The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

photo credit: SqueakyMarmot

When is eating healthy not … healthy? Apparently when you have a condition known as orthorexia, described as “an unhealthy obsession (as in obsessive-compulsive disorder) with what the sufferer considers to be healthy eating.” Weight of the Evidence points to a Chicago Tribune article on orthorexia, which treats the topic with more than a little tongue-in-cheek humor:

People suffering from the addiction—usually those righteous raw foodists, vegetarians and vegans—obsessively check labels, avoid junk food, plan menus and often eat a healthy diet so they can feel “pure.” Some even make fun of McDonald’s customers.

Orthorexics, for example, “tend to dwell on upcoming menus,” [Dr. Steven Bratman, who is credited with coining the term in the 1990s,] wrote. “If you get a thrill of pleasure from contemplating a healthy menu the day after tomorrow, something is wrong with your focus.”

Actually, planning meals is one of the skills a person needs to maintain a healthy body weight. The alternative—eating at restaurants—is a sure way to gain weight because “every time we eat out the calories are far higher than we intuitively imagine,” said Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa.

The article concludes that “Orthorexia, more often than not, is a non-medical term popularized by people who feel guilty that they aren’t eating better and need a name to call people who try harder.” However, the first commenter on the article suggests otherwise:

You clearly haven’t meet a person so devoted to their food it is killing them. I have met a person who has Orthorexia. This person was so depleted of nutrients that hospitalization was the only option. This person struggles to put any food in their body fearing it contains an unhealthy substance. Is that carrot organic enough? Was it next to a carrot that isn’t organic?

Personally, I think we already have a condition that explains that behavior - obsessive compulsive. Do we really need to cast a shadow over healthy eating by drawing an (in my opinion) unfair comparison to anorexia?

According to an article on WebMD, people may suffer from orthorexia and not even know it:

So what constitutes orthorexia?

• Are you spending more than three hours a day thinking about healthy food?
• Are you planning tomorrow’s menu today?
• Is the virtue you feel about what you eat more important than the pleasure you receive from eating it?
• Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet increased?
• Have you become stricter with yourself?
• Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthy? Do you look down on others who don’t eat this way?
• Do you skip foods you once enjoyed in order to eat the “right” foods?
• Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat anywhere but at home, distancing you from friends and family.
• Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
• When you eat the way you’re supposed to, do you feel in total control?

If you answered yes to two or three of these questions, you may have a mild case of orthorexia. Four or more means that you need to relax more when it comes to food. If all these items apply to you, you have become obsessed with food.

Frankly, I’d say many people pay an annual fee for commercial diets that afford them the privilege to suffer at least 5 of the above symptoms.

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photo credit: ewanr

I have the great fortune to live near Hickory Nut Gap Farm, an ecologically-aware farm using rotational grazing that produces the best beef and chicken I have ever eaten. Not everyone has the fortune to live near a source for grass-fed livestock, so I’m glad Mark’s Daily Apple recently ran an article on selecting beef when your options are limited. The most interesting piece of information I gleaned, however, was that not all grass-fed beef is the same - some, in fact, may be just as unhealthy as corn-fed beef:

Meat that is labeled grass-fed isn’t necessarily “grass-finished.” Nearly all beef cattle eat grass at some point. Others, those usually labeled grass-fed, eat grass until the final few weeks before slaughter, when they’re switched to a grain diet. During this relatively brief window, the omega ratio reverses to pretty much that of mostly/entirely grain-fed cattle. Look for “grass-finished” or “100% grass-fed.”

Yet another disappointing fact about the agricultural industry. “Free ranging” chickens don’t necessarily range free, grass-fed cows don’t necessarily eat all grass - what’s next, “original” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not cloned? It’s no wonder the organic movement feels more like a fad and less like a description of what I’m eating.

