Food and Nutrition

You’re hungry, so you eat. You eat until you are full and then you stop. Sometimes, you might eat a little more than you really should. Feeling full, you might lament about the mistake you made eating so much food, wonder what you were thinking (or what you weren’t thinking) and vow not to do that again. It’s possible that you compensate. Maybe you take a pill, you change your diet the next day, or you spend extra time at the gym. This is all relatively normal. Now, take it to the extreme. You’re hungry and you start to feel paralyzed by anxiety that grows every time you get hungry. You get anxious when you’re hungry because you know there is a very real possibility that once you start eating you won’t be able to stop. You eat. Then you eat some more. You don’t stop eating until you feel so full you’re actually in pain. You don’t feel a little bit bad you ate so much. Intrusive and obsessive thoughts about what you’ve done, how horrible you are for doing it, and how you should punish yourself for it start to cloud your mind along with the euphoria of feeling so full. However, the euphoria is short lived because you are quickly consumed with overwhelming guilt which drives you to compulsive behavior. Instead of compensating in healthy ways like eating a bit healthier or going to the gym you purge. You purge because you have bulimia nervosa and this is it’s vicious cycle. Purging in bulimia nervosa can take many forms. Some people compulsively exercise, some people abuse laxatives, others induce vomiting. Researchers have tried for years to understand what compels someone with bulimia to participate in the behaviors they do. Recently, two studies in Journal of Abnormal Psychology gave some insight. A brain which has developed bulimia responds differently to triggers of stress with alterations in appetite and a disconnect in satiation. Meaning, people with bulimia have a hard time controlling their hunger and knowing when they’re full. Using MRI, one study found that the brains of people with bulimia have more reward circuitry when it comes to taste. Similar to the way an alcoholics is prone to a binge on alcohol after tasting their first drink, someone with bulimia is prone to a binge on food after their brain responds to the taste of it. As a result, people with bulimia eat beyond their capacity. Then compensate through controlling mechanisms because they feel they have been taken so out of control of their bodies.

“That’s not good,” remarks main character Ellen in the highly controversial Netflix film To The Bone, as she steps off the scale in a morning weighing session at her residential treatment program. Ellen is portrayed by Lily Collins, an actress who has been open about her own struggles with eating disorders. The “not good” she is referring to is her very low weight, which is made obvious by her skin and bone structure. Ellen’s diagnosis is anorexia nervosa. Among all mental health disorders, anorexia nervosa has the highest rate of mortality. Heavy restriction and starvation deprives the body of the nutrients it needs, causing the body to take extreme measures for survival. Eating away at fat until the body eats away at muscle and bone, it will do whatever it has to do to gain its energy back and survive. The main character develops “furring”, a condition of anorexia in which the body starts growing extra hair in order to keep itself warm. Ellen is troublingly skinny. Her anorexia nervosa has gotten extreme and at one point in the movie she is on the brink of having a feeding tube. She also passes out and turns down food when it is offered to her after. Unfortunately, to movie viewers, Ellen is the stereotype of anorexia. She is caucasian, pretty, a female, and comes from a middle to upper class family. In her treatment, there are representations of other bodies and genders with different types of eating disorders. However, as many different articles criticizing the film points out, Ellen’s character represents a small percentage of the way people with eating disorders look. They aren’t always that severe but because that level of severity is what the media chooses to portray, that’s what millions of people believe they have to look like in order to be considered “sick”. One of the most dangerous statements people unknowingly make to someone who opens up about having an eating disorder is, “You don’t look like you have an eating disorder.” If you ask  said person just what an eating disorder is supposed to look like, you would probably get a description of someone like Ellen- emaciated and “to the bone”. Not all eating disorders cause severe weight loss. Bulimia nervosa doesn’t typically contribute to weight loss. Binge eating disorder causes weight gain. Orthorexia is focused on maintaining a “healthy” body. Mild to moderate cases of anorexia might not include severe weight loss either. Part of the problem with this stigma is that the non-severe eating disorders can be hard to find treatment for, despite the chronic stress one experiences mentally as well as physically.

