Month: December 2018

Orthorexia: When Healthful and Clean Eating Become Dangerous

Here on the Workout Wednesday edition of my blog we’ve been talking a lot about how you successfully make it through the holidays health-wise with careful, healthful food selections.

 

But I have a question for you?

Are you so fixated on “healthy eating” that you’re in danger of being obsessed with it, and close to damaging your own well-being?

If you didn’t think focusing on healthful and clean eating could be a problem, think again.

 

Being so healthful and clean eating focused might land you a diagnosis of what behavioral scientists call “orthorexia,” although the term is not yet officially recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

 

Awareness of this disorder—an obsession with proper or “healthful” eating—is on the rise, though.

 

Identifying orthorexia—

Some of the hallmarks of orthorexia include:

  • Unusual interests in the health status of what others are eating. (You know, like the person who’s always evaluating everyone else’s food choices.)
  • Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events.
  • Showing high levels of distress when “safe” or “healthful” foods aren’t available.
  • Obsessive following of food and “healthy lifestyle” blogs or articles on social media sites or in health and exercise magazines.
  • Compulsively checking ingredient lists and nutritional labels.
  • Eliminating an increasing number of food groups—like sugar, all carbs, all dairy, all meat, all animal products—from your diet.
  • A psychological inability to eat anything but a narrow group of foods you’ve deemed healthy or pure.

 

But unlike anorexia or bulimia, concerns about body image may or may not be present.

Yet like an anorexic, an orthorexic is prone to malnutrition because she is likely to restrict the amount and variety of foods she eats. Because of this, anorexia and orthorexia share many of the same physical health issues.

 

Orthorexia treatments—

Although there are no clinical treatments designed specifically for orthorexia, “many eating disorder experts are treating orthorexia as a variety of anorexia and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).”

I think that makes sense because the definition of the disorder indicates the person is driven to exert unbending control of the kind of food they’re eating. Like other eating disorder sufferers, they’re obsessed about food eating, healthful eating in particular.

And being focused (obsessed) on healthful eating 100% of the time doesn’t always equate to having a healthful (balanced) lifestyle. It seems that you might just be too tipped in one particular direction. And rigid in your thinking and behavior.

 

There are some treatment techniques, which include:

  • Psychotherapy to help the patient increase the variety of foods eaten.
  • Exposure to feared foods that stimulate or provoke anxiety. (This is also a treatment technique for anxiety and phobias.)
  • Weight restoration protocols. (I would guess that the psychologist would enlist the help of a registered dietician for this too.)

 

Can you identify?

Concerned you or a loved one may suffer from orthorexia? If so, you might be interested in the following.

 

For more information, watch the brief YouTube video about “The Dangers of Dieting and Clean Eating” produced by the National Eating Disorders.

 

 

Take the eating disorder assessment—

And if you are concerned about your eating habits or the possibility that you may suffer from an eating disorder, you can take this on-line assessment. nationaleatingdisorders.org/screening

 

Don’t be a slave to your food!

Eating disorders can rob your holidays (and daily life) of joy and peace and good health. They affect the quality of your life. As the registered dietician says in the video, they hamper or curtail your spontaneity. And that can make life dull and rigid.

As I used to counsel my patients, everything in moderation, including moderation.

 

I think you get the point. Unless you’re really allergic to a certain food, (or consuming certain foods sends your body into reactive contortions), I think it’s okay to occasionally bend your own eating rules.

I’m not advocating for turning your back on organic, healthful foods prepared without preservatives and with minimal to no sugar, etc., etc. What I am encouraging you to do is to “let your hair down a little” as the old saying goes.

And stop eyeballing everyone else’s food choices with a critical eye.

I think you really will enjoy life more! And if your body is in a healthy state, it will be less likely to react negatively to an occasional break from perfect.

 

Until next week,

Have a joyous Christmas!!

And enjoy your feasts!

WoBlessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Christmas: When Love Came Down

I really miss performing in yearly Christmas pageants and musicals, especially at church. Not only did the dramatist in me love them, they were truly my first introduction to Jesus, (that I can remember), and who He is. An introduction that shaped my vision and view of God and of Christmas itself very early in my life.

But as in so many churches, ours has gone the way of a worship band playing on a “stage,” with nearly every aspect of High Church ornamentation and ritual stripped away. And I’m left with playing old Christmas programs CDs on my stereo system and blaring the beautiful old songs—that taught about God’s love and majesty and His son’s miraculous birth—throughout my house. They bring back warm memories.

 

One of those particular programs is called “When Love Came Down.”

