When healthy eating becomes an unhealthy obsession

from: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/when-healthy-eating-becomes-an-unhealthy-obsession-20140716-ztjz9.html

Date

July 16, 2014 - 4:01PM

Rose Powell

Journalist

The Blonde Vegan, aka Jordan Younger, found her blogging masked an eating disorder. Photo: The Blonde Vegan Facebook Page

Jordan Younger wasn't just any old vegan.
She was 'The Blonde Vegan', whose blog and Instagram account detailed her meals and recipes to tens of thousands of followers.
As someone obsessed with healthy eating, it came as a surprise to Younger when, just over a year into her public journey with veganism, the 23-year-old began to feel tired all the time, suffered skin breakouts and stopped getting her period.

Jordan Younger has turned away from veganism and is recovering from orthorexia nervosa. Photo: The Blonde Vegan Facebook Page

She recently told People magazine she had been diagnosed with orthorexia nervosa, a condition characterised by an overwhelming focus on a limited diet with elaborate rules that can evolve from an obsessive approach to diet, health and well being.

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"I was spending the entire day obsessing about eating only vegetables, green juices, fruits and occasionally nuts and grains," said Ms Younger, adding food was no longer enjoyable. "I was following thousands of rules in my head that were making me sick."
The term orthorexia nervosa was coined in 1997 by Californian doctor Steve Bratman in a book titled Health Food Junkies. He defined the condition as a fixation on healthy eating or pure food such as vegetables. The rigid approach to healthy eating usually includes extensive and even punitive exercise regimes.
While the condition isn’t officially recognised by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Australia’s peak body for body image illnesses said it conforms to the behaviours that define eating disorders, which affect more than 900,000 Australians.
There are four broad types of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating. According to the Butterfly Foundation, Orthorexia fits into the fourth category: identifiable sets of behaviours that make up a condition not otherwise specified.
Chief executive Christine Morgan told Fairfax Media eating disorders have a genetic predeterminant that is triggered by a nutritional deprivation.
“Nutritional deprivation is one of the key behavioural elements of an eating disorder. This can manifest in many forms, either by excluding whole foods groups or food types and then obsessively managing the consumption of these foods. Other behaviours include excessive exercise, withdrawal from social settings where food is involved, secrecy and covert behaviours.”
Jordan Younger launched The Blonde Vegan in early 2013, accumulating more than 70,000 Instagram followers, sharing photos, tips and recipes.
In a recent blog post explaining why she was transitioning away from veganism - she has since renamed herself The Balanced Blonde - Ms Younger said her online persona had obscured her understanding of what she was going through.
"My blog made it hard for me to see that I had an eating disorder. If I wasn't so closely tied to the vegan identity I'd given myself, I would have realised it a lot sooner," Ms Younger said.
Amanda Benham, a practising nutritionist with a masters in health science, said
veganism was an ethical position rather than a fad diet.
“It would be a bit of a stretch to blame veganism for an eating disorder,” Ms Benham said. “My guess is she had a predisposition for this, so whether she went on a vegan or a paleo or a low-carb diet, the outcome might have been the same.”
She said that provided vegans followed a few basic principles, they could maintain a healthy diet and life.
If you are concerned that you or someone close to you is grappling with an eating disorder, seek help. The Butterfly Foundation: 1800 334 673; Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14; Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/when-healthy-eating-becomes-an-unhealthy-obsession-20140716-ztjz9.html#ixzz37cJpAvDn

from: http://www.outsideonline.com/news-from-the-field/Dont-Eat-To-Feel-Feel-Better.html


News From the Field
Monday, July 14, 2014

The Diet That Fights Stress

Why carbs are not always (ever?) your friend

By: Lauren Steele

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No, really, you are what you eat. Photo: Crafty Cook Nook/Google CC

