Cleanse trend may exacerbate eating disorders

A recent editorial in Las Vegas-based news outlet Liberty Voice argues that the current "cleanse" health trend is very dangerous for people suffering from or predisposed to eating disorders, saying it provides a ready-made excuse for unhealthy caloric restriction. Many eating disorder experts agree, saying that cleanses can provide a socially acceptable cover for bulimic or anorexic behavior.  

Cleanses often involve some form of fasting, possibly limiting caloric intake to a particular vegetable or juice. The health benefits of such programs are disputed, but many mainstream media outlets have discussed and supported them in recent years. 

"Due to the general public opinion that juicing is a beneficial activity for a person to participate in, those that suffer from eating disorders can have a difficult time separating their disordered food-related behaviors from what they are being told is good for them by health gurus," writer Tabitha Farrar argues in the Liberty Voice. "An analogy for this might be a person in recovery from alcoholism being constantly surrounded by messages that drinking alcoholic beverages is good for one's health."

When Dr. M.K. (Khal) El-Yousef founded Fairwinds Treatment Center in the late 1980s, he believed that people suffering from addiction and eating disorders often share similar underlying mental health issues. Such patients often have co-existing psychological, mental or emotional challenges that have previously gone undiagnosed, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder. While extreme anxiety might trigger anorexia in one person, it could lead to drug or alcohol addiction in another. Regardless, neither patient can find recovery without acknowledging and addressing their other problems. 

Fairwinds Treatment Center helps patients achieve complete recovery through our unique dual diagnosis treatment plan, using a combination of clinical therapy and counseling to promote lasting healing.