Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1)

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1)
By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com
Clean eating has no official definition, but it’s usually described as avoiding processed foods, chemicals, preservatives and artificial ingredients. Instead, clean eaters choose natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, 100% whole grains, egg whites, fish, and chicken breast are clean eating staples. Clean eating appears to be a desirable, sensible, even noble goal. Eating clean is what we should all strive to do to achieve optimum health and body composition isn’t it? Arguably the answer is mostly yes, but more and more people today are asking, “is it possible to take clean eating too far?”

Physician Steven Bratman thinks so. In 1997, Bratman was the first to put a name to an obsession with healthy eating, calling it orthorexia nervosa. In his book, Health Food Junkies, Bratman said that whether they are trying to lose weight or not, orthorexics are preoccupied with eating healthy food and avoiding anything artificial or “toxic.”

Orthorexics are not only fanatical about eating the purest, healthiest, most nutritious (aka “clean”) foods available, says Bratman, they often feel a sense of righteousness in doing so.

Whether orthorexia should be officially classified as an eating disorder is controversial. The term appears in pub med indexed scientific journals, but it’s not listed in the DSM-IV as are anorexia and bulimia. Opponents wonder, “Since when did choosing a lifestyle that eliminates junk food become a disease?”

Media coverage and internet discussions about orthorexia have increased in the past year. Websites such as the Mayo Clinic, the Huffington Post and the UK-based Guardian added their editorials into the mix in recent months, alongside dozens of individual bloggers.

In most cases, mainstream media discussions of orthorexia have focused on far extremes of health food practices such as raw foodism, detox dieting or 100% pure organic eating, where some folks would rather starve to death than eat a cooked or pesticide-exposed vegetable.

But closer to my home, what about the bodybuilding, fitness, figure and physique crowd? Should we be included in this discussion?

In their quest for adding muscle mass and burning fat, many fitness and physique enthusiasts become obsessed with eating only the “cleanest” foods possible. Like the natural health enthusiasts, physique athletes usually avoid all processed foods and put entire food groups on the “forbidden” list. Oddly, that sometimes includes rules such as “you must cut out fruit on precontest diets” because “fruit is high in sugar” or “fructose turns to fat”.

According to Bratman’s criteria, one could argue that almost every competitive bodybuilder or physique athlete is automatically orthorexic, and they might add obsessive-compulsive and neurotic for good measure.

As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings about that (being a bodybuilder).

If I choose to set a rule for myself that I’ll limit my junk food to only 10% of my meals, does that make me orthorexic or is that a prudent health decision?

If I plan my menus on a spreadsheet, am I a macronutrient micromanager or am I detail-oriented?

If I make my meals in advance for the day ahead, does that mean I’m obsessive compulsive, or am I prepared?

If I make one of my high protein vanilla apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes (one of my favorite portable clean food recipes) and take it with me on a flight because I don’t want to eat airline food, am I neurotic? Or am I perhaps, the smartest guy on the plane?

Some folks are probably shaking their heads and saying, “you bodybuilders are definitely OCD.” I prefer to call it dedicated, thank you, but perhaps we are obsessive, at least a wee bit before competitions. But aren’t all competitive athletes, to some degree, at the upper levels of most sports?

Athletes of all kinds – not just bodybuilders - take their nutrition and training regimens far beyond what the “average Joe” or “average soccer mom” would require to stay healthy and fit.

What if you don’t want to be average – what if you want to be world class? What then? Is putting hours of practice a day into developing a skill or discipline an obsessive-compulsive disorder too?

Okay, now that I’ve defended the strict lifestyle habits of the muscle-head brother and sisterhood, let me address the flipside: being too strict.

Where does the average health and bodyweight-concerned fitness enthusiast draw the line? How clean should you eat? Do you need lots of structure and planning in your eating habits, or as Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said, does making too many rules only create more rule-breakers?

Debates have started flaring up over these questions and as inconceivable as it seems, there has actually been somewhat of a backlash against “clean eating.” Why would THAT possibly happen? Eating “clean” is eating healthy, right? Eating clean is a good thing, right?

Well, almost everyone agrees that it’s ok to have a “cheat meal” occasionally, but some experts - after watching how many people are becoming neurotic about food - are now clamoring to point out that it’s not necessary to be so strict.