In a national survey administered by the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and NPR found that more than one-third of participants change their diets during times of stress. More often than not, those changes are not good.
Stress causes many to turn to comfort foods, such as sugary foods or refined carbohydrates, which actually led to discomfort and more stress in the form of a tighter waistband.
In a separate study by researchers at Harvard University published in the journal Pediatrics, breakfasts high in protein, high in fiber, and high on the glycemic index were pitted against one another to see which type caused participants to become hungry again quickly. Researchers found that foods high on the glycemic index cause a spike in blood sugar and a hunger-inducing crash, plus a surge in the stress hormone adrenaline.
Although a cookie or plate of pasta may seem like a quick fix to a stressful situation, the connection between what you eat and your mood should make you reach for foods that can make your body more resilient to its stress responses. Joe Hibbeln, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, points at sources of omega-3 fatty acids and nutrient-rich foods as best to beat stress.
"One of the most basic ways that omega-3s help to regulate mood is by quieting down the [body's] response to inflammation," Hibbeln told NPR.
Fish (even canned), Swiss chard, eggs, chia seeds, leafy greens, and dark chocolate are all chock-full of nutrients such as zinc, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins that can help strengthen immune response, boost your mood, and, most important, satisfy hunger.

So next time you are feeling like you are going to crack from the pressure, crack a few eggs and whip yourself up a stress-busting breakfast.

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/nutrition/The-High-Performance-Benedict.html

Next time you feel like you're going to crack from the pressure, crack a few eggs and whip up a stress-busting breakfast.

from: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2014/7/11/report-patientgenerated-data-will-help-shape-future-of-medicine

Report: Patient-Generated Data Will Help Shape Future of Medicine

Friday, July 11, 2014

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Patient-generated data will play a critical role in the future of medicine and will help shape the evidence base that physicians, patients and policymakers use to improve the quality of care, according to an analysis published in Health Affairs, Modern Healthcare's "Vital Signs" reports (Conn, "Vital Signs," Modern Healthcare, 7/9).

Report Details

For the analysis, Duke University researchers examined the effect of collecting real-world data directly from 

from: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2014/7/11/report-patientgenerated-data-will-help-shape-future-of-medicine

patients as opposed to gathering such data through randomized controlled trials (Dvorak, FierceHealthIT, 7/10).

The authors defined patient-generated data as patient-reported outcomes.

Report Findings

The report found that patient-generated data will be "critical to developing the evidence base that informs decisions made by patients, providers and policymakers in pursuit of high-value medical care."

Specifically, the researchers wrote that the "key to high-quality, patient-generated data is to have immediate and actionable data" that allows patients to realize the importance of the data for research, as well as their personal care.

They added, "The easier it is for patients and clinicians to navigate [personal data], the more relevant that information will be to patient care, the more invested patients and clinics will be in contributing high-quality data, and the better the data in the big-data ecosystem will be" ("Vital Signs," Modern Healthcare, 7/9).

The researchers noted that physicians are increasingly using data captured directly from patients to help understand patients' health outcomes. They added that the ability to capture such data is growing in part because of the widespread adoption and use of electronic health records and monitoring devices.

However, they noted that full EHR implementation and interoperability have yet to be achieved (FierceHealthIT, 7/10).

In the meantime, the researchers recommended that physicians take simple steps to better familiarize patients the data collection efforts, such as by physicians telling a patient that they have seen their "symptom report" ("Vital Signs," Modern Healthcare, 7/9).

Binge - emotional eating recognized as disorder

from: http://voiceofrussia.com/radio_broadcast/no_program/274505829/

The American Psychiatric Association only recently recognized binge eating disorder as a diagnosable condition. It defines binge eating as "recurring episodes of eating significantly more food in a short period of time than most people would eat under similar circumstances, with episodes marked by feelings of lack of control."

Binge eating is different from occasionally overeating: it is a systematic, recurrent pattern that is associated with significant physical and psychological problems. Its onset usually occurs later than that of other eating disorders, according to Leanne Thorndyke, head of communications at BEAT - UK’s leading charity organization supporting people affected by eating disorders:

“Binge eating disorder has over the years been a growing problem. Until the changes to the diagnostic criteria it was in sort of a residual group of a whole range of different things that didn’t really fit anywhere else. So now it is a recognized eating disorder in its own right. It affects people who are slightly older, maybe in their 30’s or 40’s. There is also an even split between the affected men and women, whereas sometimes some of the other eating disorders tend to affect more women.”