To be mindful is to be “conscious or aware of something”. How often are you totally conscious- aware of and responding to your environment- of what you’re eating? Do you really taste your food when you eat it? Take time to appreciate it? Know how much you’re eating? Really discern whether you are full or not, eating for hunger or not? Too often we tell ourselves we’ll only have one slice of pizza and eat half the pie. We go beyond our self-set limits because we go unconscious when we eat. We stop being aware of what we are eating, how we are eating it, and the effect it has on our body. We eat only to feed ourselves, sometimes we eat to feed our emotions. Essentially, we become mindless about our eating. For all forms of mental health recovery, eating, diet, and nutrition are essential parts of a recovery program. Mindfulness is a practice that can be applied to all areas of recovery because mindfulness is applied to all areas of life. As a form of but separate from meditation, mindfulness helps focus the mind. Practicing mindfulness is as easy as paying more attention, becoming more aware, noticing more, and bringing an element of non-judgment. When you’re reaching for that next mindless snack, you’ll suddenly find yourself thinking- why am I eating? Should I be eating? Do I want to be eating this if I am hungry? According to the Center for Mindful Eating, mindful eating is defined as being aware of how healing and nurturing food can be. Using food preparation as an opportunity to connect with your food and respecting your “inner wisdom” about food are mindfulness practices as well. When you choose mindfully, you are “choosing to eat food that is both pleasing to you and nourishing to your body by using all your senses to explore, savor and taste.” You recognize your autonomy in responding to food authentically. Mindfulness allows you to eat what you like and what you don’t like without judging yourself. Lastly, mindful eating helps you to become aware of your physical hunger to know when you’re truly hungry and when you’re not as well as when you’re still hungry as opposed to when you’re eating for other reasons. Mindfulness is studied for its beneficial effects in reducing stress and symptoms of mental health stressors like anxiety and depression. Research has found that mindfulness reduces stress and improves mental clarity, improving habits and behaviors. When you bring mindfulness into your eating, you make eating a conscious, connected experience which provides benefits to your mind as well as your body.

Eating disorders are triggered by practices other people might find normal. Calorie counting, tracking food intake, clocking exercise, analyzing macro and micro nutrients, reaching a daily “step” goal. For others, these are the revolutions of technology in health and fitness. It is easier than ever to track your every move, how many calories those moves burn, your heart rate, and more. Constantly clued into your health, your are supposed to feel like you can optimize your daily life to optimize your daily health. Modern healthy living gets things backwards about health. Social media platforms are the perfect example. Posting screenshots of fitness tracking apps, pictures of nutritious meals, “mirror selfies” about working hard and taking care of your body- all of these could be hiding deeper issues. Orthorexia nervosa, for example, is a new eating disorder which has developed out of the clean eating health trend. Exercise addiction, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, body dysmorphia, and otherwise disordered eating or body image issues could be hiding behind what looks like a very healthy, dedicated, disciplined individual. Fitness tracking apps support an obsession which is emphasized through compulsive behaviors. People with disordered eating and exercising behaviors create obsessive thought processes about their food, their exercise and their appearance. Should they miscalculate a portion, miss a workout, or be forced to eat outside of their strict “healthy” diet, their brain obsesses about the consequences. In order to rid themselves of those obsessive thoughts, they compulsively detox, cleanse, starve, purge, exercise, restrict, or more to make up for it. This behavior is normalized as well. Instead of accepting all food as food and eating in balance with moderation, “bad” food has to be compensated for or else it could cause problems. Most often the real “problems” that these behaviors cause is emotional insecurity and a feeling of being out of control. Sometimes, technology brings out and fully cultivates a preexisting mental illness which never had anywhere else to develop. Those who might have body image issues, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem might find solace in eating disorder behaviors and the obsessive commitment to fitness tracking apps, bringing their problems to light.   If you feel you are losing control of your life due to an unhealthy obsession with fitness, exercise, eating, and more, your are not alone. There is help for recovering from an eating disorder. As a leading primary mental health provider, Avalon By The Sea offers trusted residential treatment programs which provide trusted results. Call us today for a confidential assessment and information on our healing programs in Malibu, California: 888-958-7511

According to the American Heart Association, one out of every five people who are hospitalized for either a heart attack or chest pain will develop depression. These patients don’t experience post-surgical depression or passing depression. Major depression is four times more common in those who have had a heart attack or been hospitalized for chest pain than the rest of the population. Additional statistics from the American Heart Association included one out of three survivors of a stroke developing depression and half of patients who have any kind of cardiac bypass surgery. Depression and the heart are closely related and can have a fatal relationship. Depression causes a high amount of stress. In people who experience their depression through lethargy and fatigue, there is typically a loss in diet, nutrition, and exercise. People who turn to drugs, alcohol, or food to cope with their depression also put a great amount of stress on the heart. CNN cites that patients with heart disease who are diagnosed with major depression are twice as likely to die within ten years as other patients. The lack of motivation, poor diet and exercise, and extreme emotional stress is heavy on the heart- metaphorically and physically. Coupled with substance abuse, the heart is strained to keep up with the weight of depression. Treatment for heart disease and heart attack should include a mental health screening and required short term work with a counselor or a therapist. Depression is considered relapsing and remitting. Proven practices like therapy, meditation, yoga, exercise, and treatment have reduced people’s depression scores considerably until they are in clinical remission. All of the practices proven to benefit people with depression are also healthy for the heart. Any kind of therapeutic technique which reduces stress reduces inflammation. Ultimately, heart problems are caused by chronic inflammation, which can be caused by chronic stress. Mental illnesses like depression are forms of mental stress and some have been linked to causing inflammation in the body. Yoga and meditation have been scientifically proven to reduce stress, reduce inflammation, and help encourage heart health.

