We all know that we should consume vegetables because they are healthy but have you heard about orthorexia, a medical condition when the person is obsessed with eating healthy.
Christie Johnson is 28 years old woman from Oklahoma, and this is what happened when she decided to consume only vegetables.
Healthy Eating Turned into an Eating Disorder
Christie became obsessed with eating healthy and clean food due to excessive weight. She even almost missed visiting her grandfather when he was about to have a surgery because she didn’t want to miss her workout session. Orthorexia is actually having a healthy lifestyle not just consuming healthy food. She used to go to the gym three times a day and consumed only vegetables.
Vegetable-Only Diet for One Year
This woman avoided all things that she considered to be unhealthy. She consumed only vegetables because she was afraid that she will get ill if she consumed processed food, meat and any other food besides vegetables.
When she was 24, she started the vegetable-only diet. She didn’t think that by avoiding processed and other foods and consuming only vegetables will lead to eating disorder. During that year, besides consuming only greens and other vegetables, she also did cardio exercises twice a day and lifted heavy weighs almost every day as well.
Can You Stay Healthy with Just Vegetables?
We all know that vegetables are rich in nutrients which cannot be found in processed foods, but there are other nutrients that are not found in vegetables like:
Protein: The highest amount of protein is found in animal products, and protein play a major role in creating new cells.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Veggies do contain omega-3s, but not in significant amounts. You must consume more fish, along with nuts and seeds to get these healthy fats.
Vitamin B12: This vitamin is only found in animal products. B12 is important so the red blood cells could transfer the oxygen throughout the body.
With the help of her therapist, Christie Johnson admitted that she had an eating disorder. She suffered from orthorexia for four years during which she had lost 44 kg due to excessive training and consuming vegetables. Today she is an expecting mom with healthy weigh and she succeeded to fully recover from this disorder.
Source: http://www.stethnews.com
