Tabloid FAD diet?

[Naoko]

I was flicking through a magazine,one of those cheap tabloid ones,and slashed across the front of it was the caption 'Look in LA's top weight loss secret',intrigued I finally got to the article,and was astounded by the information before my eyes,yes they've done it,the tabloids have turned to raw food diet into a FAD! :mad:
I don't know,the frustration I feel is quite mild at this point,I immaturely tore out the page and shredded it,but maybe my reaction would be different to yours....what do you think about this?

[Raw Rob]

Without seeing the article, I guess my reaction would be completely opposite to you - "great, raw food hitting the mainstream". I don't think it matters too much if they portray it in a particular way, I think if it gets people to try the raw diet and ask more questions then it is a good thing. Even if someone starts eating raw as a "fad" to loose weight, they might feel all the positive benefits and continue with it.

Rob

[Jax]

I kind of sit in the middle of you guys :D On the one hand yes I think it's great that the awareness is raised and that people may regard it more seriously...............but on the other hand I worry at the quality of the reporting around it and it is done responsibly such as not advising people to switch to ehigh raw straight away etc etc.

Tricky and I guess we just have to wait and see what happens!

[Jax]

Oh dear, we didn't think it would be too long before those that dare to take a healthy interest into what foods they consume would be labelled barmy did we?? :rolleyes2:

Uproar has occurred across the net it seems (NaturalNews (http://www.naturalnews.com/029098_orthorexia_mental_disorder.html) article) and stems from this article from The Observer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/16/orthorexia-mental-health-eating-disorder) back in 2009. I think some of this is sensationalism on both parts to be honest and it seems that Steven Bratman MD (http://www.orthorexia.com/) who first coined the phrase back in 1996 has demeed it neccessary to speak out and defend himself against the loose usage of his term - "I never intended the expression to apply to anything other than extreme cases of over-focus, particularly where the person themselves would rather lighten up and stop thinking about it so much." - June 4th 2010.

He further explains that his 'term' was made and used only for his patients;
"In 1996, I coined the term “orthorexia nervosa” to denote an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. I originally intended it simply as a kind of “tease therapy” for my overly diet obsessed patients.

NOTE: I do not, and have never claimed that vegetarianism, veganism, or any other approach to eating healthy food is inherently an eating disorder! Furthermore, I entirely agree that the problem of addiction to junk food is immensely more serious than excessive obsession with healthy food.
But it is also true that obesity is far more common than anorexia. Just because “junk foodism” is far more common than health food obsession does not mean that the latter isn’t a real problem. For some people (a small minority, to be sure) obsession with healthy food is a real and significant problem."


So with that then the psych world has taken and run with the term and now loosely apply it to those that are consciously eating and not simply ignorantly and idly stuffing their faces, just a little short sighted methinks http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon12.gif


However raw foodism is cited as being behind one case of fatal orthorexia (http://www.orthorexia.com/?page_id=22)on Steven Bratman's site "However, emaciation is common among followers of certain health food diets, such raw foodism, and this can at times reach the extremes seen in anorexia nervosa". Kate Finn's (http://www.beyondveg.com/finn-k/bio/finn-k-bio-1a.shtml) story is one that strikes a chord with me with her constant struggle to find out what it is that's making her feel 'unwell', as I can relate to a fair amont. IMO I think it's unfair of Steven Bratman to point the finger towards raw foodism for Kate's 'emaciation', what jumps out to me from her story is potential IBS, massive stress and Candida! All of which I have struggled with too over as long (well longer actually) a period as she suffered.

Now I'm not comparing my case to hers but can't help notice strong similarities apart from the fasting (I've only done a juice fast over 1 weekend EVER!), and the fact that I am far too lazy to take any way of eating to the extreme :p But did she actually take it to the extreme, to me it doesn't seem like it as she was hopping back and forth so much, therefore I really think her underlying problem was the undiagnosed Candida for many years, and even when it was diagnosed she writes that she continued to eat sweets which would never have helped her control it. She has so many Candida symptoms in her writing - constant lethargy, continuous food cravings/addictions, constant IBS symptoms (sluggish digestion, feeling sick after eating, losing weight), depression, bloating, burping, feeling weak and not feeling clear headed.

So therefore I'm not convinced of Steven Bratman's suggestion of this 'orthorexia nervosa' that he's made up which was used as a medical diagnosis - 'she died of heart failure brought on by orthorexia-induced starvation'? I don't know if that's officially on her death certificate of course, but I have read in many books that Candida can be the cause of heart failure - this article sums up (http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/conditionwomen/416/) some of the devastation of Candida and this one describes in more medical terms (http://www.lef.org/protocols/infections/fungal_infections_candida_01.htm).

Would love to hear what others think, either about the debate surrounding the term orthorexia nervosa or Kate Finn's story, so please do comment.