Guest guest Posted August 21, 2003 Report Share Posted August 21, 2003 Health Food Junkie by Stephen Bratman, MD Twenty years ago I was a wholehearted, impassioned advocate of healing through food. In those days I was a cook and organic farmer at a large commune in upstate New York. Today, as a physician who practices alternative medicine, I still almost always recommend dietary improvement to my patients. How could I not? A low-fat, semivegetarian diet helps prevent nearly all major illnesses, and more focused dietary interventions can dramatically improve specific health problems. But I'm no longer the true believer in nutritional medicine I used to be. Where once I was enthusiastically evangelical, I've grown cautious. I can no longer console myself with the hope that one day a universal theory of eating will be discovered that can match people with the diets right for them. And I no longer have faith that dietary therapy is a uniformly wholesome intervention. I have come to regard it as I do drug therapy: as a useful treatment with serious potential side-effects. My disillusionment began in the old days at the commune. As staff cook I was required to prepare several separate meals at once to satisfy the insistent and conflicting demands of our members. All communes attract idealists; ours attracted food idealists. On a daily basis I encountered the chaos of contradictory nutritional theories. Our main entree was always vegetarian, but a vocal subgroup insisted we serve meat. Since many vegetarians would not eat from pots and pans contaminated by fleshly vibrations, the meat had to be cooked in a separate kitchen. We cooks also had to satisfy the vegans, who eschewed all milk and egg products. The rights of the Hindu-influenced crowd couldn't be neglected either. They insisted we omit the onion-family foods which, they believed, provoked sexual desire. For the raw-foodists we always laid out trays of sliced raw vegetables, but the macrobiotic adherents looked at these offerings with disgust. They would only eat cooked vegetables. Furthermore, they believed that only local, in-season vegetables should be eaten, which led to frequent and violent arguments about whether the commune should spend its money on lettuce in January. After watching these food wars for a while, I began to fantasize about writing a cookbook for eating theorists. Each food would come complete with a citation from one system or authority claiming it to be the most divine edible ever created; a second reference, from an opposing view, would damn it as the worst pestilence one human being ever fed to another. Finding examples wouldn't be difficult. I could pit the rules of various food theories against each other: Spicy food is bad; cayenne peppers are health-promoting. Fasting on oranges is healthy; citrus fruits are too acidic. Milk is good only for young cows (and pasteurized milk is even worse); boiled milk is the food of the gods. Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, are essentially rotten; fermented foods aid digestion. Sweets are bad; honey is nature's most perfect food. Fruits are the ideal food; fruit causes candida. Vinegar is a poison; apple cider vinegar cures most illnesses. Proteins should not be combined with starches; aduki beans and brown rice should always be cooked together. Dietary methods of healing are often offered in the name of holism, one of the strongest ideals of alternative medicine. No doubt alternative health practitioners are compensating for the historical failure of modern medicine to take dietary treatment seriously enough. But by focusing single-mindedly on diet, such practitioners end up advocating a form of medicine as lacking in holistic perspective as the more traditional approaches they attempt to correct. It would be far more holistic to try to understand other elements in the patient's life before making dietary recommendations, and occasionally to temper those recommendations with that understanding. -- Orthorexia Nervosa Many of the most unbalanced people I have ever met are those who have devoted themselves to healthy eating. In fact, I believe some of them have actually contracted a novel eating disorder for which I have coined the name " orthorexia nervosa. " The term uses " ortho, " meaning straight, correct, and true, to modify " anorexia nervosa. " Orthorexia nervosa refers to a pathological fixation on eating proper food. Orthorexia begins, innocently enough, as a desire to overcome chronic illness or to improve general health. But because it requires considerable willpower to adopt a diet that differs radically from the food habits of childhood and the surrounding culture, few accomplish the change gracefully. Most must resort to an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food. Over time, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater proportion of the orthorexic's day. The act of eating pure food begins to carry pseudospiritual connotations. As orthorexia progresses, a day filled with sprouts, umeboshi plums, and amaranth biscuits comes to feel as holy as one spent serving the poor and homeless. When an orthorexic slips up (which may involve anything from devouring a single raisin to consuming a gallon of Haagen Dazs ice cream and a large pizza), he experiences a fall from grace and must perform numerous acts of penitence. These usually involve ever-stricter diets and fasts. This " kitchen spirituality " eventually reaches a point where the sufferer spends most of his time planning, purchasing, and eating meals. The orthorexic's inner life becomes dominated by efforts to resist temptation, self-condemnation for lapses, self-praise for success at complying with the chosen regime, and feelings of superiority over others less pure in their dietary habits. This transference of all of life's value into the act of eating makes orthorexia a true disorder. In this essential characteristic, orthorexia bears many similarities to the two well-known eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. Where the bulimic and anorexic focus on the quantity of food, the orthorexic fixates on its quality. All three give food an excessive place in the scheme of life. As often happens, my sensitivity to the problem of orthorexia comes through personal experience. I myself passed through a phase of extreme dietary purity. When I wasn't cooking at the commune, I managed the organic farm. This gave me constant access to fresh, high-quality produce. I became such a snob that I disdained any vegetable that had been plucked from the ground for more than 15 minutes. I was a total vegetarian, chewed each mouthful of food 50 times, always ate in a quiet place (which meant alone), and left my stomach partially empty at the end of each meal. After a year or so of this self-imposed regime, I felt clear-headed, strong, and self-righteous. I regarded the wretched, debauched souls about me downing their chocolate chip cookies and french fries as mere animals reduced to satisfying gustatory lusts. But I wasn't complacent in my virtue. Feeling an obligation to enlighten my weaker brethren, I continually lectured friends and family on the evils of refined, processed food and the dangers of pesticides and artificial fertilizers. I pursued wellness through healthy eating for years, but gradually I began to sense that something was going wrong. The poetry of my life was disappearing. My ability to carry on normal conversations was hindered by intrusive thoughts of food. The need to obtain meals free of meat, fat, and