From paleo and ‘I quit sugar’ to soup detoxes and veganism, there has been a rise in the amount of Australians turning to a range of dieting trends in recent years.
Yet doctors and health experts fear Australians are taking the ‘clean eating’ trend too far with an increase in the amount of people being hospitalised for excessive dieting.
Dietician Nicole Dynan told Daily Mail Australia that she has witnessed an increase in people taking up the ‘clean eating’ trend over the last few years.
Ms Dynan said the rise in clean eating can even be seen through the ‘#cleaneating’ trend on Instagram from ten million posts to almost 40 million in just a few years. The hashtag clean eating currently has a staggering count of 38,697,387 posts.
With the rise of Australians getting diagnosed with eating disorders, doctors and health experts are worried that Australians are taking dieting and the ‘clean eating’ trend too far
Dietician Nicole Dynan (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia that there has been an increase in people taking up the ‘clean eating’ trend over the last few years
Ms Dynan worries that an obsession by some to have everything 100 per cent clean, plant based and unprocessed is what has fuelled the rise in clean eating and dieting.
‘Platforms like Instagram where there’s a desire to take pictures of beautiful fresh food that’s photographed well contributes to that focus.
‘It can fuel the fire,’ she said.
In her own practice Ms Dynan said she can tell when a certain patient might be taking their diet too far.
‘I get an inkling when they’re on that path because they read and know everything like calorie counts. They’re so highly informed,’ she said.
Ms Dynan says that those who start off having restricted eating practices but are not diagnosed with a full-blown eating disorder have what she calls ‘disordered eating.’
Ms Dynan says that those who start off having restricted eating practices but are not diagnosed with a full blown eating disorder have what she calls ‘disordered eating’
The Instagram hashtag clean eating currently has a staggering count of 38,697,387 posts
More Australians are getting diagnosed with orthorexia which is an obsession with eating foods that one considers as healthy.
The problem is people living with orthorexia often become too fixated on ‘healthy eating’ that they actually damage their own well-being, according to the NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association).
Sarah Maguire director of InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders said that dieting and restrictive eating has led to a rise in people being admitted to hospitals with organ dysfunctions and even heart failure.
‘We’re seeing people present to hospitals with problems in their organs and in particular problems with their heart,’ Ms Maguire told 7 News.
She said that in most extreme dieting cases, it can be a form of anorexia nervosa.
Sarah Maguire said that dieting and restrictive eating has led to a rise in people being admitted to hospitals with organ dysfunctions and even heart failure
Sarah Maguire director of InsideOut Institute said: ‘We’re seeing people present to hospitals with problems in their organs and in particular problems with their heart,’ Ms Maguire told 7 News
Dietician Ms Dynan also said that excessive dieting that translates into eating disorders like Anorexia can have significant effects on the body including kidney failure and bone density complications – which is particularly a problem among young people.
Ms Dynan said: ‘A lot of young female millennials take these [diets] up when they’re at the peak of bone mass.’
‘If they’re in their mid 20s and cutting lots of nutrients like Calcium, then their bone strength can’t reach their optimal level which can lead to Osteoporosis,’ she said.
When ‘healthy eating’ goes too far: The rise of Orthorexia
Orthorexia is an obsession with eating foods that one considers as healthy. People living with orthorexia often become too fixated on ‘healthy eating’ that they actually damage their own well-being.
Symptoms:
- compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels
- increase in concern about the health of ingredients
- cutting out food groups (sugar, carbs, dairy, meat, all animal products)
- spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at upcoming events
- distress when ‘safe’ or ‘healthy’ foods aren’t available
- obsessive following of food and ‘healthy lifestyle’ blogs and Instagram accounts
Source: NEDA