People with binge eating disorder often have a mental obsession with food, weight, diet or body image. The illness has a profound effect on a person's self-esteem, relationships, finances, daily activities, and quality of life. Sufferers often become depressed or anxious because of their eating patterns and then get stuck in a never-ending cycle, trying to “eat their grief away,” Leanne Thorndyke said.

For people with binge eating disorder, it’s important to pinpoint the exact feelings or thoughts that are getting suppressed by food, Theresa Kinsella, a New York-based registered dietitian specializing in eating disorders, noted:

“Most of the time emotional eating, or binge eating, is a red flag that someone is not getting their emotional needs met. But often someone is not aware of what those emotional needs are. So we try to use the symptomatic eating as a sign, a positive sign, that there is some potential learning about what emotional needs aren’t getting met,” Theresa Kinsella said.

Binge eating is a lot like drug addiction. For the successful treatment of the disorder it is critical to identify why a person is turning to food or to the obsessive thoughts of disordered eating. Many times there are unresolved traumas or a lifetime of abandoning their self, feelings or emotions. According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, treatment programs with cognitive behavioral therapy are significantly more effective in treating binge eating disorder than weight loss programs. To fully recover from binge eating a person must always deal with the underlying, internal causes of the disorder firs
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/radio_broadcast/no_program/274505829/

Are rotten eggs the key to curing diabetes, strokes, heart attacks and dementia?

from: http://www.thehealthsite.com/news/are-rotten-eggs-the-key-to-curing-diabetes-strokes-heart-attacks-and-dementia/

Scientists have found that hydrogen sulfide, a chemical which stinks like rotten eggs, can offer health benefits to people suffering from diabetes, stroke, heart attacks and even dementia. Scientists at the University of Exeter have come up with a new compound (AP39) that protects mitochondria, the ‘powerhouse’ of cells, which drives energy production in blood vessel cells. Preventing or reversing mitochondrial damage is a key strategy for treatments of a variety of conditions such as stroke, heart failure, diabetes and arthritis, dementia and ageing. Mitochondria determine whether cells live or die and they regulate inflammation. In the clinic, dysfunctional mitochondria are strongly linked to disease severity. Professor Matt Whiteman from the University explained that when cells become stressed by disease, they draw in enzymes to generate minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide. This keeps the mitochondria ticking over and allows cells to live. If this doesn’t happen, the cells die and lose the ability to regulate survival and control inflammation. Their results indicate that if stressed cells are treated with AP39, which slowly delivers very small amounts of this gas specifically to the mitochondria, the cells stay alive. Dr. Mark Wood of Biosciences added that although hydrogen sulfide is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with have significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases. The scientists are now working towards advancing the research to a stage where it can be tested in humans. The study was published in the journal Medicinal Chemistry Communications. What is stroke? Also known as a cerebrovascular accident, stroke is a medical emergency that arises when arteries that supply blood to the brain get affected. As a result a part of the brain doesn’t receive sufficient blood supply. Without blood and nutrient supply, the brain cells get affected and can die within a few minutes. Stroke often results in long-term dysfunction of the body part controlled by the affected brain area. There are two main types of strokes: ischemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused due to a block (blood clot) in the blood vessel whereas a haemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding through a tear in the blood vessel. Damage occurred by has a huge impact on various aspects of life and well-being. A single stroke can makes a person age by 36 years. People who survive a stroke need rigorous treatment and rehabilitation methods to achieve full recovery. Strokes can be prevented with healthy diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes. Stroke can be more damaging in women and hence women can refer to these guidelines for stroke prevention in women. In this section, you’ll find useful articles like identifying symptoms of stroke, improper hypertension medication and risk of strokes, role of oranges in preventing strokes and latest drugs reversing the effect of stroke. Read more about Stroke – causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention What is dementia? Dementia refers to a group of degenerative mental diseases in which there is a serious loss of cognitive function which goes beyond normal ageing. Symptoms include confusion, mood swings, long-term memory loss and a gradual loss of bodily functions. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia. It is caused due to plaque deposition in the brain’s neurons which affects its functioning and causes it to die. Why this happens is still not clear though research suggests it’s linked to genetic susceptibility and mental age. Read more about Dementia — causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention What is heart attack? A heart attack also referred to as a myocardial infarction (MI), coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion. It usually occurs when the blood supply to the heart is blocked suddenly due to complete blockage of the artery supplying blood to the heart. This causes the heart muscle cells to die. The blockage of artery is often caused by plaque formation (deposition and hardening of fatty substances and cholesterol on the walls of arteries) resulting in coronary heart disease (CHD). If left untreated it can be fatal. Some of the symptoms of heart attack include feeling a tight band around the chest, shooting pain up and down the left side of your body,anxiety, cough, fainting, heavy pressure, palpitations, shortness of breath and sweating. Most people tend to ignore the initial symptoms of heart attack which causes greater damage to the heart. If you have thesewarning signs of heart attack, you should call your local emergency number right away. Read more about Heart attack — causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention What is diabetes? Diabetes is a life long disease that is characterised by increased levels of sugar in the blood. It is either caused due to lack of insulin (a protein that regulates blood glucose levels) or due to lack of response to insulinproduced by the body. Diabetes caused by lack of insulin is called type 1 diabetes. It develops due to fault in the genes that make insulin and is seen in young adults and teenagers. Diabetes caused by failure of response to insulin is called type 2 diabetes. It is more common type of diabetes and is found in adults. It is caused mainly due to lifestyle factors. Some of the common symptoms of diabetes are hunger, frequent urination and increased thirst. Factors like unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and obesity are main contributing factors of type 2 diabetes. In fact, type 2 diabetes is one of the most common ‘lifestyle diseases’ which is plaguing people in the developed countries. Diabetes is also known to cause complications like heart diseasesand hypertension. Read more about Diabetes – Symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment and complications