artificial chemicals had put nearly all social forms of eating beyond my reach. I was lonely and obsessed. Even when I became aware that my scrabbling in the dirt after raw vegetables and wild plants had become an obsession, I found it terribly difficult to free myself. I had been seduced by righteous eating. The problem of my life's meaning had been transferred inexorably to food, and I could not reclaim it. -- Tacos, Pizza, and a Milkshake I was eventually saved from the doom of eternal health-food addiction through two fortuitous events. The first occurred when my guru in eating--a vegan headed toward fruitarianism--suddenly abandoned his quest. " A revelation came to me last night in a dream, " he said. " Rather than eat my sprouts alone, it would be better for me to share a pizza with some friends. " His plaintive statement stirred me, but I could do nothing to change my way of life until a Benedictine monk named Brother David Steindl-Rast kindly applied some unorthodox techniques. I had met Brother David at a seminar he gave on the subject of gratitude. I offered to drive him home, and on the way back to the monastery, I bragged a bit about my oral self-discipline. Brother David's approach over the subsequent days was a marvelous case of teaching by example. The drive was long. In the late afternoon, we stopped for lunch at an unpromising Chinese restaurant in a small town. To our surprise, the food was authentic, the sauces were fragrant and tasty, the vegetables fresh, and the eggrolls crisp and free from MSG. We were both delighted. After I had eaten the small portion which sufficed to fill my stomach halfway, Brother David casually mentioned his belief that it was an offense against God to leave food uneaten on the table. Brother David was a slim man, so I found it hardly credible that he followed this precept generally. But he continued to eat so much that I felt good manners, if not actual spiritual guidance, required me to imitate his example. I filled my belly for the first time in a year. Then he upped the ante. " I always think that ice cream goes well with Chinese food, don't you? " he asked. Ignoring my incoherent reply, Brother David directed us to an ice cream parlor and purchased me a triple-scoop cone. As we ate our ice cream, Brother David led me on a two-mile walk. To keep my mind from dwelling on my offense against the health-food gods, he edified me with an unending stream of spiritual stories. Later that evening, he ate an immense dinner in the monastery dining room, all the while urging me to take more of one dish or another. I understood his point. But what mattered more to me was the fact that a spiritual authority, a man for whom I had the greatest respect, was giving me permission to break my health-food vows. It proved a liberating stroke. Yet more than a month passed before I finally decided to make a definitive break. I was filled with feverish anticipation. Hordes of long-suppressed gluttonous desires, their legitimacy restored, clamored to receive their due. On the drive into town, I planned and replanned my junk-food menu. Within 10 minutes of arriving, I had eaten three tacos, a medium pizza, and a large milkshake. Too stuffed to violate my former vows further, I brought the ice cream sandwich and banana split home. My stomach felt stretched to my knees. The next morning I felt guilty and defiled. Only the memory of Brother David kept me from embarking on a five-day fast. (I fasted only two days.) It took me at least two more years to attain a middle way and eat easily, without rigid calculation or wild swings. Anyone who has ever suffered from anorexia or bulimia will recognize classic patterns in this story: the cyclic extremes, the obsession, the separation from others. These are all symptoms of an eating disorder. Having experienced them so vividly in myself 20 years ago, I cannot overlook their presence in others. -- A Menu or a Life? Consider Andrea, a patient of mine who suffered from chronic asthma. When she came to see me, she depended on several medications to stay alive. But with my help, she managed to free herself from all drugs. First, we identified foods to which Andrea was sensitive and removed them from her diet. Milk was the first to go, then wheat, soy, and corn. After eliminating these four foods, the asthma symptoms decreased so much that Andrea was able to cut out one medication. But she wasn't satisfied. Diligent effort identified other allergens: eggs, avocado, tomatoes, barley, rye, chicken, beef, turkey, and tuna. These too Andrea eliminated and was soon able to drop another drug entirely. Next went broccoli, lettuce, apples, and trout--and the rest of her medications. Unfortunately, after about three months of feeling well she began to discover sensitivities to other foods. Oranges, peaches, celery, and rice didn't suit her, nor did potatoes, turkey, or amaranth biscuits. The only foods she could definitely tolerate were lamb and (strangely) white sugar. Since she couldn't live on those foods alone, Andrea adopted a complex rotation diet, alternating grains on a meal-by-meal basis, with occasional complete abstention to allow her to " clear. " She did the same for vegetables with somewhat more ease, since she had a greater variety to choose from. Recently, Andrea came in for a visit and described the present state of her life. Wherever she goes, she carries a supply of her own food. She doesn't go many places. Most of the time she stays at home and thinks carefully about what to eat next, because if she slips up, the consequences continue for weeks. The asthma doesn't come back, but she develops headaches, nausea, and strange moods. She must continuously exert her will against cravings for foods as seemingly innocent as tomatoes and bread. She was pleased with her improvement and referred many patients to me. But I began to feel ill whenever I saw her name on my schedule. The first rule of medicine is " above all, do no harm. " Had I really helped Andrea, or had I harmed her? If she had been cured of cancer or multiple sclerosis, the development of an obsession might not be too high a price to pay. But when we started treatment, all she had was asthma. If she took her four medications, she also had a life. Now all she has is a menu. She might have been better off if she had never heard of dietary medicine. I am generally lifted out of such melancholy reflections by success stories. I have another client whose rheumatoid arthritis was thrown into total remission by one simple intervention: adding foods high in trace minerals to his diet. Before he met me, he took prednisone, gold shots, and anti-inflammatories. Now he has gone a full year without a problem. Seeing him encourages me not to give up entirely on making dietary recommendations. But my enthusiasm will remain tempered. Like all medical interventions--like all solutions to difficult problems--dietary medicine dwells in a grey zone of unclarity and imperfection. It's neither a simple, ideal treatment, as some of its proponents believe, nor the complete waste of time conventional medicine has too long presumed it to be. Diet is an ambiguous and powerful tool, too complex and emotionally charged to be prescribed lightly, yet too powerful to be ignored. -- Stephen Bratman, M.D., is a holistic physician practicing in Ft. Collins, Colorado. He is the author of The Alternative Medicine Sourcebook: A Realistic Evaluation of Alternative Healing Methods (Lowell House). