If food is nourishment and medicine, what happens when it’s restricted, cut out, and stressed about?
For the past few weeks, I have been providing education on diet and wellness culture, food addiction, and eating disorders.
After a little break for a two-part essential oils’ podcast blast, it’s now time to return to these important subjects.
As a refresher, at the conclusion of my three-part series on eating addiction, I argued that we must be very careful and tread lightly around this subject. Labeling an eating disorder or coping method as an addiction could lead to more harm than good and perpetuate co-existing mental health conditions. Therefore, practitioners should be very cautious and mindful of placing any mental health label on eating behavior and/or judging people about food choices and body size.
Furthermore, it is also important to note that, although many health influencers tout that food can be an addiction, it is still not officially classified in the DSM-V (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) under substance use disorders.
If you’d like more details and empowering education on this topic, click here to access my final article in my series on food addiction.
Now, I will be dedicating the next few spaces on my naturopathic blog to eating disorders specifically. These are officially classified in the DSM-V.
Our current “wellness-focused” memes around food may unintentionally, or even blatantly, be promoting these unhealthy food practices. We need to be mindful of this because it is dangerous.
These cultural, sociological, and psychological contexts and belief systems around nutrition are important concepts to understand when dealing with disordered eating.
Normalizing and even applauding unhealthy dietary behavior in our society is not okay.
It can be deadly.
Today, we are witnessing how eating rituals are judged and foods are being personified to the point where what one puts in their mouth becomes equivalent to a moral decision.
We have now gone too far.
So, in my latest post, I give some down and dirty facts to provide clarity between what is “normalized” as “healthy” and what is truly diagnosable as an eating disorder. What may be eye-opening to many is that some dietary practices touted by health influencers may, in fact, meet criteria for an eating disorder.
Please take this information to heart. You may be able to save someone’s life, or your own.
This is not something to brush off.
Eating disorders can be fatal.
Click here to take in part I.
Learn about the benefits of a personalized essential oils consult here.
Access all my essential oils and lifestyle resources here.
*Important Note:
If you struggle with mental health or an eating disorder, please reach out for support.
You may also wish to consider implementing holistic resources and partnering with a naturopathic doctor.
For example, I offer mind-body support for general mood issues using a functional medicine and wellness-oriented approach. I also practice a non-diet, HAES approach to nutrition.
This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)
This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.
