There’s an interesting thread on Reddit about someone quitting Intermittent Fasting because it’s very similar to having an eating disorder (which the original poster apparently has had):
I think it does beg the question: when does deciding to not eat cross the line to an eating disorder?
It is a criticism I’ve heard a few times against this WOE (or not, as the case may be).
I have a very unscientific answer for you. When does it become an eating disorder? When does it become a problem? When it’s causing negative issues in my life would be my answer. And that’s my simple answer. As long as it isn’t causing any negative issues in my life it’s a healthy thing. I definitely do extended an intermittent fasting and I’ve also thought of this. But so far no issues for me.
I believe there’s a fine line, and it may not “boil down to” mindset, but I think mindset has a lot to do with it. I want to point out that I’m still learning, and it’s VERY important when experimenting with taboo health “hacks”, that one is conscious of every action, and every decision and the motivations behind both.
I think in my head where I draw the line is when it’s feeling like I’m bingeing on unhealthy foods or something (which, I’m strict, AF), and using fasting as a bandaid to fix horrible diet, or using it as punishment for a weekend sugar bender.
There’s so much more to this though. I know for a fact others are going to chime in with even more insight.
Thank you for starting this conversation. As a woman, I am concerned about this.
To be very elementary if it were to be an eating disorder it would have to have a3n negative impact on your life along with disordered thinking regarding food, your relationship to food, the benefits of withholding food, control, some body dysmorphism, etc… Fasting for health in and of itself does not meet the sniff test of disordered thinking that goes into developing an eating disorder. Each person with an eating disorder has their own set of parameters that add up to eating disorder.
IMO
When I hear fasting used as punishment for noncompliance I hear an eating disorder.
When I hear it used for autophagy, general health/numbers or carefully monitored weight loss I am all for it.
I think that’s definitely on the wrong side of the line.
That said, I think there’s a grey area here.
I agree, but I think this gray area will become more black and white as more people become aware of it and more research is done. Right now it’s in taboo fad stage, but emerging as a popular activity.
@phoneboy Having had anorexia as an adult that involved both keto and fasting I can attest to what it’s like when it becomes an eating disorder (which are genetically based, you cannot “get an ED” just because you fast or diet or whatever). You fear eating. Eating is terrifying. Not eating feels soothing and calms anxiety. I recorded an episode of the Keto Woman Podcast that addreses these issues. You can definitely develop disordered eating around fasting but an eating disorder is something else altogether.
And, sadly, that research will surely be influenced by people who stand to profit from perpetuating the status quo.
Not all of it. It’s most likely been suppressed for years anyway, but the work Fung and others are doing is pretty groundbreaking and they’re exposing those biases. Same thing with the keto and meat movements going on right now.
I was hoping you’d show up, I was going to @ mention you but I didn’t want to be invasive. This teeny paragraph is HUGE!
Thanks for thinking of me @Dread1840, this is an important subject that needs attention and I’m happy to share my experience. There are so many misconceptions about eating disorders (how they present themselves, who gets them, what causes them…). Those are the things I wanted to communicate in my podcast episode. It’s great there are people here talking about. These illnesses thrive in secrecy.
Whereas I’ve spent most of my life thinking: “Eating is awesome, it feels soothing and calms anxiety.” Then I realize what I ate and feel the opposite.
Which also doesn’t feel quite right. Not “eating disorder” territory, but clearly unhealthy.
@phoneboy there are MANY iterations of eating disorders but many people also suffer from disordered eating habits which have a lot of over lap with actual EDs but they lack the genetic component. I have had a disordered relationship with food since I was younger but developed anorexia at the age of 33.
If I am not mistaken, Dr Fung addressed this somewhat. He said that ED’s like anorexia are mental disorders. It is more than likely that if fasting becomes a tool for an ED, it is most likely because you already had some psychological issue with food and fasting just becomes your latest tool to feed the disease. I think he also states that if your body fat is not high enough to sustain a healthy fast, then you should stay away from fasting. Also people with known eating disorders should stay away from fasting. If you fit in those categories, I think that is unhealthy. Also, as previously mentioned, if you look at food as the enemy instead of fantasizing about how much bacon you are going to eat once your fast is over…that may be a problem.
I hate fasting. I hate it, I hate it. But it has become my number 1 tool for losing weight and I CANNOT deny the autophagy and insulin reduction going on. I have no concern of it becoming an eating disorder because I hate it. And did I mention I hate it.
But I want to stress that, IMO, I had a eating disorder in reverse. Over consumption/ addiction to carby, sugary foods led me to be almost 300 pounds. That too was an eating disorder. SO now that I am fasting and eating Keto, I am curing that disorder.
I think many of us are in the same boat. As I said in a different thread, been there, bought the t-shirt, outgrew the T-Shirt, and got Type 2 Diabetes along the way.
Thanks for sharing, @Emacfarland. Has that podcast already been aired? I want to hear it.
I have not had a diagnosed eating disorder but as so many women, I have not always had the healthiest relationship with food. And … I didn’t realise that an ED is genetically based. That is incredible!