BlogHer - Is Vegetarianism Indicative of an Eating Disorder? In My Case, It Was. - Comments

I can definitely see how

bigdreamer1 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:24:34 -0500

I can definitely see how vegetarianism can progress and/or cover an eating disorder. I never said I was a vegetarian when my ED was most out of control but looking back at my eating habits I realize that it didn't include meat. It didn't include much of anything that could be considered "real food" for that matter.

Oooh, golly. That's a little global.

She Who — Sun, 03 May 2009 09:37:39 -0500

Some people don't like avocados. Some people are allergic to nuts. Personally, I love nuts, but had to cut back because of a tendency to kidney stones. Much as we'd like to be able to look at someone's plate (or shopping cart) and figure we know something about them, we have to remember that eating disorder behavior is tricky. Someone could be barfing back all their nutrition later, or be currently "in remission" but still short of recovery.

For anyone interested in eating disorders, I highly recommend Joanna Poppink's valuable blog at http://stopeatingdisorders.com/

http://www.blogher.com/blog/she-who

Real Vegetarians vs. Pseudovegetarians

Crimson Wife — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:04:27 -0500

A real vegetarian will eat high-calorie, high-fat meatfree options like nuts, avocadoes, olive oil, etc. A pseudovegetarian who really has an eating disorder won't.

i'm a vegetarianism

marianaws — Sat, 02 May 2009 05:15:55 -0500

be a vegetarianism is better than doing wrong diet and its make my life more healthy.

Mariana

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Sweet!

Zandria — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:58:32 -0500

Your salad certainly sounds delicious, and I like that the act of eating it made you think about this conversation!

I've definitely heard of flexitarianism -- it seems like more and more people are heading that way, which is a great thing. :)

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No eating disorder for me!

Tommie — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:21:52 -0500

I am a lifelong vegetarian and have never eaten any kind of meat to get any type of nutrient. Why eat the meat when I can eat the foods the animals ate to get their nutrients? It doesn't make sense to me to get them second hand. I have progressed on my vegetarian path to being vegan (at times) and then totally vegan when I started eating 100% raw food. I don't deny anyone the joy of eating meat if that's what they want to do. I'm 65 and thriving and I can't credit meat for my good health. The way I eat isn't for everyone. A lot of people either can't or won't eat raw vegan but it's a choice just like everything else we do on Planet Earth.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy whatever you choose to eat. If you can eat it with a clear conscience, so much the better!

Zandria, yesterday I was

Laurie PK — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:46:30 -0500

Zandria, yesterday I was eating one of my mouth-watering salads, made with fresh bell peppers, spinach, carrots, apples, onions, raisons, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds yesterday - and totally thinking of you! :-)

Like fat or sugar, the less meat I eat, the less I want it. But, it helps to have a husband who eats meat every day -- I do have a bite or two occasionally, to make sure my body gets those types of nutrients. I have read that meat offers nutrients that other foods simply can't.

I'm a "flexitarian" -- have you heard that term? Someone who eats mostly veggies, fish, fruit -- but occasionally eats a big juicy cheeseburger (especially if the crimson tide is near!).

Thanks again for this post, which I'm still thinking about.

Laurie

See Jane Soar: Life Lessons From Well-Behaved Women (Not!)

Absolutely!

Zandria — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:36:05 -0500

I definitely agree that vegetarianism isn't the only indication of an eating disorder. I once knew a woman who went on the Atkins diet and lost TONS of weight...as in, she became skin-and-bones.

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Vegetarianism, the way many people practice it, is HIGH calorie.

She Who — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:52:33 -0500

They start eating nothing but french fries and fettuchini Alfredo. In England they say, "spotty vegetarian."

The thing about eating disorders is that ANY behavior around eating can be related to an eating disorder. You could be calorie restricting, or overeating, or binging or over exercising...lot's of opportunity to invest food with magical qualities of control. That's the same thing someone is doing when they say, "they don't want to be engaged in food restriction." The absence of "food restriction' gives you PICA, and just plain poisoning, doesn't it? We're not designed to 'eat everything,' any more than a bunny or a tiger is.

So, while I have seen disordered eating, and eating disorders, constructed around a vegetable diet, I've also seen people lose their hair on some version of the Atkins diet.

My two cents.

http://www.blogher.com/blog/she-who

Sadly I know a vegetarian, using it to cover her eating disorder

Accidental Olympian — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:10:06 -0500

This article grabbed me not because I personally have used a vegetarian diet to cover my eating disorder, but because I seem to know lots of women who do…

My close friend stopped eating meat when she was 13, which is also the same age she began restricting her diet for ballet. The minute she bean to feel insecure about her weight she stopped eating meat. I knew it was more than a lifestyle choice when in college she began to remove more and more items from her diet without reasoning.

She later told me that removing meat was the easiest way to count calories without having her family worry. A few lines about the environment and suddenly people would stop asking questions... Another friend became a vegan all of a sudden in college, and before we knew it she was down to 95 pounds. Another friend became a vegetarian to impress a boyfriend. Her nutrition was so unbalanced she was fainting and constantly weak. Another used a veggie diet to mask her eating disorder through our Freshman year in college to avoid a world of dorm foods.

Although I am sure there are THOUSANDS of people who live completely normal lives on a vegetarian or vegan diet, my only experience has been with my friends and it's broken my heart.

