Jessica Sepel was on the Today show this morning speaking about her experience with Orthorexia Nervosa, and her story resonated with me. One of the perks of being a stay at home mum, has been that I occasionally get to watch the morning shows, and their take on healthy food, and healthcare. Often they frustrate me, however today I actually saw two great stories – one on Sunrise (more about that later), and one on Today. For those that may not know – Jessica Sepel is a well known nutritionist who advocates a healthy balanced approach to eating, like me. Through her experience with Orthorexia Nervosa she was inspired to study Nutrition, and help others through her website, blog and book.

Orthorexia Nervosa is a relatively new eating disorder, where there is an unhealthy obsession with eating only clean, and nutritious food. Some of you may be wondering where the unhealthy aspect is? If they are eating so well, why is there cause for concern? Through this eating restriction, there is a lot of stress and anxiety about what they can and cannot eat, and this can become overwhelming. When at home, they may spend hours preparing food with multiple expensive ingredients, only for it to be eaten in minutes, leaving a sense of disappointment, and when they are out with friends or family, may find choosing at item to eat from a menu very stressful. If a ‘bad’ food choice is made, they may spend hours berating themselves for the meal, and feel a sense of anger or disbelief.

During the first few years of my degree, we often joked that all naturopathic and nutrition students have orthorexia to some degree, as we were learning what food our body needs, and what food inflames, aggravates, or causes weight gain. So food groups start to be excluded – carbs? fattening, meat? inflammatory. The wrong fats? disastrous. This exclusion can lead to some quite serious nutritional deficiencies that may affect many aspects of ones health.

Having gone through a period in my early twenties where I was intolerant to many foods, I was not new to exclusion diets. I had successfully avoided wheat, dairy, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, strawberries (and more) for 3 years while going through a very tough health experience, so when I started my nutrition training, some of that mindset returned. I don’t think at the time I realised how restrictive I was being, or how difficult it was to take me anywhere – my husband hated our road trips as we would stop in a small town for lunch and I would panic. Where could I get a kale and quinoa salad?! or some sushi? when the only option was a bakery or local takeaway joint. I definitely berated myself afterwards, and could not believe I had allowed myself to eat something like that.

The turning point for me was actually when I became pregnant with my daughter. I had been eating an almost paleo diet, with some grains (rice, quinoa, spelt), and thought that would continue through pregnancy. My body had other ideas. I felt so unwell during the first trimester, and all I could stomach was carbs. White carbs. Pasta, potato, rice, bread, vegetables and meat when someone else made it for me, and eggs. I had to let go of my food restrictions, and eat what my stomach would allow to make it through the day. I remember the first meal I had when my appetite returned. It was a small bowl of watermelon, topped with yoghurt, chia, and coconut flakes. And it was delicious. After that I increased my healthy foods, but found that the stress and anxiety that surrounded ‘unhealthy’ foods was gone. I thought that I had lost my willpower when I suddenly craved a muffin, but I had actually gained some perspective, and balance back into my diet. Food became more enjoyable, as did going out, and that mental chatter telling you that you are a terrible person for eating a piece of birthday cake was gone. Obviously we should aim to eat healthy nutritious food at least 80% of the time, but we shouldn’t worry about the occasional Easter egg – as the stress surrounding that is actually more harmful to our health.

If you are finding that the list of foods you are allowing yourself to eat is shrinking, and would like to gain more balance – speaking to someone who has a background in counselling or nutrition (like myself) is a great way to start.

This website and blog will endeavour to include some super healthy, and some super delicious recipes, as well as perspectives on food and nutrition. Whilst restrictive, and elimination diets are often necessary and very beneficial, the goal is to assist the underlying condition, so some if not all foods can be reintroduced to the diet – as I managed to after a 3 year break.

Happy Tuesday!