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2003 Report Share Posted August 21, 2003 i found this article really interesting and did agree with some of what he was saying...but some of it is in my opinion just ridiculous. i mean yes you can be unhealthy about your healthy habbits...to the point where you become obsessive and unbalanced...but this doesn't mean that the diet you were trying to maintain was bad but just that your outlook/attitude was bad. it is possible to pay attention to what you eat, limit what you eat and at the same time not have this drive you crazy, not beat yourself up when you slip up and to even allow yourself slips once in awhile. this guy also seems to be implying that if you are eating in such a way that goes agains the norms for your surrounding community then you will be shunned and fall into fits of depression. well i say 1 you should change your community (it is possible to have other healthy people around you even though they are in small supply) 2 if you can't eat out with friends invite them over for dinner...there are alternatives to becoming a complete recluse or 3 look at where you're trying to go out to eat...sure you can't go to burger king of taco bell...or even most mainstream restaurants...but you can go to a cute little veggie restaurant etc. i mean if i had to change everything about myself that didn't fit into the mold of the " normal american " i'd have lots of changing to do...and i don't believe any of it would be for the best...i'd have to start reading way less, watching way more tv, eating lots of beef, spending lots of money on silly things i don't need, buying my kids silly stuff they don't need, drive an suv, stop recycling, use a lot of styrofoam, go to a tanning bed, wear lots of make-up, get a boob job etc. all of these things would make me better equipped to " fit in " but that doesn't mean that my life has to be less enjoyable b/c i don't...quite the opposite i think. anyway...sorry i have way too much time at work today. but worrying about what you put into your body and trying to make yourself a healthier person does not have to ruin your life...it should greatly improve it...and if it doesn't than there is something wrong with the way you are doing it. luv laura herbal remedies , " Anjeweleyes " <anjewelhaze@k...> wrote: > That is some mighty powerful food for thought... > > But, I did wonder one thing...If you ate only organic of what ever your allergic to (fruits, veggies or meat) and sprouted all the grains...wonder if you'd still be allergic? > Hummmmmm.... > > Thanks very much for sharing that. > Angel > All incoming and outgoing scanned with NAV (and now AVG) for both our protection. > > - > Lynn > herbal_remedies > Thursday, August 21, 2003 12:02 PM > [herbal remedies] Health Food Junkie > > > Health Food Junkie > > by Stephen Bratman, MD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2003 Report Share Posted August 21, 2003 This article is the thing that is dangerous. Very dangerous!!! It mixes half truths, with truths and jumbles them up with completely false data. I am leaving the office for the day, but I will comment on this article in great detail within the next 24 hours. Love, Doc Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington - Lynn herbal_remedies Thursday, August 21, 2003 11:02 AM [herbal remedies] Health Food Junkie Health Food Junkie by Stephen Bratman, MD Twenty years ago I was a wholehearted, impassionedadvocate of healing through food. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2003 Report Share Posted August 21, 2003 I think it is true that quite often people are looking to *fix* or change themselves through diets, through relationships, through exercise, etc....anything and everything. The answer is always over there somewhere. My basic philosophy is about that is " what you resist persists " . Until people can be ok with who they are and really CHOOSE to make a change or not- FOR a possibility- not to run away from who they are...not to agonizingly try to create or avoid perfection- which implies " imperfection " ...than the issues...imbalances..remain. No one of us has the " right way " for others that they " should " follow. But, certain opportunities are being offered...many opportunities all the time. It's our choice. It is not so much about everyone doing the " right " thing or eating the right thing as much as people defining their OWN value and needs and them behaving consistently with that. I think more than anything we all want balance. WE EACH HAVE A DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR BALANCE and health and have gathered here to learn and share. I don't want a diet that throws other areas of my life into imbalance...it's very personal really. Yet how I eat may be extreme for someone. That's ok...I don't make them wrong for their choices. Now, if they want my opinion- I will offer it! But it's not personal. It reminds me of a " natural " friend I have who cloth diapers, natural everything, but she treats her husband like crap. It's really toxic! So, here she is with all the natural stuff in her home...and filling the home with this toxic, damaging vibe in front of her cloth dipped vegetarian toddler! We have all been around people who are so self righteous about " their cause " ....I think that's part of it- it's THEIR cause...about them....not the possibility of health, or love, or healing per say! It's about ego..Self righteousness is ugly- making others wrong to make yourself look good...that's just an energy drain...ugh Anyway...I think it's more important to remember the big picture and not get to caught up in the details. And to focus on where we want to go- the " be " ing not just the " do " ing...choosing to be supported by like minded/hearted people! Obviously we are all on this list because we feel that a natural holistic lifestyle is a valuable approach towards health and healing....Sometimes people need to go... " too far " so they can step back some and find that place of balance...others inch towards it. till they find that place for them...it's not the same for each of us. I'm extremely impressed so far with Doc's formulas, philosophy, and strategies!!! All shared freely for us to take and apply what we like... Love, Elizabeth On Thursday, August 21, 2003, at 12:02 PM, Lynn wrote: > Health Food Junkie > > by Stephen Bratman, MD > > > Twenty years ago I was a wholehearted, impassioned > advocate of healing through food. In those days I was > a cook and organic farmer at a large commune in > upstate New York. Today, as a physician who practices > alternative medicine, I still almost always recommend > dietary improvement to my patients. How could I not? A > low-fat, semivegetarian diet helps prevent nearly all > major illnesses, and more focused dietary > interventions can dramatically improve specific health > problems. But I'm no longer the true believer in > nutritional medicine I used to be. > > Where once I was enthusiastically evangelical, I've > grown cautious. I can no longer console myself with > the hope that one day a universal theory of eating > will be discovered that can match people with the > diets right for them. And I no longer have faith that > dietary therapy is a uniformly wholesome intervention. > I have come to regard it as I do drug therapy: as a > useful treatment with serious potential side-effects. > > My disillusionment began in the old days at the > commune. As staff cook I was required to prepare > several separate meals at once to satisfy the > insistent and conflicting demands of our members. All > communes attract idealists; ours attracted food > idealists. On a daily basis I encountered the chaos of > contradictory nutritional theories. > > Our main entree was always vegetarian, but a vocal > subgroup insisted we serve meat. Since many > vegetarians would not eat from pots and pans > contaminated by fleshly vibrations, the meat had to be > cooked in a separate kitchen. > > We cooks also had to satisfy the vegans, who eschewed > all milk and egg products. The rights of the > Hindu-influenced crowd couldn't be neglected either. > They insisted we omit the onion-family foods which, > they believed, provoked sexual desire. > > For the raw-foodists we always laid out trays of > sliced raw vegetables, but the macrobiotic adherents > looked at these offerings with disgust. They would > only eat cooked vegetables. Furthermore, they believed > that only local, in-season vegetables should be eaten, > which led to frequent and violent arguments about > whether the commune should spend its money on lettuce > in January. > > After watching these food wars for a while, I began to > fantasize about writing a cookbook for eating > theorists. Each food would come complete with a > citation from one system or authority claiming it to > be the most divine edible ever created; a second > reference, from an opposing view, would damn it as the > worst pestilence one human being ever fed to another. > > Finding examples wouldn't be difficult. I could pit > the rules of various food theories against each other: > Spicy food is bad; cayenne peppers are > health-promoting. Fasting on oranges is healthy; > citrus fruits are too acidic. Milk is good only for > young cows (and pasteurized milk is even worse); > boiled milk is the food of the gods. Fermented foods, > such as sauerkraut, are essentially rotten; fermented > foods aid digestion. Sweets are bad; honey is nature's > most perfect food. Fruits are the ideal food; fruit > causes candida. Vinegar is a poison; apple cider > vinegar cures most illnesses. Proteins should not be > combined with starches; aduki beans and brown rice > should always be cooked together. > > Dietary methods of healing are often offered in the > name of holism, one of the strongest ideals of > alternative medicine. No doubt alternative health > practitioners are compensating for the historical > failure of modern medicine to take dietary treatment > seriously enough. But by focusing single-mindedly on > diet, such practitioners end up advocating a form of > medicine as lacking in holistic perspective as the > more traditional approaches they attempt to correct. > It would be far more holistic to try to understand > other elements in the patient's life before making > dietary recommendations, and occasionally to temper > those recommendations with that understanding. > > > > -- > Orthorexia Nervosa > Many of the most unbalanced people I have ever met are > those who have devoted themselves to healthy eating. > In fact, I believe some of them have actually > contracted a novel eating disorder for which I have > coined the name " orthorexia nervosa. " The term uses > " ortho, " meaning straight, correct, and true, to > modify " anorexia nervosa. " Orthorexia nervosa refers > to a pathological fixation on eating proper food. > > Orthorexia begins, innocently enough, as a desire to > overcome chronic illness or to improve general health. > But because it requires considerable willpower to > adopt a diet that differs radically from the food > habits of childhood and the surrounding culture, few > accomplish the change gracefully. Most must resort to > an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of > superiority over those who eat junk food. Over time, > what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary > indiscretion come to occupy a greater and greater > proportion of the orthorexic's day. > > The act of eating pure food begins to carry > pseudospiritual connotations. As orthorexia > progresses, a day filled with sprouts, umeboshi plums, > and amaranth biscuits comes to feel as holy as one > spent serving the poor and homeless. When an > orthorexic slips up (which may involve anything from > devouring a single raisin to consuming a gallon of > Haagen Dazs ice cream and a large pizza), he > experiences a fall from grace and must perform > numerous acts of penitence. These usually involve > ever-stricter diets and fasts. > > This " kitchen spirituality " eventually reaches a point > where the sufferer spends most of his time planning, > purchasing, and eating meals. The orthorexic's inner > life becomes dominated by efforts to resist > temptation, self-condemnation for lapses, self-praise > for success at complying with the chosen regime, and > feelings of superiority over others less pure in their > dietary habits. > > This transference of all of life's value into the act > of eating makes orthorexia a true disorder. In this > essential characteristic, orthorexia bears many > similarities to the two well-known eating disorders > anorexia and bulimia. Where the bulimic and anorexic > focus on the quantity of food, the orthorexic fixates > on its quality. All three give food an excessive place > in the scheme of life. > > As often happens, my sensitivity to the problem of > orthorexia comes through personal experience. I myself > passed through a phase of extreme dietary purity. > > When I wasn't cooking at the commune, I managed the > organic farm. This gave me constant access to fresh, > high-quality produce. I became such a snob that I > disdained any vegetable that had been plucked from the > ground for more than 15 minutes. I was a total > vegetarian, chewed each mouthful of food 50 times, > always ate in a quiet place (which meant alone), and > left my stomach partially empty at the end of each > meal. > > After a year or so of this self-imposed regime, I felt > clear-headed, strong, and self-righteous. I regarded > the wretched, debauched souls about me downing their > chocolate chip cookies and french fries as mere > animals reduced to satisfying gustatory lusts. But I > wasn't complacent in my virtue. Feeling an obligation > to enlighten my weaker brethren, I continually > lectured friends and family on the evils of refined, > processed food and the dangers of pesticides and > artificial fertilizers. > > I pursued wellness through healthy eating for years, > but gradually I began to sense that something was > going wrong. The poetry of my life was disappearing. > My ability to carry on normal conversations was > hindered by intrusive thoughts of food. The need to > obtain meals free of meat, fat, and artificial > chemicals had put nearly all social forms of eating > beyond my reach. I was lonely and obsessed. > > Even when I became aware that my scrabbling in the > dirt after raw vegetables and wild plants had become > an obsession, I found it terribly difficult to free > myself. I had been seduced by righteous eating. > > The problem of my life's meaning had been transferred > inexorably to food, and I could not reclaim it. > > > > -- > Tacos, Pizza, and a Milkshake > I was eventually saved from the doom of eternal > health-food addiction through two fortuitous events. > The first occurred when my guru in eating--a vegan > headed toward fruitarianism--suddenly abandoned his > quest. " A revelation came to me last night in a > dream, " he said. " Rather than eat my sprouts alone, it > would be better for me to share a pizza with some > friends. " > > His plaintive statement stirred me, but I could