An article in the Guardian on 1/10/2016 suggested that some young people are suffering from an eating disorder called Orthorexia - an obsession with restricting what they eat to a limited number of foods they consider healthy assuming all other foods are harmful. This can lead to malnutrition, nutritional deficiencies and even anorexia.
Orhorexia is often linked with "clean eating" - which as a concept is a good idea - eating less processed food, less refined carbohydrates and added sugar and eating more wholefoods, vegetables, good proteins and healthy fats. However, this can sometimes get out of hand from a mis-guided belief from the media or unqualified sources that all carbohydrates are bad, gluten is bad, dairy is bad, fat is bad, meat is bad and anything with sugar in is harmful. If you avoid whole food groups with no substitutions to ensure you get all the nutrients you need, then your health will suffer.
Still confused? Some nutritionists and chefs suggest healthy recipes that might seem a bit alien to a normal human being. Great if you know how to balance your diet to get all the nutrients you need or for an occasional meal. For most people this may seem a bit complicated. The best way to start eating healthily is to replace processed ready meals with home-made, use lean meat, have more fish and some meat free days, increase vegetable intake to half the plate, reduce white sugar and flour and eat more whole-grains.
My cooking and Facebook posts give ideas to hopefully inspire people to experiment with more nutritious ingredients in ordinary meals and snacks you can enjoy just as much if not more.
The main reason to eat healthy food is to feel well and stay healthy. Enjoying food is important too. The occasional take away or chocolate eclair is not going to matter in the big scheme of things, it's about understanding how your body feels when you eat and what makes it work best. If you live on lettuce leaves or junk food neither is going to give you all the nutrients you require or make you feel well and healthy - its all a matter of balance.
picture from locustherapy.com
Orhorexia is often linked with "clean eating" - which as a concept is a good idea - eating less processed food, less refined carbohydrates and added sugar and eating more wholefoods, vegetables, good proteins and healthy fats. However, this can sometimes get out of hand from a mis-guided belief from the media or unqualified sources that all carbohydrates are bad, gluten is bad, dairy is bad, fat is bad, meat is bad and anything with sugar in is harmful. If you avoid whole food groups with no substitutions to ensure you get all the nutrients you need, then your health will suffer.
Still confused? Some nutritionists and chefs suggest healthy recipes that might seem a bit alien to a normal human being. Great if you know how to balance your diet to get all the nutrients you need or for an occasional meal. For most people this may seem a bit complicated. The best way to start eating healthily is to replace processed ready meals with home-made, use lean meat, have more fish and some meat free days, increase vegetable intake to half the plate, reduce white sugar and flour and eat more whole-grains.
My cooking and Facebook posts give ideas to hopefully inspire people to experiment with more nutritious ingredients in ordinary meals and snacks you can enjoy just as much if not more.
The main reason to eat healthy food is to feel well and stay healthy. Enjoying food is important too. The occasional take away or chocolate eclair is not going to matter in the big scheme of things, it's about understanding how your body feels when you eat and what makes it work best. If you live on lettuce leaves or junk food neither is going to give you all the nutrients you require or make you feel well and healthy - its all a matter of balance.
picture from locustherapy.com