The lesson I learned, when someone I care about suddenly removes meat from their diet, ask more questions...

The Accidental Olympian

I've seen an anorexic who

ShaunDay — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:11:15 -0500

I've seen an anorexic who was pretending to use vegetarianism to support her eating disorder.

I also have inlaws who recently became vegan. They have both struggled with weight problems and have recently lost a lot of weight. they say they are vegans for ethical reasons but...

I don't think that qualifies as an eating disorder (yet anyway). It does make for interesting family dinners where they bring their own main dish and dessert.

Anger Class

I'd say that being "very

Zandria — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:20:42 -0500

I'd say that being "very interested in animal rights" and "hoovering up a giant quantity of food" should take your daughter out of the whole question of, "What are her motivations for going vegetarian?" She sounds like a cool kid. :)

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And you're a great example

Zandria — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:18:32 -0500

And you're a great example of someone who went vegetarian for the right reasons -- because you like the way it makes you feel. It makes me want to make myself one of those "huge salads" right now, actually! :)

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BlogHer blog: Singles/Fitness

i used to be an exercise

pookielocks — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:18:24 -0500

i used to be an exercise bulimic.

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hmmm

Mir Kamin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:13:50 -0500

My 11-year-old went vegetarian about 6 months ago and multiple people have asked me if she has an eating disorder. In her case, she's very interested in animal rights, and is still hoovering up a giant quantity of food, so I think she's okay. ;) But I do appreciate that this bears being vigilant about.

--
Mir Kamin
(BlogHer contributing editor)

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Is Vegetarianism Indicative of an Eating Disorder? In My Case, It Was.

Zandria — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:58:59 -0500

A recent study published in Time Magazine asked the question, Is Vegetarianism a Teen Eating Disorder? Just by looking at the title of the article, even before I read the accompanying text, I formed the answer in my mind. Of course vegetarianism can be linked to eating disorders. It’s certainly not true for all teen vegetarians, but I was in no way shocked by the results of the study. Why? Even though I developed an eating disorder a little later in life -- my early 20s -- my decision to go vegetarian was a way to restrict my diet without having to answer a lot of questions.

It's common for people with eating disorders to eliminate entire food groups from their diet. Early on in my weight-loss venture, I cut out most sweets and fried foods, but I quickly realized that the easiest way to refuse the high-calorie food at other people's houses, or in restaurants, was to stop eating anything with meat in it. I could now feel justified in eating nothing but steamed vegetables for dinner (I used to go through mass quantities of 5-lb bags of frozen veggies).

I didn’t eat any meat at all for a few years. Then I added seafood back in. It was about five years, though, before I started to eat meat again on a regular basis. It was a gradual process, mostly chicken and turkey in addition to the seafood. It’s been almost two years now since I started eating meat again, and in that time period I’ve had a lot of other types of meat -- bison, steak, sausage, bacon.

In the summer of 2007, not long after I officially became a non-vegetarian again, I talked about my reasons for returning to being a meat-eater. I briefly mentioned that my original intention for becoming a vegetarian was “for the wrong reasons,” but I left it at that.

I understand why it could be difficult for people to admit that they became a vegetarian simply because they were trying to avoid the calories. I guess I wasn’t ready to make that admission myself two years ago, but at this point I could really care less. I’m far enough past it now that I don’t care who knows.

I’m sure my friends and family had a good idea about my motivations for going veg. If anyone ever asked me about it, which wasn’t all that often, I’d mumble something about how eating this way was better for the environment, and better for animals, and healthier for me (after all, I’d read books like John Robbins’ Diet For a New America). Most of the time, though, I just wished they wouldn’t ask -- I knew what my main motivation was, but I wasn’t about to admit it back then.

What I know now...what’s most important to me...is that I’m healthy. I’m not being negative about vegetarianism or veganism in any way; I still love my fruits and vegetables and I’ll happily scarf down some tofu. Yes, I was miserable during the time I was a vegetarian, but I don’t blame my misery on the lack of meat in my diet. I blame my misery on the fact that I wasn’t eating enough calories. There’s a big difference.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Related Reading:

Emily Jean knows that lots of women have good reasons for becoming vegetarian, but she knows it’s also a good way to attempt to hide an eating disorder.

[L]et's look at this from a different perspective...the teen who wants to hide an illness. Perhaps, an anorexic 8th grader feels she won't be judged, if she opts for a socially acceptable eating preference. "I can't eat meatloaf, Mom, because I am vegetarian" will certainly work better than "I don't want to eat meatloaf, Mom, because I don't want to eat."

Tiptoe thinks it’s a good idea, if a teen expresses interest in becoming a vegetarian, for a parent to ask questions about their motivation.

[If the answer is related to] weight loss, a red flag should be alerted. However, at the same time, many teens also answer that going vegetarian is about "health." This is when it can get tricky as the "health" scheme can become a guise for an already existing eating disorder or a pre-emptive eating disorder in conveniently restricting.

A recovering anorexic, Kim is interested in becoming a vegetarian but is “wary of introducing any food restriction into my life, even if the reasons are not related to calories.”

The Reluctant Vegetarian read the Time Magazine article and said it “really irked me.”

The Vegan Dietitian points out that Vegetarian and Vegan Diets Do Not Cause Eating Disorders.

(Contributing editor Zandria blog regularly at Zandria.us.)