do > nothing to change my way of life until a Benedictine > monk named Brother David Steindl-Rast kindly applied > some unorthodox techniques. > > I had met Brother David at a seminar he gave on the > subject of gratitude. I offered to drive him home, and > on the way back to the monastery, I bragged a bit > about my oral self-discipline. Brother David's > approach over the subsequent days was a marvelous case > of teaching by example. > > The drive was long. In the late afternoon, we stopped > for lunch at an unpromising Chinese restaurant in a > small town. To our surprise, the food was authentic, > the sauces were fragrant and tasty, the vegetables > fresh, and the eggrolls crisp and free from MSG. We > were both delighted. > > After I had eaten the small portion which sufficed to > fill my stomach halfway, Brother David casually > mentioned his belief that it was an offense against > God to leave food uneaten on the table. Brother David > was a slim man, so I found it hardly credible that he > followed this precept generally. But he continued to > eat so much that I felt good manners, if not actual > spiritual guidance, required me to imitate his > example. I filled my belly for the first time in a > year. > > Then he upped the ante. " I always think that ice cream > goes well with Chinese food, don't you? " he asked. > Ignoring my incoherent reply, Brother David directed > us to an ice cream parlor and purchased me a > triple-scoop cone. As we ate our ice cream, Brother > David led me on a two-mile walk. To keep my mind from > dwelling on my offense against the health-food gods, > he edified me with an unending stream of spiritual > stories. Later that evening, he ate an immense dinner > in the monastery dining room, all the while urging me > to take more of one dish or another. > > I understood his point. But what mattered more to me > was the fact that a spiritual authority, a man for > whom I had the greatest respect, was giving me > permission to break my health-food vows. It proved a > liberating stroke. > > Yet more than a month passed before I finally decided > to make a definitive break. I was filled with feverish > anticipation. Hordes of long-suppressed gluttonous > desires, their legitimacy restored, clamored to > receive their due. On the drive into town, I planned > and replanned my junk-food menu. Within 10 minutes of > arriving, I had eaten three tacos, a medium pizza, and > a large milkshake. Too stuffed to violate my former > vows further, I brought the ice cream sandwich and > banana split home. My stomach felt stretched to my > knees. > > The next morning I felt guilty and defiled. Only the > memory of Brother David kept me from embarking on a > five-day fast. (I fasted only two days.) It took me at > least two more years to attain a middle way and eat > easily, without rigid calculation or wild swings. > > Anyone who has ever suffered from anorexia or bulimia > will recognize classic patterns in this story: the > cyclic extremes, the obsession, the separation from > others. These are all symptoms of an eating disorder. > Having experienced them so vividly in myself 20 years > ago, I cannot overlook their presence in others. > > > > -- > A Menu or a Life? > Consider Andrea, a patient of mine who suffered from > chronic asthma. When she came to see me, she depended > on several medications to stay alive. But with my > help, she managed to free herself from all drugs. > > First, we identified foods to which Andrea was > sensitive and removed them from her diet. Milk was the > first to go, then wheat, soy, and corn. After > eliminating these four foods, the asthma symptoms > decreased so much that Andrea was able to cut out one > medication. But she wasn't satisfied. > > Diligent effort identified other allergens: eggs, > avocado, tomatoes, barley, rye, chicken, beef, turkey, > and tuna. These too Andrea eliminated and was soon > able to drop another drug entirely. Next went > broccoli, lettuce, apples, and trout--and the rest of > her medications. > > Unfortunately, after about three months of feeling > well she began to discover sensitivities to other > foods. Oranges, peaches, celery, and rice didn't suit > her, nor did potatoes, turkey, or amaranth biscuits. > The only foods she could definitely tolerate were lamb > and (strangely) white sugar. > > Since she couldn't live on those foods alone, Andrea > adopted a complex rotation diet, alternating grains on > a meal-by-meal basis, with occasional complete > abstention to allow her to " clear. " She did the same > for vegetables with somewhat more ease, since she had > a greater variety to choose from. > > Recently, Andrea came in for a visit and described the > present state of her life. Wherever she goes, she > carries a supply of her own food. She doesn't go many > places. Most of the time she stays at home and thinks > carefully about what to eat next, because if she slips > up, the consequences continue for weeks. The asthma > doesn't come back, but she develops headaches, nausea, > and strange moods. She must continuously exert her > will against cravings for foods as seemingly innocent > as tomatoes and bread. > > She was pleased with her improvement and referred many > patients to me. But I began to feel ill whenever I saw > her name on my schedule. The first rule of medicine is > " above all, do no harm. " Had I really helped Andrea, > or had I harmed her? If she had been cured of cancer > or multiple sclerosis, the development of an obsession > might not be too high a price to pay. But when we > started treatment, all she had was asthma. If she took > her four medications, she also had a life. Now all she > has is a menu. She might have been better off if she > had never heard of dietary medicine. > > I am generally lifted out of such melancholy > reflections by success stories. I have another client > whose rheumatoid arthritis was thrown into total > remission by one simple intervention: adding foods > high in trace minerals to his diet. Before he met me, > he took prednisone, gold shots, and > anti-inflammatories. Now he has gone a full year > without a problem. Seeing him encourages me not to > give up entirely on making dietary recommendations. > > But my enthusiasm will remain tempered. Like all > medical interventions--like all solutions to difficult > problems--dietary medicine dwells in a grey zone of > unclarity and imperfection. It's neither a simple, > ideal treatment, as some of its proponents believe, > nor the complete waste of time conventional medicine > has too long presumed it to be. Diet is an ambiguous > and powerful tool, too complex and emotionally charged > to be prescribed lightly, yet too powerful to be > ignored. > > > > -- > > Stephen Bratman, M.D., is a holistic physician > practicing in Ft. Collins, Colorado. He is the author > of The Alternative Medicine Sourcebook: A Realistic > Evaluation of Alternative Healing Methods (Lowell > House). > > > > > > > > > > > > Federal Law requires that we warn you of the following: > 1. Natural methods can sometimes backfire. > 2. If you are pregnant, consult your physician before using any natural > remedy. > 3. The Constitution guarantees you the right to be your own physician > and to > prescribe for your own health. > We are not medical doctors although MDs are welcome to post here as > long as > they behave themselves. > Any opinions put forth by the list members are exactly that, and any > person > following the advice of anyone posting here does so at their own risk. > It is up to