Food Knowledge Is Everything: Understanding Nutrition Therapy for Eating Recovery
The renowned 20th-century psychoanalyst Anna Freud once said, “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” This profound maxim can also be applied to the realm of eating recovery. Eating recovery is never about “the food on the plate.” Rather, it is about the individual's relationship with the food on the plate.
According to “Eating Disorder Statistics” by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), "Eating disorders affect at least 9% of the population worldwide," and “9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans, will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.” These staggering statistics further represent the importance of getting individuals struggling with eating disorders on the road to eating recovery sooner than later.
One of the best ways to get those individuals on the road to eating recovery is through a program of nutrition therapy. Nutrition therapy is not about caloric intake or weight loss, or participating in one diet after another. Rather, nutrition therapy is about reinvigorating an individual about “why they eat” and not “what they eat.” Ultimately the goal of nutrition therapy is to bring back or initiate the joy that an individual should have regarding food.
A Brief Overview: Understanding Eating Disorders
There are significant benefits to the digital information age that we now find ourselves in. One of them is undoubtedly the amount of knowledge we now have at the click of a mouse. However, there is also great peril that can be associated with this easy access to information. This is the prevalence of false or misleading information. Sadly this misinformation also applies to the world of eating disorders and, ultimately, eating recovery.
What exactly are eating disorders? To avoid this misinformation spiral, it is best to glean this information from an academic and medically trusted source. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states the following about eating disorders:
"There is a commonly held misconception that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. Eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people’s eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. Preoccupation with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder."
Treatment Options for Eating Recovery
There are many treatment options when it comes to eating recovery. However, it is first important to remember that not every treatment is right for every individual, and individuals should never feel confined to one form of eating recovery. In fact, it is most recommended that a multi-faceted and customized approach be taken for each individual's eating recovery plan.
According to NIMH, there are many tested and highly regarded treatment options for eating recovery. These options include:
Various forms of therapy, including individual, group, and family therapy
Specific clinically monitored care
Certain forms of prescribed medication
They also discuss nutritional counseling, a significant aspect of nutrition therapy. However, it is not the only aspect.
Nutrition Therapy for Eating Recovery
When it comes to nutrition therapy for eating recovery, it may be good to start with what it does not include. Comprehensive nutrition therapy should never include the following:
Obsessively counting calories
Overthinking about what you ate or what you are going to eat
Feeling guilty about eating
Exercising to compensate for eating
Eating “healthy” to “counteract” what you perceive as “poor eating”
Now that we know some of the negative factors to avoid in eating recovery, here are some positive components that nutrition therapy should include:
Receiving nutritional guidance from a registered professional dietitian
Having access to a safe space and professional therapists to openly discuss the struggles of eating disorders, as well as what is working and not working in an eating recovery plan
Meal planning that focuses on nutrition rather than calories or food intake
A focus on “the joy of food” instead of “the chore of eating”
Maintaining a Program of Nutrition Therapy for Long-Term Eating Recovery
Nutrition therapy is not something that is meant only for the initial stages of eating recovery. It is meant to instill life-long lessons that can help carry an individual through their long-term eating recovery journey.
For those struggling with active eating disorders, it can feel like they are lost with nowhere else to turn. An individual may often blame themselves or others and feel unworthy of help. However, it is important to remember that eating disorders are nobody's fault, and everyone deserves a restorative eating recovery.
Dr. Anna Freud also reminds us that “Children usually do not blame themselves for getting lost.” Yet, for those struggling with an eating disorder, this childlike forgiveness is often forgotten. The goal of nutrition therapy is to offer the individual back this forgiveness and accompany it with a newfound joy of food.
Here at be Collaborative Care, when it comes to nutrition therapy, "It's not about the food; rather, it's all about the food." What we mean by that is that nutrition is paramount when it comes to achieving healthy long-term eating recovery, and when it comes to nutrition, food knowledge is key. By attaining a sense of food knowledge, we have found that our clients have not only re-engaged with their love of food, but they have gained the information they need to make the right and healthy choices in the future. If you feel that you or your loved one may be struggling with an eating disorder, we can help. For more information, please call be Collaborative Care today at (401) 262-0842.