 

But we don’t always think of Christmas that way, do we? When Love came down. When the Creator of the Universe chose to come to this mean earth in the form of a lowly baby, with one purpose in mind: to restore mankind’s relationship to the Father and provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him.

He gives that opportunity to everyone.

Now that’s what I call love!

Perfect, sacrificial, unconditional love.

 

Love goes way beyond how we normally regard it, how we conceptualize it. And amazingly enough, science backs up the power, majesty and mystery of it! Here are just some of the ways love unleashes its power on us (compiled by Guideposts Editorial Intern Alyssa White for Feb/Mar 2018 issue of their Mysterious Ways magazine):

 

  • According to the HeartMath Institute, the heart produces a strong electrical field that can be measured from several feet away.
  • When asked to rate foods, people in loving relationships experienced sweet and bitter foods—even water!—as sweeter, reported the journal Emotion.
  • A UC Davis study of 32 couples found that staring into your beloved’s eyes for three minutes can cause your heartbeats to sync up.
  • Love letters are good for you! An Arizona State [University] study showed writing affectionately about someone you love—either romantically or platonically—can lower your cholesterol.
  • Cuddling and holding hands releases natural painkillers like oxytocin in your brain, according to data from UCLA.
  • A German study found that men who kiss their wives before work live five years longer, earn a higher income, and are less likely to get in a car accident.
  • A study in California noted that gazing at a photograph of a loved one can measurably decrease physical pain.
  • When a mother focuses her attention on her baby, her brain waves synchronize with her baby’s heartbeat, the HeartMath Institute says.

And here’s a fact that drives home just how powerful—and lasting—real love can be:

 

 The heart never forgets. Neuropsychologist Paul Pearsall observed that heart transplant recipients sometimes retain their donor’s memories.

 

That last one is hard to fathom, isn’t it? But it tells you where memories may really be stored.

 

In the heart.

 

When I think about Jesus and His love for us, I find it more amazing.

He came to Earth with the sole purpose of saving us; of giving us a hope and a purpose; of providing the way to eternal life through his death and resurrection.

He did it because He had us in His heart. You, me, everyone.

And He still does. Two thousand years later.

 

He never forgets us.

 

And that’s what Christmas was and still is about.

 

When Love came down.

 

If we spend our week leading up to Christmas meditating on God, Jesus and that mysterious, miraculous love, I have no doubt our heartbeats will sync and our lives will be much sweeter!

 

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, (Christmas Eve), meditate on Jesus and His love, write and send a love letter to someone special, dig out a photo of a loved one and meditate on it, and spend some time cuddling and holding hands with your sweetie!

Ain’t love—and its power—grand!

 

To explore more interesting facts about love, go to Guideposts Love Facts. (Guideposts.org/LoveFacts)

 

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

When Life Reschedules Your Week, and You Go With It

Do you ever get to a point where you feel as though you just don’t have anything to say?

I got to that point this week, which is why I didn’t have anything pithy to write for my Friday post. So I didn’t.

Actually, I think I was more pre-occupied with other events going on in my life this week that pre-empted any original thought.

Another week when life got rescheduled—

I’m still struggling to recover from my bone spur surgery. That seems to be coming along, although it’s still a one-day-good, the next day not so much experience. But then the right knee I injured while on Camino has started to give me fits. To the point that I sometimes have difficulty walking on it. Actually, more than sometimes. I think I’m headed back to the doctor sooner rather than later. Even though I have a degree in an area of sports medicine, and I’ve a multitude of injuries, it never ceases to amaze at how injuries of any kind can make you feel so tired, and (sometimes) sick!

Then my younger son decided to come home early for the holidays. Either he really misses us, or he just needed time in familiar, soothing surroundings to, as he put it, “clear his head, be able to think, and get some sleep.” I guess the first semester of law school does that to you!

Anyway, we’re thrilled to have him home; and I needed to stock the house with a lot of food, which included buying his favorites. That meant a grocery store run I hadn’t penciled into the schedule.

We managed to catch a long glimpse of the space station as it circled past us. Can’t remember the last time we were treated to that view. (I wonder what the astronauts are doing for Christmas?)

Then my beloved had a medical procedure yesterday morning that required my attendance. All day.

Suffice to say that life just slowed down for us, we visited a lot with one another, decorated the Christmas tree, enjoyed egg nog in our moose mugs, and made final decisions on Christmas gifts. And we slept in REALLY LATE this morning (Friday)! It was glorious.

 

So I still have nothing profound to say today, but I will be back  next Friday with a final Christmas post for you.

And be sure to join me Monday when we’ll look at the mysterious ways of love!

