fbpx

What is normal eating and what is disordered eating?

What is normal eating?

What is normal eating? Do you feel confused? Disordered eating practices are unfortunately very common because of widespread diet culture and misunderstandings about food and nutrition. This means that so many of us have forgotten what normal eating is. In this blog we are going to take a closer look. Somehow normal eating practices got lost with the rise of fad diets that promise quick-fix solutions Is your eating normal of disordered? Let’s find out.

What is normal eating?

Normal eating can sometimes also be called intuitive eating or mindful eating and describes listening to the cues in our bodies to guide our eating habits, rather than following harmful diet trends or eating to cope with our feelings. When we eat intuitively, we listen to what our body needs and avoid harmful food restrictions or overeating. For example, eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are full. When we eat intuitively, we also won’t ban important food groups or be fixated on labelling foods as “good” or “bad”. 

Intuitive eating is making peace with food and understanding that food is good for helping us live healthier and longer. However, many practice disordered eating rather than intuitive eating from time to time. To better understand how disordered eating compares to normal eating, take a look at the table below.  

Where would you say your diet fits?

Table of Disorder and Normal eating habits

What causes disordered eating? 

It’s unlikely that your diet will fall under the normal eating side all the time. I know my diet is certainly not perfect all the time and I welcome that.

There are some factors that can make us more likely to develop disordered eating behaviours. 

Take, Adam for example. He often skips breakfast because he is rushing out the door in the morning so he won’t be late for work. When he gets to work, he finds that has to rely on the office’s cakes and baked goods to sustain him for the day. But he has heard about how “bad” these foods are for him, and he remembers hearing his friends and family making snide comments that he has gained weight. This makes him feel ashamed and uncomfortable about his body.

He finally gets home after a long and stressful day at work and picks up his phone for some downtime just to be flooded with pictures of air-brushed gym bros on Instagram. This makes him feel worse. So he searches “how to lose weight in 10 days”. He tries following the diet tips but eventually finds that they don’t work for him, so he tries another, then another, and then another. 

From that example, we can see how abnormal eating habits can be influenced by:

Social Influence and PressureSocial media often pushes unrealistic body standards, causing people to feel insecure and adopt unhealthy eating practices to fit in. Negative comments from friends or family about “too thin” or “fat” can lead us to develop unhealthy eating patterns as a way to manage or control weight.
Stress and EmotionsStress and depression may trigger sudden cravings for foods high in fats, sugars and salt such as chocolates, carbs or salty snacks. People can use food to cope with stress or depression, leading to unhealthy patterns like emotional eating.
Widespread Diet CultureOur culture is diet-obsessed. New diet trends are birthed forth left and right, promising fast results for weight loss. There is a lot of nutritional misinformation being spread by many unqualified social media influencers. This means that disordered eating behaviours like restrictive eating are unfortunately normalized. 

Consequences of disordered eating:

Having nutritious and satisfying meals and snacks is important for providing our bodies with enough energy and nutrients to function at their best – helping to prolong the length of our lives overall. We need to eat. However, healthy eating has become a social trend over recent years, leading to the spread of many fad diets. 

One day we are told to follow a cabbage soup diet, the next day we are told to follow a carnivore diet like our supposed carnivorous ancestors. Navigating our way around this fad diet maze can be utterly confusing. 

When healthy eating trends are taken too far, it may lead to “Orthorexia nervosa”. Orthorexia is not a clinically recognised eating disorder, but it describes an obsession with following diets and healthy eating trends (think obsessive clean eating diets). The downside is that it influences people to cut out vital food groups such as meats or carbs in fear of them being “bad”, and ties self-esteem to how well someone follows a particular diet, leading people to feel guilty and ashamed if they ‘fail’ to carry out these diets perfectly. 

Disordered eating practices can lead to: 

  • Undernutrition or nutritional deficiencies- due to rigid food restrictions that cut out vital food groups such as carbs, dairy, cooked food and meat.
  • Developing unhealthy, obsessive and worrisome thoughts about food
  • Binge eating because of the intense cravings that come with restrictive diets
  • Developing eating disorders in the long run

Therefore, it is incredibly important to seek support and treatment for disordered eating. 