you to educate yourself. By accepting advice or products > from list members, you are agreeing to > be fully responsible for your own health, and hold the List Owner and > members free of any liability. > > Dr. Ian Shillington > Doctor of Naturopathy > Dr.IanShillington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 Wellllllllllll, where to begin? I suppose I should start with his title as he did. When one thinks of a "junkie", one immediately associates this with street drugs and addiction. To some degree, putting the two words "Health Food" with the word "junkie" is almost an oxymoron. Usually when one thinks of "health" and "food" in the same context, we tend to think of "GOOD HEALTH" rather than bad. In a way, his title is somewhat like accusing one of being addicted to breathing. The fact that this man (Stephen Bratman) has gone through all of these supposed "healthfood" experiences, and then finally becomes an MD promoting Pizza and Icecream is reminiscent of Anaken Skywalker going over to the dark side of the force. And yet, many of the things he says in his article have some truth to them, and these truths give his article some semblance of credibility. Bratman is absolutely correct when he talks about the "Fads" and the "Religious" fervor that can be attached to eating and to diets, but this is not the fault of religion nor of eating "Healthy Foods". I don't like the term "Health Food" as all food that humans are "supposed" to eat are "supposed" to be healthy. Get the difference? It makes it sound as if "Health Food" is something different from the regular "normal" food that we "should" be eating. What we should all be eating regardless of diet is "Healthy Food" whether it be home grown or certified organic. I hope I'm being clear here. Fad diets are usually introduced by those who are out to make a buck. Like MLM companies, these unscrupulous people usually attach themselves to one religion or another to prey upon the members of that religion by using their "faith" as part of their sales pitch. This does NOT mean that SOME of the ideas in a specific diet are bad. What one needs to do is to learn to think for oneself. You need to make your own decisions on these topics, and to decide what is TRUE for you. Just because this guy got suckered into some fad or two himself does not mean that some of the data in those diets wasn't good data. Instead, he swung over to the other side of the pendulum and actually became a medico promoting beer, pizza and icecream while making cayenne appear bad. And he has the nerve to call himself holistic??? Sheesh!!! Just because Bratman spent a great deal of his time fasting and had some bad experiences doesn't mean that some fasting isn't good for you. Do you see the difference here. I'd never go on a fast for a year or more. Never! This would be extremely destructive to the body. However, a fast that lasts a week or two might be very beneficial to you. But noooooooooooo, this guy makes it "seem" in his article that "natural" health concepts and / or food healing concepts are a dead end when it comes to a permanent resolution of one's physical problems. Contrary to Bratman's hypothesis, Dr. Bernard Jensen (the 20th Century's greatest "Food Healer") helped tens of thousands of people to cure themselves of just about every disease known to man using only food. Food CAN be a solution. It is not the ONLY solution, but it can be A solution. Bratman is correct when he states that a diet for one person may not be the best for another, but his rant on putting all healthy food into the same boat and insinuating that every food program is ineffective as a "permanent solution" is just downright subversive. This guy himself is either in the "unscrupulous" category above, or just plain (if you'll pardon my bluntness) dumber than a bag of hammers. In my books, he is awfully confused and seems to be holding onto a lot of negativity. Doc Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington - Lynn herbal_remedies Thursday, August 21, 2003 11:02 AM [herbal remedies] Health Food Junkie Health Food Junkie by Stephen Bratman, MD Twenty years ago I was a wholehearted, impassionedadvocate of healing through food. In those days I wasa cook and organic farmer at a large commune inupstate New York. Today, as a physician who practicesalternative medicine, I still almost always recommenddietary improvement to my patients. How could I not? Alow-fat, semivegetarian diet helps prevent nearly allmajor illnesses, and more focused dietaryinterventions can dramatically improve specific healthproblems. But I'm no longer the true believer innutritional medicine I used to be. Where once I was enthusiastically evangelical, I'vegrown cautious. I can no longer console myself withthe hope that one day a universal theory of eatingwill be discovered that can match people with thediets right for them. And I no longer have faith thatdietary therapy is a uniformly wholesome intervention.I have come to regard it as I do drug therapy: as auseful treatment with serious potential side-effects. My disillusionment began in the old days at thecommune. As staff cook I was required to prepareseveral separate meals at once to satisfy theinsistent and conflicting demands of our members. Allcommunes attract idealists; ours attracted foodidealists. On a daily basis I encountered the chaos ofcontradictory nutritional theories. Our main entree was always vegetarian, but a vocalsubgroup insisted we serve meat. Since manyvegetarians would not eat from pots and panscontaminated by fleshly vibrations, the meat had to becooked in a separate kitchen. We cooks also had to satisfy the vegans, who eschewedall milk and egg products. The rights of theHindu-influenced crowd couldn't be neglected either.They insisted we omit the onion-family foods which,they believed, provoked sexual desire. For the raw-foodists we always laid out trays ofsliced raw vegetables, but the macrobiotic adherentslooked at these offerings with disgust. They wouldonly eat cooked vegetables. Furthermore, they believedthat only local, in-season vegetables should be eaten,which led to frequent and violent arguments aboutwhether the commune should spend its money on lettucein January. After watching these food wars for a while, I began tofantasize about writing a cookbook for eatingtheorists. Each food would come complete with acitation from one system or authority claiming it tobe the most divine edible ever created; a secondreference, from an opposing view, would damn it as theworst pestilence one human being ever fed to another. Finding examples wouldn't be difficult. I could pitthe rules of various food theories against each other:Spicy food is bad; cayenne peppers arehealth-promoting. Fasting on oranges is healthy;citrus fruits are too acidic. Milk is good only foryoung cows (and pasteurized milk is even worse);boiled milk is the food of the gods. Fermented foods,such as sauerkraut, are essentially rotten; fermentedfoods aid digestion. Sweets are bad; honey is nature'smost perfect food. Fruits are the ideal food; fruitcauses candida. Vinegar is a poison; apple cidervinegar cures most illnesses. Proteins should not becombined with starches; aduki beans and brown riceshould always be cooked together. Dietary methods of healing are often offered in thename of holism, one of the strongest ideals ofalternative medicine. No doubt alternative healthpractitioners are compensating for the historicalfailure of modern medicine to take dietary treatmentseriously enough. But by focusing single-mindedly