Teenage girls who ask parents for a 'healthy diet' could be showing early signs of eating disorder, leading headteacher warns

from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2685668/Schoolgirls-ask-parents-healthy-meals-hiding-eating-disorder-leading-headmistress-claims.html

Teenage girls who ask parents for a 'healthy diet' could be showing early signs of eating disorder, leading headteacher warns

• Jayne Triffitt said pupils asking for a healthy diet may have eating disorders
• Head of £10,000-a-term boarding school said teens feel pressured to be thin
• Added exam pressure and heavy work loads can lead to mental illnesses
• Those with history of depression more likely to develop eating disorder
• Study found teen girls are prone to mental health issues due to hormones

ByLizzie Edmonds

Published: 09:20 GMT, 9 July 2014 | Updated: 11:45 GMT, 9 July 2014

Schoolgirls who ask their parents for healthy meals may be showing early signs of an eating disorder, a leading headmistress has warned.

Jayne Triffitt, who is head of the Catholic girls boarding school Woldingham in Surrey, was speaking at an end of term assembly about mental health and eating disorders among teens.

She said, due to social pressure, young girls feel they must look a certain way - and so may reduce their food intake in a bid to be thin.

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Warning: Jayne Triffitt, head of Woldingham School in Surrey, has warned that schoolgirls who ask their parents for healthy meals may be showing early signs of an eating disorder

The head of the £10,000-a-term institution warned parents to be wary of their daughters asking to follow a 'healthy diet' - as the request could be a 'euphemism' for eating very little.

Mrs Triffit said: 'The biggest pressure is to be thin. 

'But, of course, the catch is that if they reduce their food intake they will not have the energy to cope with a packed life here at school.

'All too quickly they could head for some type of eating disorder.'

Pressure: Mrs Triffit said exam stress and heavy workloads - particularly in female pupils aged between 14 and 18 - can trigger mental illness, which in turn may lead to an eating disorder (library image)

According to The Times, she added: 'Just a hint to parents, do not be caught out by your daughter's wish to eat a 'healthy' diet. This is often a euphemism for eating very little indeed.'

Later in her speech, Mrs Triffit said exam stress and heavy workloads - particularly in female pupils aged between 14 and 18 - can trigger mental illness, which in turn may lead to an eating disorder.

