Anything can be taken to extremes. But to bash the entire whole foods movement is also extreme, imo. Thanks for sharing the article,bbbearsmom, even though I didn't agree with it!
From the article
“At best, clean eating is nonsense dressed up as health advice. At worst, it is embraced by those with underlying psychological difficulties and used to justify an increasingly restrictive diet — with potentially life-threatening results,” he writes.
These diets “fail to deliver”, claims Pemberton, “because any diet based on denying entire food groups will always fail — and the whole circus moves on to the next fad”
"The whole irony of the clean eating fad is that, despite what it purports to be, it’s fundamentally toxic"
I think these statements are exaggerated and an oversimplification. There are many people who are vegan, vegetarian or eat no processed foods, limit added sugar or saturated fats or some combo and similar diets and are healthy and been on them for years. To say they
"always fail" is ridiculous. I know quite a few people on such diets for years and they are very healthy. I guess the people quoted never heard of the Seventh Day Adventists for example. Perhaps they should read about the Blue Zones. If not they should check out author Dan Buettner. Perhaps read
The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. Maybe read up on Dr. Dean Ornish. Medicaid pays for his plan for some. It's basically a vegetarian diet.
People who try to shun processed foods have
"underlying psychological difficulties" ? What? People are suffering from eating too much fake processed foods that are loaded with salt, sugar and saturated fats ! To suggest that people who eat a "whole food" diet are somehow not mentally stable is crazy talk.
This is also not about money. One can eat quite cheaply eating whole foods. Dried beans, lentils, whole grain pasta, homemade tomato sauce, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, eggs, frozen veggies, buying produce that is in-season etc. are inexpensive food choices. Buy store brands and shop sales. You can google to find many tips on how to eat a healthy whole food diet relatively inexpensively. I am talking about the average American not someone who unfortunately lives at or near the poverty line.
I googled-- how to eat whole foods on a budget-- and got hundreds of hits.
Here is just one of the
www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/whole-foods-plant-based-fifty-dollars-a-week/The article quotes doctors who deal with patients with eating disorders. I looked it up and found this stat:
The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders states "that approximately eight million people in the U.S. have anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and related eating disorders. Eight million people represents about three percent
(3%) of the total population."
More than two-thirds (
68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese. More than one-third (
35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese. More than 1 in 20 (
6.3 percent) have extreme obesity. Almost 3 in 4 men (
74 percent) are considered to be overweight or obese.
It is clear way more people suffer debilitating disease and even death from overeating and a poor SAD diet. SAD- standard American diet. Diabetes, heart disease and cancer are often linked to obesity and poor diet among other risk factors.
"arguing that the lifestyle is synonymous with orthorexia – a term coined to describe a fixation on eating healthy foods."
So anyone who strives to eat healthy (no processed foods or vegetarian or vegan etc.) suffers fro orthorexia ? Sounds like quack nonsense to me.
I understand the doctors in the article deals with patients who have eating disorders. Perhaps that has colored their world view. However, to than apply these sweeping generalizations to the population as a whole is nonsensical.
My comments are about the people quoted in the article. I am not talking about the other posters choices, Paltrow, Goop and other actresses mentioned.