In a world of you-name-it intolerances, #fitmom fanatics and health hack-laden click bait ’til the grass-fed cows come home, it seems everyone’s starving for a solution to well-er being. With dietary “risks” running rampant and restrictions embraced like never before, it’s an honest wonder how our eating culture has become so curiously complex yet dangerously complicated.
As an enthusiastic explorer of various food philosophies, let me preface—I’m all for nutritional education and experimentation. It’s an endlessly interesting realm of information providing wealths of food for thought as inevitable as use of said cliche at some point within this post. I personally think there’s a lot to be said for plant-based diets and focus on real, whole foods; however, a critical deep end has emerged in recent years begging to question what "healthy" really means, and even more...what it has become.
A few months back Broadly published a great article highlighting orthorexia—the ironically unhealthy obsession with eating only “healthy” food. Profiling the low-key debilitation on such a concerning rise, the piece perfectly pegs a mounting disorder in newfound form.
As an enthusiastic explorer of various food philosophies, let me preface—I’m all for nutritional education and experimentation. It’s an endlessly interesting realm of information providing wealths of food for thought as inevitable as use of said cliche at some point within this post. I personally think there’s a lot to be said for plant-based diets and focus on real, whole foods; however, a critical deep end has emerged in recent years begging to question what "healthy" really means, and even more...what it has become.
A few months back Broadly published a great article highlighting orthorexia—the ironically unhealthy obsession with eating only “healthy” food. Profiling the low-key debilitation on such a concerning rise, the piece perfectly pegs a mounting disorder in newfound form.
Food virtue becoming the vice: a slippery slope of culinary constraint
Anorexia, bulimia, binging, oh my! Everyone knows the eating afflictions traditionally plaguing society's scope. While these DSM-recognized disorders may be more common than most ever want to admit, is orthorexia is becoming a camouflaged crisis more prevalent than them all?
Extensive restriction contrasts dangerous loss of control as collective ends of the ED spectrum, but at the heart of every point is internal struggle against pressure once self-imposed now equipped with a life of its own. If overwhelming desire to eat only what fits a conceived "healthy" standard begins feeding one's fear more than their body itself, the conceptual parallels are pretty striking.
“Comfortably Numb: Eat the Pain Away” is another exquisite echo a la our cosmic cohorts at The Numinous. Further addressing the perverted prioritization of sparing life's delicious pleasantries for the sake of twisted "perfection," author Kate Atkinson calls out this trap of self-destruction some overly compulsive souls are progressively plunging into. And at times sketchiest of all—without even realizing it!
Extensive restriction contrasts dangerous loss of control as collective ends of the ED spectrum, but at the heart of every point is internal struggle against pressure once self-imposed now equipped with a life of its own. If overwhelming desire to eat only what fits a conceived "healthy" standard begins feeding one's fear more than their body itself, the conceptual parallels are pretty striking.
“Comfortably Numb: Eat the Pain Away” is another exquisite echo a la our cosmic cohorts at The Numinous. Further addressing the perverted prioritization of sparing life's delicious pleasantries for the sake of twisted "perfection," author Kate Atkinson calls out this trap of self-destruction some overly compulsive souls are progressively plunging into. And at times sketchiest of all—without even realizing it!
No, the occasional juice cleanse won't set everyone on a downward spiral out of psychological control, but it's important to acknowledge the perilous path to which certain personalities are prone. Many forget the primary function of food is energy, so of course it's important to make the most of it; we are what we eat to a reasonable extent, but it’s not what we eat that should define us.
Whether a means of delicious nourishment, natural way to repair the body, expression of love or a creative statement itself, there's no universal meaning of food, nor a supposedly token antidote for how to most "healthfully" consume it.
That said, why stress?
When you compare you despair, so craft what eating regimen works best for your unique conditions, lifestyle and tastes most of all. We always hear “moderation is key,” so let’s live up to that and kick pursuits of impossible perfection to the punk-ass curb.
For all the things in life we can’t control, why let one glorious aspect that we actually can get the best of us?
Whether a means of delicious nourishment, natural way to repair the body, expression of love or a creative statement itself, there's no universal meaning of food, nor a supposedly token antidote for how to most "healthfully" consume it.
That said, why stress?
When you compare you despair, so craft what eating regimen works best for your unique conditions, lifestyle and tastes most of all. We always hear “moderation is key,” so let’s live up to that and kick pursuits of impossible perfection to the punk-ass curb.
For all the things in life we can’t control, why let one glorious aspect that we actually can get the best of us?
Love your self
Love your body
And all you choose to put in it
Love your body
And all you choose to put in it
(Original images via thatgirlupstairs & The Starchild Tarot by Danielle Noel)
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