Mrs Triffit said pupils in this age range are under particular pressure as Universities demand 'ridiculously high grades' from applicants.

Worry: The head said young girls feel pressured to look a certain way - so drop their food intake in a bid to be thin

The headmistress said: 'Some will become over-anxious and display particular mental health issues connected with this.'

Mrs Triffit's warning comes as research indicates teenage girls could be more prone to depression and anxiety as they experience greater blood flow to the brain. 

Hormone oestrogen drives more blood to the heads of young women compared to men - and that could explain disparities in psychiatric disorders, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania claim.

Blood flow is known to be higher in adult women than men, but the study now shows it is markedly different during adolescence when teenagers are going through puberty.

According to the NHS Choices website, eating disorders are most commonly blamed on social pressures to be thin.

However, those with a family history of depression are also more likely to develop the three main types of eating disorder - anorexia nervosa, bulimia or a binge eating.

Eating disorders can affect people of any age - but often develop in teenagers.

According to the NHS, around one in 250 women will experience anorexia at some point - with the condition usually developing around the age of 16 or 17.

One in 2,000 men will also experience such disorder.

Bulimia is around five times more common than anorexia, research shows, and 90 per cent of people with bulimia are female. 

The condition usually develops around the age of 18 or 19.

Binge eating usually affects males and females equally and often appears later in life - between the ages of 30 and 40.

Research conducted last year by Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) suggested that one in ten individuals admitted to hospital with an eating disorder were female and aged 15.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2685668/Schoolgirls-ask-parents-healthy-meals-hiding-eating-disorder-leading-headmistress-claims.html#ixzz37PIj9VZS
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Junk food gets encoded in DNA of future children, scientists discover

from: http://rt.com/news/171228-diet-heredity-study-dna/

Published time: July 08, 2014 14:29

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The next time you wolf down that Big Mac with large fries consider you may be affecting more than your own waistline. Scientists now say an unhealthy diet can be encoded into DNA, which is passed down to future generations.
By now, most people have heard various negative things about a Western diet: it is too fatty, too salty and too sugary. It can cause problems to the immune system, disturb the chemical makeup of the stomach, and, perhaps the most obvious of all symptoms, lead to obesity.

Now, a study from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland has provided yet another reason to drive past your favorite drive thru window: the deleterious effects of a poor diet can leave a mark on the DNA, passing along the genes to your offspring.

The harmful effects of an unhealthy diet can “actually stretch across generations,” wrote Ian Myles, author of the study, which appeared in Nutrition Journal.

Image from nutritionj.com

Myles demonstrated that a mother’s eating habits “may potentially shape her child’s flavor preferences even before birth, potentially skewing their palette towards anything from vegetables to sugary sweets.” Passing along the proverbial sweet tooth could contribute to a child’s propensity to become obese at some point in his or her life.
“When the mother’s diet causes a harmful imbalance of her bacteria, she passes this imbalance on to her child and thus fails to present the ideal commensals for a proper immune education during her child’s most critical developmental window,” according to the study.

This developmental imbalance leaves the baby’s immune system “poorly trained to fight off infections and encourages autoimmune and allergic diseases.”

Myles cautioned that the father’s dietary choices in life also play an important role in the health of offspring.

The paternal DNA “can also be inherited by the offspring and could alter early development of the immune system [52],”according to the study. “Epigenetic changes in DNA are, in effect, cellular memory; these changes prevent dividing pancreas cells from becoming cells of the kidney or any other organ.”

Reuters / Simon Newman

Myles concludes that only a radical change of lifestyle will stop the transfer of stained DNA to future generations of babies. He also warned on the apparent uselessness of commercial extracts as a means of countering a poor diet.

“The benefits of dietary modification over supplementation is furthered by evidence showing that dietary supplementation does not increase longevity, indicating that…commercial interventions such as tea or berry extracts are unlikely to counteract poor dietary habits,” he advised.

Myles advised that people should eliminate sugar and fat in processed form from their diets and move to fresh sources of protein – and fat – such as fish and meat.

Image from nutritionj.com