What is normal eating? Seeking support and treatment options  

At Dietitian UK, we are passionate about helping you overcome disordered eating and have a healthy relationship with food. Together we can create balanced eating plans, address your nutritional needs and work towards developing more intuitive eating. 

Top tips for intuitive eating: 

  1. Embrace mindful eating, reject diet culture: unless for medical or religious reasons, say no more to restrictive diets and embrace filling satisfying and balanced meals. Try to aim for 3 meals a day with snacks in between. Avoid labelling foods as “good” or “bad”. Savour the joy and enjoyment that comes with eating. 
  1. Recognise and respond to the cues in your body: Listen to your body’s way of telling you that you are hungry and full. Eat because you are hungry, and stop when you feel full even if it means leaving leftovers behind.
  1. Find healthy ways to cope with emotions: when feeling stressed or upset, be kind to yourself and do something you enjoy, like going on nature walks, writing a journal, talking to a friend or whatever else you like doing. Avoid seeing food as the solution.
  1. Exercise for enjoyment: don’t force yourself to do exercises you don’t enjoy just to lose weight. Do exercises you enjoy and allow yourself to focus on how they make you feel.
  1. Respect your body: It’s harmful trying to achieve unrealistic body standards. Real bodies come in all different figures and sizes. Avoid comparisons, and accept that your body is unique and deserves nourishment and care. Allow yourself to enjoy delicious treats without feeling guilty.

Supporting a loved one overcome disordered eating:

I understand it can be hard to know how to support a loved one if you are concerned about their eating habits. Below are some tips:

  1. Expect denial – some might be unaware that they have disordered eating habits because disordered eating is so normalised in our culture. 
  2. Be patient, compassionate and firm – ‘re-wiring’ beliefs around food and changing feeding habits can take some time. Be compassionate and firm about seeking support and making the right changes. For example “I noticed that you have lost a lot of weight and are eating much less than you used to. I feel concerned about your eating and weight. I think we need to seek support about this.”
  3. Encouraging shared family meal times –  if it’s a young person with disordered eating, research shows that engaging young people in family meal times and having open conversations with them can foster a supporting environment and a healthy relationship with food. Try encouraging them to join the dinner table more often.
  4. You do not have to go through it alone – Dietitian UK is here to help.

To conclude

You can think of disordered eating as a middle ground between normal eating behaviour and eating disorders. On a spectrum, normal eating would be on one end, while eating disorders are on the other end, with disordered eating being in the middle.             

This shows there is a risk of disordered eating practices leading to eating disorders without professional intervention, but the equal chances of having a healthier relationship with food with the right support. 

Disordered eating behaviours can be rooted in complex beliefs about food, or insecurities. If you believe you need professional support to overcome them, we are always happy to help you in the Dietitian UK clinic.

References:

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (2023) Prevention and Early Intervention Eating Disorders Grant Scheme 2023/24 [PDF] available from <https://youngkandc.org.uk/images/downloads/ypfWebsite/NHS_Foundation_Trust_ED_VCSE_Grant_Scheme.pdf> [12 July 2024]

Herman, C.P. and Polivy, J. (1996) ‘What Does Abnormal Eating Tell Us about Normal Eating?’ in Food Choice, Acceptance and Consumption. Boston, MA: Springer US, 207–238

Levine, M. P., & Piran, N. (2001). Reflections on the Role of Prevention in the Link Between Sociocultural Factors and Eating Disorders. Eating Disorders, 9(3), 239-251.

López-Gil, J.F., Victoria-Montesinos, D., Gutiérrez-Espinoza, H., and Jiménez-López, E. (2024) ‘Family Meals and Social Eating Behavior and Their Association with Disordered Eating among Spanish Adolescents: The EHDLA Study’. Nutrients. 16 (7), 951. DOI: 10.3390/nu16070951

Tribole E., and Resch E. (1995) Intuitive eating: a recovery book for the chronic dieter : rediscover the pleasures of eating and rebuild your body image. 1st ed.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top