises of endless energy as a ploy to sell a diet is different story.  It’s easy to see how raw foodism can lead to an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating when someone has been convinced that eating any other way will cause them to become sick and diseased.

Is this guy giving a scientific lecture or trying to sell a diet?

Shouldn’t we already be familiar with these tactics?

False Hope: From Eating Disorder to Eating Raw

Eating disorders are linked to obsessive compulsive behavior.  Many people suffering from anorexia and bulimia try “fad diets” in search of a cure for their disease.  They are likely to be attracted to the strict regimen and high degree of self-control a raw food diet entails.  But, with a new, seemingly healthy outlet for their obsessions with food, which gives them a false sense of control over their lives, just as their eating disorder did, are they simply setting themselves up for failure?  Will they just manifest their anxiety and compulsions in this new diet; telling themselves they are eating healthier while continuing to starve themselves?  The answer is yes.  Is the following personal account one of success or a cry for help?

Understanding the Obsession

Like any eating disorder, orthorexia involves obsessive-compulsive behavior.  I will begin with a scientifically proven fact:  Women having obsessive compulsive characteristics are more likely to develop an eating disorder (Grabe, J., H., Thiel, A., Freyberger, J., H. (2000).  Symptoms of eating disorders in obsessive-compulsive disorder, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica 2000, 102, 449-453).  Those who suffer from an eating disorder often try new diet fads in order to cure themselves from their eating disorder.  If the anorexic or bulimic finds a diet that works and allows them to lose or maintain weight, they will begin to see their eating behavior as healthy.  They will continue to obsess over food on their new fad diet, and at this point in the process the chances of developing orthorexia nervosa increase.  It is no mystery to me why young boys and girls alike are programmed to think that women should be thin.

Obsessive-compulsive tendencies in those with eating disorders can manifest themselves in rigid, purist diet fads, and lead to orthorexia.

OCD tendencies in raw vegans may lead to orthorexia

OCD and Raw Veganism:  A Recipe for Disaster

THE FACTS:

Those suffering from orthorexia also display symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The following definition of OCD was taken from www.webmd.com:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder, is a potentially disabling illness that traps people in endless cycles of repetitive thoughts and behaviors. People with OCD are plagued by recurring and distressing thoughts, fears, or images (obsessions) that they cannot control. The anxiety (nervousness) produced by these thoughts leads to an urgent need to perform certain rituals or routines (compulsions). The compulsive rituals are performed in an attempt to prevent the obsessive thoughts or make them go away.

Although the ritual may make the anxiety go away temporarily, the person must perform the ritual again when the obsessive thoughts return. This OCD cycle can progress to the point of taking up hours of the person’s day and significantly interfering with normal activities. People with OCD may be aware that their obsessions and compulsions are senseless or unrealistic, but they cannot stop themselves.

A study conducted by the Department of psychology at the University of Greifswald, Germany, found that patients suffering from OCD had a higher risk of developing an eating disorder. (Grabe HJ, Thiel A, Freyberger HJ.  Symptoms of eating disorders in obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Acta psychiatrica Scandinavia 2000)

CONCLUSION:

Individuals with OCD or having OCD tendencies make very poor candidates for a raw vegan diet. A system that offers rigid rules and ritualistic practices provides an ideal outlet for the compulsive behavior brought about by anxiety in individuals suffering from OCD or OCD symptoms.  This individual will be further inclined to perfect their seemingly ‘socially acceptable’ compulsive eating habits, placing them at great risk for developing orthorexia.

ABC News Article on Orthorexia

Enjoy the video and feel free comment

 

Hello and welcome to my blog

Thank you for stopping by to read my blog which discusses orthorexia nervosa and strict, purist diets (in this case, raw foodism).  I, in no way, feel that a raw food diet is in anyway a bad, or wrong choice, but I do feel that people should not be told to try to eat 100% raw.  There is no scientific research that shows how much raw one should eat, but I believe everyone should use common sense and practice what they do in moderation.  I also hold a negative view of those who profit off the raw food diet.  Their theories have been disproved, they have no scientific evidence to back their claims, they promise a cure for disease, and they warn that nonparticipants will surely fall ill and die young.    This is not an attempt to criticize the raw food or vegan lifestyle, but rather to increase the awareness of how a strict, eliminating diet concerned with purity can easily become the foundation for orthorexia.