The diet pendulum has apparently swung from:

“Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods you enjoy.”

To:

“You MUST eat clean!”

To:

“Go ahead and eat as much junk as you want, as long as you watch your calories and get your essential nutrients like protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals.”

Talk about confusion! Now we’ve got people who gain great pride and a sense of dedication and accomplishment for taking up a healthy, clean-eating lifestyle and we’ve got people who thumb their nose at clean eating and say, “Chill out bro! Live a little!”

The current debate about how clean you should eat (or how much you should “cheat”) reminds me of the recent arguments over training methods such as steady state versus HIIT cardio. Whatever the debate of the day, most people seem to have a really difficult time acknowledging that there’s a middle ground.

Most dieters, when they don’t like a certain philosophy, reject it entirely and flip to its polar opposite. Most dieters are dichotomous thinkers, always viewing their endeavors as all or nothing. Most dieters are also joiners, plugging into one of the various diet tribes and gaining their sense of identity by belonging.
In some cases, I think these tribes are more like cults, as people follow guru-like leaders who pass down health and nutrition commandments that are followed with religious conviction. Seriously, the parallels of diet groups to religious groups can be downright scary sometimes.

Whether the goal is to optimize health, to build muscle or to burn fat, there’s little doubt that many individuals with all kinds of different motivations sometimes take their dietary restrictions to extremes. Obviously, an overly restrictive diet can lead to nutrient deficiencies and can adversely affect health, energy and performance.

In some cases, I can also see how swinging to any extreme, even a “healthy obsession” with pure food could lead to distorted views and behaviors that border on eating disorders. If you don’t believe it’s a real clinical psychological problem, then at the very least, you might agree that nutritional extremes could mean restricting social activities, creating inconvenience or making lifestyle sacrifices that are just not necessary.

I believe there’s a middle ground - a place where we can balance health and physique with a lifestyle and food plan we love and enjoy. Even more important, I believe that your middle ground may not be the same as mine. We all must find our own balance.
I believe that going back to BALANCE, but this time with a better definition of what balance means, is the approach of the future.

I also believe that some new rules would help us find that balance.

If you'd like to learn the rules that bodybuilders and fitness models follow to "eat clean" and stay lean, then visit http://www.burnthefat.com.

Tom Venuto, author of:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle


About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

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How To Get Rid Of Arm Flab

How To Get Rid Of Arm Flab

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[ Editor's Note: Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]
Got arm flab?

Know someone who does?

Some women I know with a healthy sense of humor refer to it as "their wings" because their arm flab flaps when they walk or jog.

It's time to get rid of your wings ladies...

... and guys, listen up: You are not immune to arm flab. Even if your don't have any, the tips I'm about to give will help you build stronger arms.

Before I go any further, I have to tell you about Marty Web.

Marty looked like ... well, your typical 59-year-old housewife. Actually she looked a bit worse.

She was a good 80 pounds over her ideal bodyweight. And she had her wings...

... big time wings. Loads of arm flab.

That was at age 59.

At age 61... wow. Different story.

Marty transformed her body to such a degree that even I could have never guessed she was an OUNCE overweight!

Her story and 52 others just like her, male and female, are in my first book -- and my best-seller Fit Over 40.

I'd like you to read more about it here --

<--- cure for arm flab

Marty replaced her "wings" with toned, beautiful arms. And you can too.

She has two pages in Fit Over 40... too much to cover in an email... but here's the basics to get you started:

1. You have to get your nutrition down pat. Most people think that the flab on their arms (or anywhere for that matter) can be solved by "turning it into muscle."

This is not true folks. Fat does not turn into "anything". It is used for energy. Period.

Muscle is muscle. Fat is fat.

You must use low-insulin nutrition like I recommend in all my books, including Fit Over 40, to lower your bodyfat. For ladies, the back-of-the-arm bodyfat is often the last bit to go.

But I promise -- it will go. I can go for anyone. Marty Web and dozens of other ladies in Fit Over 40 prove that in living color... and they share how they did it.

Low-insulin nutrition means eating more protein-rich foods, foods that are not processed, and plenty of tasty veggies. But it does not mean you cannot have your pizza and burgers here and there. I do every week and my bodyfat is low.

2. You must train your triceps. The back of the arm is made of three muscles called the "triceps". You have a long head, a medial head and a lateral head that form the triceps muscle group.

