The woman behind the popular food blog The Blonde Vegan, Jordan Younger, recently revealed to her more than 70,000 followers that her vegan lifestyle had led her to develop an eating disorder. Younger says she is a sufferer of "orthorexia," an obsession with eating righteously.
"I would just stand in front of the refrigerator for 20 minutes totally panicking that I wasn't going to be eating the right thing for my body," she told ABC News. "I was a slave to food."
Younger started writing her blog a little over a year ago, and it quickly grew into a thriving brand. The blogger says that for many months, eating plant-based foods gave her energy and made her feel healthy. However, her strict adherence to a vegan diet plan eventually started causing her extreme anxiety.
On June 23, Younger announced in a post that she is now transitioning away from her vegan diet and toward a lifestyle that includes fish and eggs. She reports that she is also seeing a counselor to help heal her mind as well as her body.
Fairwinds Treatment Center applauds Younger's decision to change her destructive habits while also working with a therapist to address the underlying psychological and emotional issues that may have triggered or exacerbated them. Many people with eating disorders also suffer from anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder. These conditions can cause or worsen fixations on food that can be extremely dangerous and even deadly.
Over the last 25 years, Fairwinds Treatment Center has used its dual diagnosis treatment method to help patients achieve lasting recovery, using a unique combination of clinical, nutritional and therapeutic counseling. Led by Dr. Pauline Powers, an internationally renowned eating disorder expert who has over 40 years of experience in the field and has served as the President of the National Eating Disorders Association, our program can help you or your loved one overcome the physical, emotional and psychological challenges brought on by an eating disorder.
