Hormes

When my younger sister first told me she wanted to become a vegetarian, I was worried. My biggest fear was that she would, like I did, develop an eating disorder. In high-school, I didn’t eat meat for roughly 14 months, and though I can’t be sure now of what my reasons were at the time, in retrospect, I do think in large part it was just a convenient way to avoid yet another food group. It was a legitimate reason to restrict my intake.

But is there any evidence that this behaviour (becoming vegetarian as a convenient way to restrict intake) is common among individuals with eating disorders? What is the relationship between dietary restraint, eating disorder symptoms, and vegetarianism? Is vegetarianism a risk factor for developing an eating disorder or do eating disorders lead many to adopt a vegetarian diet as a socially acceptable excuse to avoid eating specific … Continue reading →