If you cannot access a gym, you can do plain-old pushups to work all three heads of the triceps. Here's a few tips. First, if you cannot do a pushup with your legs straight, start by doing them on your knees. Work up to straight-legged pushups.

Second, do one third of your reps with your hands facing away from your body, one third with your hands facing toward your body (fingers pointing toward you) and the final third with your hands in the "normal" pushup position, facing the same direction as your body. This will work the various heads nicely.

If you have access to a gym, see the exercises for the triceps found in my book Fit Over 40:

<--- say good-bye to arm flab

3. Finally, you have to have a role model. Find someone like Marty who has lost their wings and use their success to inspire you.

Put these three things together and you too will be "grounded" -- wingless, but with a lovely pair of arms that never jiggle and look fantastic.

New Research: Fat Is Contagious?

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[ Editor's Note: Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

It's like a dream come true.

"Gaining bodyfat is the result of a virus."

Wouldn't that be great news?

Well...

Let me tell you about the AD-36 adenovirus. Adenoviruses are the same nasty bugs that cause the common cold. We all have these viruses in various forms in our body all the time.

That last bit is a critical distinction.

Remember that.

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana has been doing some really ground-breaking research on AD-36. AD-36 affects stem cells... more specifically fat cells, both pre-formed and post-formed.

This means AD-36 can make MORE fat cells if contracted as an infant and make your fat cells larger if contracted as an adult.

Or so the theory goes.

To quote the study:

"Earlier researchers have concluded that Ad-36 may be contributors to obesity by super-charging fat cells to grow and store more fat. Until now, though, those researchers thought the viruses targeted pre-fat cells (called pre-adipocytes), causing them to convert in higher numbers to fat cells and causing those fat cells to be larger. Those studies were in mice. Pasaricas work determines the virus targets stem cells in humans."

The result?

"In one test, a third of obese people had the rare and highly contagious virus compared to just 11 percent of thinner people. Weight gain can last three months until the body has built up resistance to the bug."

Wow. Sounds like we have a winner here. A virus that you can catch that literally makes you gain bodyfat! All we need is...

a vaccine!

Right?

Wrong.

First of all, notice that 11% of LEAN people have AD-36. And at any given time, just like a cold or a flu virus, you could contract AD-36. If your body has 'never' been exposed to it, you may require about 3 months to build up antibodies to ward it off.

Now, you can gain a lot of weight in 3 months... but come on. You cannot become obese in three months unless you are really, REALLY working at it.

Plus, like most viruses, you build up immunity to AD-36. Researchers do not know how long the immunity lasts, but some theorize it could last years... some even decades.

And let's not forget those 11% who are lean and have the virus.

Why did they not all of a sudden get "sick" with bodyfat?

Because they are not EATING or LIVING in a way that allows them to gain bodyfat no matter what nasty freakin' viruses may be floating about, that's why.

That's right folks: It is always going to come down to the food we put in our body and the way we move.

Here's another hypothesis presented by Sherry Strong, food philosopher and nutritionist: "This could very well be the result of nature creating a mutation to encourage us to eat more due to the fact our consumption of natural, whole and organic foods is so low."

Brilliant observation... and one tha makes complete sense.

Even if a "virus" is responsible for 20% of our weightgain, what about the other 80%?

We do not need a vaccine other than good food and a common sense workout plan.

Here's the best --

<--- the "vaccine" for bodyfat

Here's why I love this workout:

1. It's fast. 7-14 minutes 3-5 days per week. Anyone on earth can do this.

2. The Basic Upgrade (you will see it) still comes with a copy of my book "The Every Other Day Diet." Put the two together and you have an absolute winner of a plan that's practical and enjoyable.

3. Plus, anyone who owns "Every Other Day Diet" gets my upcoming "Radical Fatloss Blueprint" book freee. It comes out March 1st.

That's 3 good reasons to go here and check out 7 Minute Muscle...

<--- the "vaccine" for bodyfat
Here's one more:

You know better.

You know that there's never going to be a magic pill for health, vitality, energy and looking your best.

We can keep hoping... or you can take action and get what you want now.

To me, that makes more sense than AD-36 "Super-Retro Fat-burning Vaccine" to hit the marketplace in 2021.