Friday Thoughts...

Keeping an Open Mind

Many of us are searching for holistic, natural solutions to weight gain, disease, and other ailments, but oftentimes we’re too quick to put everyone in the same box. The point I’m trying to make with my blog is not that everyone should eat how I do, but that people should constantly search for and make the best decisions for their particular situations. I follow Chris Kresser’s blog fairly regularly and really like his outlook on nutrition and health. I especially enjoyed his post today which touched on the idea that there is not one single solution to fit everyone’s health needs. Many people in the paleo community are way too set in their ways and as a result they don’t even entertain viewpoints differing from their own. The same can be said for proponents of most other mainstream diets. While it’s true that we are all human and have the same basic chemistry, we are still very different (especially genetically) and therefore may require different treatments for similar conditions.

Maybe some of us need to go completely gluten-free, others might need to eliminate dairy, and still others may require nutrient supplementation beyond the norm. I’d like us all to be proactive about our health and continually search for the right answers to our health questions. Be open to making changes and don’t become so set in your ways that you disregard helpful new information. You may be asking “if that’s the case, then why are you so adamant about consumption of animal products?” My answer to you: At the core all humans do require the same basic nutrient profile, and while supplementation can be helpful, nutrients are most beneficial in their natural state. Many important nutrients only occur in animals, which is why I believe consumption of these products is so vital to good health. That being said, I will respect your position on food much more if you have done proper research to determine what’s best for you (health, lifestyle, and ethics) AND the planet.

There are tons of different diets out there and the paleo/primal approach is just one of them. While the basic premise seems to work for my particular health problems, perhaps a different approach is better for you. I’ve done some research and experimental cooking with other diets (particularly raw, vegan, and vegetarian) and can see the appeal but am also aware of the nutrient deficiencies that come along with these diets. They can work for SOME people, but be careful that you’re not just jumping onto a wagon that seems like it’s the right choice. Like I said earlier, we’re all different and what works for one person may not work for you, no matter how right the concept seems to be. Whatever route you choose, I encourage EVERYONE to eat a whole foods based diet, minus all the chemicals and processing found in modern foods. We can probably all agree that this alone will make most people feel lots better!

On a slightly different note, I’ve noticed lately that the “traditional foods/whole foods” lifestyle seems to be under attack by mainstream media and, of course, most corporate food manufacturers. (Note that I’m not talking about Whole Foods itself, which seems to be thriving with its vegetarian agenda :). Folks trying to make smart, educated decisions about food are made out to be neurotic and extreme. Sure, there are some crazies out there, but is drinking raw milk really that weird? It’s been going on for centuries and only became an oddity in the last fifty or so years. Is demanding that our food be free of hormones and chemicals really an over-reaction or simply a desire to turn back the clock to the way things used to be?

Orthorexia … seriously?
Have you ever heard of orthorexia? It’s a new term used to describe people who take healthy eating to the extreme. Most true cases involve a person who cuts out all “unhealthy” foods to the point where they are eating virtually nothing. The true orthorexic is a person who takes eating healthy too far and may blame every ailment on what they eat (or don’t eat), won’t leave the house for fear of being introduced to toxins, and isolates themselves from friends and family members because those people don’t adhere to their lifestyle beliefs. These people obviously have problems that have more to do with emotional issues than a pure desire to lead a healthy life.

Orthorexia is essentially a very specific type of anorexia. However, orthorexia is also being used to describe people like myself (and you!) who are simply concerned and proactive about their health and food choices. I read one article in which it described a supposed orthorexic’s activities: she shopped for fresh vegetables at a farmer’s market, drank raw milk and made raw dairy products at home, shopped at a health food store for raw nuts and then sprouted them herself at home. This woman was made out to be a complete nutcase, when in reality she is probably very educated about food and nutrition and uses this knowledge to better the health of her family.

Orthorexia, our nation’s newest health crisis, has been all over the news lately which I actually find to be quite comical. For as long as I can remember, the news media has been obsessed with reporting on how fat, lazy, and unhealthy Americans are. There are entire television series that profile the lives of extremely overweight people, special news programs discussing the tragic rates of obesity in our children, and of course “The Biggest Loser” which challenges overweight people to compete to lose the most weight. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the term “obesity epidemic” on the news – always in reference to the typical American eating a typical processed foods based diet. So after being told day in and day out that we are fat, lazy, and unhealthy, suddenly we also have an extreme problem in our country where people are trying to be too healthy and are therefore “orthorexic.” That’s just ridiculous.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are people who have eating disorders that stem from serious issues. The pathology of eating disorders is different for everyone: some people are obsessed with perfection, some are starved for attention, some are emotionally unstable, and some may develop neurosis about particular foods or chemicals. I would group orthorexia under the eating disorder umbrella but I don’t think the traditional foods industry should be penalized for this. A person prone to developing neurotic behaviors in relation to food is probably prone to obsessive or destructive behaviors in many other areas of life.

There is an extreme for everything but to attack an industry that is doing mostly good things is ridiculous. Should we blame an orthorexic’s issues on the decision to lead a healthy lifestyle? Absolutely not. Should we discourage others from trying to be healthy for fear that they might turn out like the true orthorexic? Of course not. Am I concerned about developing a complex about food and becoming orthorexic myself? Nope. Truthfully, for the first time in my life I feel like I finally have power over food because I have knowledge about it. I honestly believe that the more we educate ourselves on proper nutrition and how to obtain whole sources of foods, the healthier we will be. Most would agree that this is not a crazy statement, and I suppose that is where I was trying to go with this post…in a really round about way.