We live in an immensely voyeuristic and exhibitionist world thanks to social media. At first, with a simple post using words of how we were doing, we could create small statements to describe the events of our lives. Next, came photos, opening a new world of possibilities. Soon, we became professionals on the latest news, sharing links, sharing videos, and leaving behind us a digital breadcrumb trail about every aspect of our lives. Today, instant sharing allows people to document every moment of their day and night, letting people in, and showing their lives off. Social media falls under scrutiny for promoting fake identity and falsism rather than authenticity. There is never a way of knowing the truth behind every photo and post, the pain behind every smile, or the eating disorder and severe body dysmorphia behind every “insta-perfect” body. Numerous “insta-famous” “insta-stars” have come forward about the truth behind their picture perfect looking lives. It takes hours to frame a shot the right way, obsessive takes and retakes, endless editing, and filtering, before that one shot of perfection can be ogled over by millions upon millions of followers. Dangerously, there are the use of hashtags which perpetuate unrealistic and severely unhealthy idealistic standards of perfection and beauty which drive particular populations toward eating disorder behavior. Without understanding the truth behind the image, people are shown just an image and a message: this is how you should look, do whatever it takes to get there, it is worth it. Hashtags like “thinspo” “fitspo” and others have sparked controversy, in addition to the multiple body “trends” which problematically place a high amount of focus on specific body parts. Professionals have the most worry about pro-eating disorder hashtags and posts in which users encourage one another in their eating disorder behaviors. “For people suffering with anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder,” explains a contributing author to Huffington Post, “obsessions over self-image and feelings of shame over eating food consume a person’s daily thoughts and actions.” In addition to documenting every physical achievement, perfect angle, and healthy meal, social media users feel compelled to talk about their version of acceptance-- maybe they “indulged” today and ate “bad” thereby “cheating” on their “lifestyle”, but it’s okay, because they will work out and eat clean tomorrow, because that is the meaning of “balance”. “With the multitude of environmental stressors already influencing disordered eating habits, social media has new been added to the list. Now more than ever, since social media is used by individuals of all ages and backgrounds, it has begun to play a larger role in the influence and development of social media.”

Treatment for the recovery of mental health disorders has to accompany the individuality which comes with each client. Alternative healing therapies give each client an opportunity to find a method of relaxation and healing which works for them. Healing Through Food Nutrition is key to recovery. The body needs to be nourished in a healthy way in order to sustain the mind while it recovers and works hard in therapy. Organic, gourmet meals help make sure each client is given the nutritious support they need. Working with a trained dietician to create a personalized meal plan. Healing Through Acupuncture Acupuncture is an ancient eastern treatment method used as a preventative science. Increasingly, acupuncture is being used for various levels of treatment, especially in patients with alcoholism and addiction issues. There are specific organizations of acupuncturists trained for providing detox relief. A recent movement in New England has called for law which would allow normal therapists and mental health practitioners to administer “ear buds” or acupuncture treatment to the ear for aiding in difficult emotional work. Healing Through Massage Massage therapy influences circulation, promotes relaxation, and helps create comfortability with the human touch. In treatment, massage therapy is a deeply healing treatment method. Therapy and different group processing activities can be emotionally stressful and taxing. Massage helps restore the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga Yoga is a discipline and a practice focused on mindfulness, non-judgmentalism, and wellbeing. For everyone in recovery, yoga is a helpful treatment method for healing the body through stretching and strength building, healing the mind through mindfulness and emotional release, and healing the spirit through universality. Meditation And Mindfulness Both mindfulness and meditation are clinically proven treatment methods for reducing the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, all of which are experienced during treatment. Meditation is part of all twelve step programs and mindfulness is recommended as part of the recovery lifestyle. At Avalon By The Sea, we believe the holistic approach is the recipe for success in treatment and recovery. For our primary care treatment programs, we aim to heal mind, body, and spirit while cultivating recovery for a lifetime. For a confidential assessment and more information, call us today at 1 888-958-7511.