Until then,

take some time to really enjoy all the season gives you! And don’t feel obligated to take part in everything available to you. Save some energy to really enjoy a few things.

Blessings,

Andrea

FOOD: How it Can Affect Your Mood

It can either improve your mood or send your mood spiraling into the abyss.

What is it?

Food.

And the human gut, and its microbiome, or environment.

A recent Harvard HEALTHbeat issue said,

 

“Researchers agree that a person’s unique microbiome is created within the first 1,000 days of life, but there are things you can do to alter your gut environment throughout your life.”

 

Clearly, the research also shows that what we eat can negatively or positively affect our gut environment and increase or decrease our risk of diseases.

 

The effects of ultra-processed foods and your tummy health—

When you consume processed foods, you’re ingesting a chemistry lab full of substances extracted from food, like sugar and starch along with food constituents like hydrogenated fats, or food actually designed and made in a laboratory. Flavor enhancers and food colorings not sourced from real food like beets are examples of chemistry lab foods.

And those are the ingredients that make your fast food so extra tasty. They’re designed that way so you’ll keep coming back for more. One former chemist that worked for a large food company realized that the load of additives the company wanted put in the cookies and treats actually contained addictive flavor enhancers that made people eat and crave more of the food! He was promptly fired when he made a stink about it. Then he was blackballed from ever working in another food company.

Unfortunately, these enhancers and additives also make the food cheap, which is appealing to the consumer.

 

Some “tasty” examples:

  • canned foods, like soups with monosodium glutamate and other natural flavorings
  • sugar-coated dried fruits (dried fruits are sweet enough without adding any sugar)
  • salted and nitrated meat products, like deli meats
  • sodas
  • sugar or savory packaged snack foods
  • packaged breads, many of which contained dough enhancers
  • buns
  • pastries
  • fried fish or those ultra-tasty chicken nuggets (made with little real chicken)
  • instant noodle soups (can any poor college student yell “Ramen!”)

 

While they may be cheaper to cook and prepare with, those flavor enhancers and unwholesome ingredients do come with a price. And that price is your health, and mood.

 

The food-gut-mood connection—

The first thing you need to know is that 90% of your serotonin receptors are located in the gut. If you need a chemistry refresher, serotonin is a chemical that sends signals to your nerve cells. Low levels of it have been linked to depression, digestion issues, sleep problems, decreased libido, mood, behavior and appetite issues.

That ultra-processed food you’re consuming—especially this time of year with the ubiquitous plates of cookies scattered around the workplace and within easy reach at parties—can throw your gut microbiome way out of whack. It can disrupt the good bacteria that helps you digest your food properly, the immune system in your gut that fights disease and make you more vulnerable to nasty diseases, like:

  • asthma
  • obesity
  • metabolic syndrome
  • diabetes
  • cognitive and mood problems
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • depression

 

The famous Mediterranean diet and depression—

The Mediterranean diet has been touted for years as the go-to diet to improve health and decrease depression. And now scientists are suggesting that its anti-inflammatory properties can also protect against depression.

My November 28 blog post provided a list of good, anti-inflammatory foods to consume, especially this time of year when stress and fatigue run high and poor food choices usually prevail.

 

And if you’d like a good science-based list, the World Journal of Psychiatry recently published a study, “Antidepressant foods: An evidence-based nutrient profiling system for depression” (September 20, 2018). In it they give a chart listing how both animal meat, fish and vegetable and fruits rank on their antidepressant scale.

 

They also listed food categories and their mean antidepressant food scores (AFS). Their results were, in highest to lowest:

 

Vegetables     48%

Organ meats  25%

Fruits              20%

Seafood          16%

Legumes         8%

Meats              8%

Grains             5%

Nuts/Seeds    5%

Dairy               3%

 

One comment they made in the “Discussion” section of the study is telling:

 

“Interestingly, many foods with a high AFS are not commonly eaten as part of the Western dietary pattern. Specifically, the majority of the United States adult population does not meet daily recommendations for vegetables.”

 

Does that statement surprise anyone? How does your own daily vegetable consumption measure up?

Maybe that’s one of the reasons depression seems to be reaching epidemic proportions, or so it would seem based on the number of anti-depressants prescribed and consumed. With depressive disorders ranking as the leading cause of disability worldwide among people ages 15-44, maybe adding food and diet to the prescription is warranted.

Maybe all of our moods would improve if we could discard the fast and convenience foods for whole, fresh, anti-inflammatory foods.

 

This holiday season, help keep your mood high and your depression low by choosing wisely.

Your gut and brain will thank you!

 

Until next week,

keep the veggies fresh and flowing.

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo by Edgar Castrejon on unsplash