I just read an article about a popular blog, called The Blond Vegan (which I had never heard of before today) and the author is now saying that she was suffering from orthorexia, which if I am understanding her correctly was brought on when she became vegan, as she became obsessed with juicing, juice fasting, eating raw, and on and on. I'm not going to waste my time discrediting her or putting her down, I am simply wanting to say to her as someone who has dealt with both anorexia, and bulimia, and now I am a healthy vegan, eating disorders and veganism are two very different things, and you are very misinformed if you think differently end of story. My parents know a couple of people who are "vegan" and they are very pale and sickly looking, and have very strange, I would say at the very least neurotic eating habits, but in all reality it's pretty disordered. One of the oldest tricks in the book if you have an eating disorder is to play vegetarian or vegan as an excuse to miss a lot of meals.
Orthorexia Nervosa seems to be relatively new disorder, and it is described as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. So I could see where if you have that disordered way of thinking veganism would be the way to go because it is HEALTHY. However there is an obsession in general in this country at least with health, because we are so unhealthy. There are more books, shows, blogs, vlogs, and whatever else you can imagine to guide omnivores to perfect health, and eating disorders affect people, they don't discriminate, and it is definitely not a "vegan disorder".
I will say it till the day I die that I don't care why you are vegan as long as you are vegan. I don't even get mad at celebrities who hop on veganism temporarily. I remember not too long ago, Beyoncé and Jay Z went vegan and they really had some delicious food, and Beyoncé looked even more amazing than usual. When they went back to their normal diet, they did so quietly. They have nothing but positive things to say about their vegan experience.
For whatever reason some people suffer from eating disorders. As an ex sufferer, I strongly feel that it is irresponsible to blame an obsession with healthy eating on veganism. Apparently this blog is very popular, so now young girls could read it and say sweet veganism can make me get too skinny, or people who don't know much about veganism could be scared away. And while we argue and fuss over healthy, not healthy, this that and the other, animals are being murdered. So if anyone ever reads this who is wondering if all vegans do is drink green juice and eat kale, the answer is of course not. Just like meat eaters vary, some try to be conscious and limit their meat intake, and some meat eaters have to have meat on everything, the same can be said for vegans. You do not have to be health obsessed to be a vegan there are so many different types of food for everyone!
I truly believe that everyone can thrive on a vegan diet, but I am also not a doctor, however the author of this blog is also not a doctor, and I understand that she has to address not being a vegan anymore, I just wish she would have not blamed veganism for an eating disorder.
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