ondiet, such practitioners end up advocating a form ofmedicine as lacking in holistic perspective as themore traditional approaches they attempt to correct.It would be far more holistic to try to understandother elements in the patient's life before makingdietary recommendations, and occasionally to temperthose recommendations with that understanding. --Orthorexia Nervosa Many of the most unbalanced people I have ever met arethose who have devoted themselves to healthy eating.In fact, I believe some of them have actuallycontracted a novel eating disorder for which I havecoined the name "orthorexia nervosa." The term uses"ortho," meaning straight, correct, and true, tomodify "anorexia nervosa." Orthorexia nervosa refersto a pathological fixation on eating proper food. Orthorexia begins, innocently enough, as a desire toovercome chronic illness or to improve general health.But because it requires considerable willpower toadopt a diet that differs radically from the foodhabits of childhood and the surrounding culture, fewaccomplish the change gracefully. Most must resort toan iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose ofsuperiority over those who eat junk food. Over time,what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietaryindiscretion come to occupy a greater and greaterproportion of the orthorexic's day. The act of eating pure food begins to carrypseudospiritual connotations. As orthorexiaprogresses, a day filled with sprouts, umeboshi plums,and amaranth biscuits comes to feel as holy as onespent serving the poor and homeless. When anorthorexic slips up (which may involve anything fromdevouring a single raisin to consuming a gallon ofHaagen Dazs ice cream and a large pizza), heexperiences a fall from grace and must performnumerous acts of penitence. These usually involveever-stricter diets and fasts. This "kitchen spirituality" eventually reaches a pointwhere the sufferer spends most of his time planning,purchasing, and eating meals. The orthorexic's innerlife becomes dominated by efforts to resisttemptation, self-condemnation for lapses, self-praisefor success at complying with the chosen regime, andfeelings of superiority over others less pure in theirdietary habits. This transference of all of life's value into the actof eating makes orthorexia a true disorder. In thisessential characteristic, orthorexia bears manysimilarities to the two well-known eating disordersanorexia and bulimia. Where the bulimic and anorexicfocus on the quantity of food, the orthorexic fixateson its quality. All three give food an excessive placein the scheme of life. As often happens, my sensitivity to the problem oforthorexia comes through personal experience. I myselfpassed through a phase of extreme dietary purity. When I wasn't cooking at the commune, I managed theorganic farm. This gave me constant access to fresh,high-quality produce. I became such a snob that Idisdained any vegetable that had been plucked from theground for more than 15 minutes. I was a totalvegetarian, chewed each mouthful of food 50 times,always ate in a quiet place (which meant alone), andleft my stomach partially empty at the end of eachmeal. After a year or so of this self-imposed regime, I feltclear-headed, strong, and self-righteous. I regardedthe wretched, debauched souls about me downing theirchocolate chip cookies and french fries as mereanimals reduced to satisfying gustatory lusts. But Iwasn't complacent in my virtue. Feeling an obligationto enlighten my weaker brethren, I continuallylectured friends and family on the evils of refined,processed food and the dangers of pesticides andartificial fertilizers. I pursued wellness through healthy eating for years,but gradually I began to sense that something wasgoing wrong. The poetry of my life was disappearing.My ability to carry on normal conversations washindered by intrusive thoughts of food. The need toobtain meals free of meat, fat, and artificialchemicals had put nearly all social forms of eatingbeyond my reach. I was lonely and obsessed. Even when I became aware that my scrabbling in thedirt after raw vegetables and wild plants had becomean obsession, I found it terribly difficult to freemyself. I had been seduced by righteous eating. The problem of my life's meaning had been transferredinexorably to food, and I could not reclaim it. --Tacos, Pizza, and a Milkshake I was eventually saved from the doom of eternalhealth-food addiction through two fortuitous events.The first occurred when my guru in eating--a veganheaded toward fruitarianism--suddenly abandoned hisquest. "A revelation came to me last night in adream," he said. "Rather than eat my sprouts alone, itwould be better for me to share a pizza with somefriends." His plaintive statement stirred me, but I could donothing to change my way of life until a Benedictinemonk named Brother David Steindl-Rast kindly appliedsome unorthodox techniques. I had met Brother David at a seminar he gave on thesubject of gratitude. I offered to drive him home, andon the way back to the monastery, I bragged a bitabout my oral self-discipline. Brother David'sapproach over the subsequent days was a marvelous caseof teaching by example. The drive was long. In the late afternoon, we stoppedfor lunch at an unpromising Chinese restaurant in asmall town. To our surprise, the food was authentic,the sauces were fragrant and tasty, the vegetablesfresh, and the eggrolls crisp and free from MSG. Wewere both delighted. After I had eaten the small portion which sufficed tofill my stomach halfway, Brother David casuallymentioned his belief that it was an offense againstGod to leave food uneaten on the table. Brother Davidwas a slim man, so I found it hardly credible that hefollowed this precept generally. But he continued toeat so much that I felt good manners, if not actualspiritual guidance, required me to imitate hisexample. I filled my belly for the first time in ayear. Then he upped the ante. "I always think that ice creamgoes well with Chinese food, don't you?" he asked.Ignoring my incoherent reply, Brother David directedus to an ice cream parlor and purchased me atriple-scoop cone. As we ate our ice cream, BrotherDavid led me on a two-mile walk. To keep my mind fromdwelling on my offense against the health-food gods,he edified me with an unending stream of spiritualstories. Later that evening, he ate an immense dinnerin the monastery dining room, all the while urging meto take more of one dish or another. I understood his point. But what mattered more to mewas the fact that a spiritual authority, a man forwhom I had the greatest respect, was giving mepermission to break my health-food vows. It proved aliberating stroke. Yet more than a month passed before I finally decidedto make a definitive break. I was filled with feverishanticipation. Hordes of long-suppressed gluttonousdesires, their legitimacy restored, clamored toreceive their due. On the drive into town, I plannedand replanned my junk-food menu. Within 10 minutes ofarriving, I had eaten three tacos, a medium pizza, anda large milkshake. Too stuffed to violate my formervows further, I brought the ice cream sandwich andbanana split home. My stomach felt stretched to myknees. The next morning I felt guilty and defiled. Only thememory of Brother David kept me from embarking on afive-day fast. (I fasted only two days.) It took me atleast two more years to attain a middle way and eateasily, without rigid calculation or wild swings. Anyone who has ever suffered from anorexia or bulimiawill recognize classic patterns