43. Orthorexia Vs Healthy Eating

08/20/23 • 32 min

When does 'healthy eating' go too far?

In this episode, we're chatting about orthorexia: an eating disorder that involves a fixation or obsession with healthy eating. Although it's not yet included in the DSM V as an official eating disorder diagnosis, you will commonly find it referenced in the media, blog articles and research papers and it is recognised by many mental health professionals and eating disorder experts.

In this episode, Kiah and Meg discuss:

How orthorexia might develop, including risk factors
Some red flags or possible signs of orthorexia
How to tell the difference between healthy eating and orthorexia
The 'clean eating' movement
Food rules vs. food preferences
Diagnosis & prevalence of orthorexia

At Imbodi Health, our mission is to empower you to ditch diet culture, make friends with food and find peace with your body. Find your version of ‘whole health’ no matter your body shape or size.

Tune in weekly for bite-sized episodes on all things non-diet nutrition, disordered eating recovery, joyful movement, self-care and body acceptance.

Join the community on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imbodihealth/
Visit The Butterfly Foundation: https://butterfly.org.au/
Imbodi Health website: www.imbodihealth.com

If you enjoy our episodes, please give us a written review on Apple podcasts. It helps our podcast to be shown to more people!

When does 'healthy eating' go too far?

In this episode, Kiah and Meg discuss:

How orthorexia might develop, including risk factors
Some red flags or possible signs of orthorexia
How to tell the difference between healthy eating and orthorexia
The 'clean eating' movement
Food rules vs. food preferences
Diagnosis & prevalence of orthorexia

At Imbodi Health, our mission is to empower you to ditch diet culture, make friends with food and find peace with your body. Find your version of ‘whole health’ no matter your body shape or size.

Tune in weekly for bite-sized episodes on all things non-diet nutrition, disordered eating recovery, joyful movement, self-care and body acceptance.

Join the community on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imbodihealth/
Visit The Butterfly Foundation: https://butterfly.org.au/
Imbodi Health website: www.imbodihealth.com

If you enjoy our episodes, please give us a written review on Apple podcasts. It helps our podcast to be shown to more people!

Previous Episode

42. Neurodivergence and Eating Disorders - Dr Maud Achard

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking to the wonderful Dr Maud Achard about Neurodivergence & Eating Disorders.

Dr Maud is an autistic mental health dietitian and a credentialed eating disorder clinician. She works in private practice and in inpatient mental health services.

Her main area of interest is to provide neurodiversity-affirming health care for neurodivergent persons with feeding differences and eating disorders.

She understands that different brains mean different needs and also runs education sessions and workshops for health professionals, teaching them how to create a more accessible, safe, and supportive space for all the diverse minds out there. Her hope, with like-minded individuals, is to create a ripple effect of positive change in the healthcare community to better cater for and support neurodivergent persons.

In this episode, we chatted about many important topics including:

The difference between neurotypical and neurodivergent, and neurodiverse vs neurodivergent
The link between neurodivergence and eating disorders
How eating disorder support might differ for someone who is neurodivergent vs neurotypical
What neurodiversity-affirming healthcare looks like
Plus much more!
We wrap up with some important take-home messages that brought a tear to all of our eyes

Additional links & resources:

EDNA report on eating disorders and neurodivergence: https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/types/neurodivergence/
EDNA website: https://www.edneuroaus.com
Yellow Lady Bugs: https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au
Reframing Autism (autistic led organisation): https://reframingautism.org.au/about-autism/
Other podcasts:
- NeuroSpicED: https://www.edneuroaus.com/podcast (trigger warning: discussion of eating disorder behaviours in some detail, self-harm and suicidality, trauma etc.)
- The Neurodiversity Podcast: https://neurodiversitypodcast.co

At Imbodi Health, our mission is to empower you to ditch diet culture, make friends with food and find peace with your body. Find your version of ‘whole health’ no matter your body shape or size.

Tune in weekly for bite-sized episodes on all things non-diet nutrition, disordered eating recovery, joyful movement, self-care and body acceptance.

Join the community on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imbodihealth/
Visit The Butterfly Foundation: https://butterfly.org.au/
Imbodi Health website: www.imbodihealth.com

If you enjoy our episodes, please give us a written review on Apple podcasts. It helps our podcast to be shown to more people!

Next Episode

44. What To Do On A Bad Body Image Day

At some point, many of us will struggle with distress around our bodies, and have bad body image days. Although this is sadly a very common and normal human experience, it can be really helpful to have a toolbox of coping strategies that help us avoid behaviours like restricting food, dieting, or exercising to try and 'fix' our bodies or improve how we feel about them.

In this episode, Kiah and Meg discuss eight ways to navigate body image distress, including:

Wearing comfy clothing
Considering how diet culture & modern beauty standards impact us
Leaning on your support system
Connecting with yourself
Avoiding dieting or food restriction
Making time for self-care & self-compassion
And we chat about our personal experiences with navigating body image

At Imbodi Health, our mission is to empower you to ditch diet culture, make friends with food and find peace with your body. Find your version of ‘whole health’ no matter your body shape or size.

Tune in weekly for bite-sized episodes on all things non-diet nutrition, disordered eating recovery, joyful movement, self-care and body acceptance.