As the article points out, many farms now sell and ship meats directly to customers. It appears Hickory Nut Gap does, and the article mentions a few additional links to similar sources. In my opinion, if you don’t have grass-fed beef available near you, it’s worth the extra cost and hassle to order it from a farm like Hickory Nut Gap. When you weigh it against the hidden health costs and money-saving shortcuts taken by slaughterhouses, especially in light of the recent massive beef recalls, it’s well worth the hit you take in the wallet.

photo credit: valessio_brito

I know it’s naive, but when I buy “organic” foods, I have the image I’m supporting family-owned businesses who farm using sustainable methods and give back to the local economy. Singing cows from California, sustainable farming raising my grass-fed beef - I buy into the image hoook, line and sinker. Seeing as how the USDA’s National Organic Program defines “organic” as “produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations”, I don’t think I’m being entirely unreasonable.

Imagine my surprise when I read an article at Diet Blog (which in turn cites FitSugar) about organic and natural food labels and the big companies that own them. Among the organic brands I recognize are Dagoba (owned by Hershey), Seeds of Change (owned by M&M Mars), my favorite Odwalla bars (owned by Coca-Cola), Cascadian Farms (owned by General Mills), Kashi (owned by Kellogg), and Silk (owned by Dean Foods). See the entire chart here.

Disease Proof and the New York Times followed up with further information, pointing to an article assembled by Dr. Phillip H. Howard which illustrates, among other things, numerous organic and natural brands that have been purchased or created by big companies. Among the brands I recognize that aren’t mentioned above is Green & Black’s (owned by Cadbury Schweppes), my only other brand of choice for organic chocolate besides Seeds of Change.

Why is all this a big deal? The New York Times says it best:

Obviously, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a big company buying an organic brand. But Dr. Howard notes that many consumers seek out organic foods, in part, because they don’t want to buy foods from multinational food companies.

“Often organic consumers are interested in supporting smaller scale farms and food processors,’’ Dr. Howard said. “In the marketing of a lot of these organic brands the firms try to evoke that image of a small pastoral farm.’’

I personally buy organic and natural foods for two reasons: health and supporting small businesses that practice environmental stewardship. The fact that Coke owns Odwalla doesn’t affect the bars’ nutrition, it does shatter the image I’m supporting small, “good” businesses. I don’t think I can give up my Odwalla bars, but I will definitely be looking for another brand of organic chocolate. Anyone have a suggestion?

Slashfood linked to a tip at Ideal Bite on how to tell the difference between genetically modified, conventional and organic fruits and veggies by reading the sticker:

• A four-digit number means it’s conventionally grown.
• A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it’s organic.
• A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it’s genetically modified.

Of course, that begs the question - if I do find a GM fruit or veggie, how exactly has it been modified? Wikipedia lists a couple of documented GM controversies. Personally, I just buy local when possible, and trust in the organic industry for the rest. I have to put my trust somewhere, since I don’t grow my food myself.

Thanks to logging all my food, I’m much more conscious of my portions and choices, and it’s reflecting in my weight trending down. Even though I’m not consistently exercising, I’m still losing weight. I’d love to be able to log “tearing up carpet” as an exercise activity, but somehow I just don’t think that counts.

I mentioned yesterday I buy local grass-fed beef. In BiLo yesterday, I saw a brochure for Laura’s Lean Beef and took a gander. It certainly tells a nice food story (on recycled paper, no less!), and avoids buzz-words like “organic.” I do see an interesting line in the brochure that reads:

In addition, our cattle are raised on a vegetarian diet of natural grasses and grains - they are never fed animal by-products.

The brochure is very careful to not claim the beef is “grass-fed”, which may mean they mix corn into the diet (which, of course, fits with their claim above about “grains”). If they do use corn, it makes me wonder how they suppress “feedlot bloat” without using antibiotics.

At any rate, their beef appears to be fed an all-natural diet and includes no antibiotics, hormones, additives or artificial ingredients - regardless of these cows’s possible corn consumption, you could likely do a lot worse. It just goes to show, it pays to be as educated and knowledgeable as possible about the food you eat, and pay attention to even what organic and natural food labels say - and don’t say.