in this story: thecyclic extremes, the obsession, the separation fromothers. These are all symptoms of an eating disorder.Having experienced them so vividly in myself 20 yearsago, I cannot overlook their presence in others. --A Menu or a Life? Consider Andrea, a patient of mine who suffered fromchronic asthma. When she came to see me, she dependedon several medications to stay alive. But with myhelp, she managed to free herself from all drugs. First, we identified foods to which Andrea wassensitive and removed them from her diet. Milk was thefirst to go, then wheat, soy, and corn. Aftereliminating these four foods, the asthma symptomsdecreased so much that Andrea was able to cut out onemedication. But she wasn't satisfied. Diligent effort identified other allergens: eggs,avocado, tomatoes, barley, rye, chicken, beef, turkey,and tuna. These too Andrea eliminated and was soonable to drop another drug entirely. Next wentbroccoli, lettuce, apples, and trout--and the rest ofher medications. Unfortunately, after about three months of feelingwell she began to discover sensitivities to otherfoods. Oranges, peaches, celery, and rice didn't suither, nor did potatoes, turkey, or amaranth biscuits.The only foods she could definitely tolerate were lamband (strangely) white sugar. Since she couldn't live on those foods alone, Andreaadopted a complex rotation diet, alternating grains ona meal-by-meal basis, with occasional completeabstention to allow her to "clear." She did the samefor vegetables with somewhat more ease, since she hada greater variety to choose from. Recently, Andrea came in for a visit and described thepresent state of her life. Wherever she goes, shecarries a supply of her own food. She doesn't go manyplaces. Most of the time she stays at home and thinkscarefully about what to eat next, because if she slipsup, the consequences continue for weeks. The asthmadoesn't come back, but she develops headaches, nausea,and strange moods. She must continuously exert herwill against cravings for foods as seemingly innocentas tomatoes and bread. She was pleased with her improvement and referred manypatients to me. But I began to feel ill whenever I sawher name on my schedule. The first rule of medicine is"above all, do no harm." Had I really helped Andrea,or had I harmed her? If she had been cured of canceror multiple sclerosis, the development of an obsessionmight not be too high a price to pay. But when westarted treatment, all she had was asthma. If she tookher four medications, she also had a life. Now all shehas is a menu. She might have been better off if shehad never heard of dietary medicine. I am generally lifted out of such melancholyreflections by success stories. I have another clientwhose rheumatoid arthritis was thrown into totalremission by one simple intervention: adding foodshigh in trace minerals to his diet. Before he met me,he took prednisone, gold shots, andanti-inflammatories. Now he has gone a full yearwithout a problem. Seeing him encourages me not togive up entirely on making dietary recommendations. But my enthusiasm will remain tempered. Like allmedical interventions--like all solutions to difficultproblems--dietary medicine dwells in a grey zone ofunclarity and imperfection. It's neither a simple,ideal treatment, as some of its proponents believe,nor the complete waste of time conventional medicinehas too long presumed it to be. Diet is an ambiguousand powerful tool, too complex and emotionally chargedto be prescribed lightly, yet too powerful to beignored. --Stephen Bratman, M.D., is a holistic physicianpracticing in Ft. Collins, Colorado. He is the authorof The Alternative Medicine Sourcebook: A RealisticEvaluation of Alternative Healing Methods (LowellHouse). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 23, 2003 Report Share Posted August 23, 2003 Some excellent points there Elizabeth, and very well put. Love, Doc Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington - Elizabeth herbal remedies Thursday, August 21, 2003 1:57 PM Re: [herbal remedies] Health Food Junkie I think it is true that quite often people are looking to *fix* or change themselves through diets, through relationships, through exercise, etc....anything and everything. The answer is always over there somewhere.My basic philosophy is about that is "what you resist persists". Until people can be ok with who they are and really CHOOSE to make a change or not- FOR a possibility- not to run away from who they are...not to agonizingly try to create or avoid perfection- which implies "imperfection"...than the issues...imbalances..remain. No one of us has the "right way" for others that they "should" follow. But, certain opportunities are being offered...many opportunities all the time. It's our choice. It is not so much about everyone doing the "right" thing or eating the right thing as much as people defining their OWN value and needs and them behaving consistently with that.I think more than anything we all want balance. WE EACH HAVE A DIFFERENT CRITERIA FOR BALANCE and health and have gathered here to learn and share. I don't want a diet that throws other areas of my life into imbalance...it's very personal really. Yet how I eat may be extreme for someone. That's ok...I don't make them wrong for their choices. Now, if they want my opinion- I will offer it! But it's not personal. It reminds me of a "natural" friend I have who cloth diapers, natural everything, but she treats her husband like crap. It's really toxic! So, here she is with all the natural stuff in her home...and filling the home with this toxic, damaging vibe in front of her cloth dipped vegetarian toddler! We have all been around people who are so self righteous about "their cause"....I think that's part of it- it's THEIR cause...about them....not the possibility of health, or love, or healing per say! It's about ego..Self righteousness is ugly- making others wrong to make yourself look good...that's just an energy drain...ughAnyway...I think it's more important to remember the big picture and not get to caught up in the details. And to focus on where we want to go- the "be"ing not just the "do"ing...choosing to be supported by like minded/hearted people! Obviously we are all on this list because we feel that a natural holistic lifestyle is a valuable approach towards health and healing....Sometimes people need to go..."too far" so they can step back some and find that place of balance...others inch towards it. till they find that place for them...it's not the same for each of us. I'm extremely impressed so far with Doc's formulas, philosophy, and strategies!!!All shared freely for us to take and apply what we like...Love,Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 23, 2003 Report Share Posted August 23, 2003 Dear Pam, Now, that is a very "Holistic" approach. ;o) Love, Doc Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington - Pee Tee herbal remedies Friday, August 22, 2003 12:51 PM [herbal remedies] Health Food Junkie It sounds like he was bypassing life in order to acheive some bodily perfection, richeousness, or godliness and forgot the health of his spirit. That read is a great reminder that you cannot have one without the other and expect ourselves to be happy w/o balance. You have to look at our lives like a pie, what would those slices be called ? I'm not sure but they should be all equally distributed and utililzed wouldn't you say..............Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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