If youāre like everyone else in the world, then youāre probably really busy. And when youāre busy, often the last thing you feel like doing is cooking a big meal at the end of the day. Unfortunately, this has given rise to some very unhealthy eating habits as well as a skyrocketing obesity rate. One possible answer to this problem is practice meal prepping, a trend which is gathering a lot of attention these days. Unfortunately, like most habits, this trend can also have its bad side if taken too far. In some cases, it could even disguise this newly-recognized eating disorder. And this could be catastrophic for your health. The key is to make sure you are planning the right way.
Meal prepping is one of the most popular trends in the culinary world today. People who do meal prep prepare their meals and snacks ahead of time and store them in the fridge, ready to eat. This trend can make it easier to eat healthy foods because it means that you always have healthy meals in the fridge, ready to eat at any time of day. So if youāve ever come home at the end of the day too tired to cook and ordered fast food, then meal prepping might be a good option for you.
There are a lot of different ways to meal prep. Some people cook meals in big batches and store them in the fridge or freezer, which means the food can be reheated when itās needed. Other people cut up all the ingredients they need for a meal and store them. And then, when youāre ready to eat, it only takes a few minutes in the wok before you have a delicious dinner on the table. Basically, meal prepping can be adjusted to suit your needs and your eating patterns, and itās a good way to improve your diet without having to cook complicated meals every day.
But doing meal prep has become more than a way to eat better. Itās become an art. The internet is full of images, recipes, and threads about meal prepping, and this can be a sign of deeper issues.
As the trend of meal prepping and sharing recipes grows, it sometimes develops into something more problematic, a disorder known as orthorexia. This is an eating disorder thatās only recently been identified that is characterized by an unhealthy obsession with healthy food. People who experience this become obsessed with eating foods that are āpure,ā which usually means they only eat foods that are low-calorie and high fiber. This might sound like the ideal way to eat, but in reality, it can lead to malnutrition and other health problems. The human body just isnāt designed to exist only on fruits and vegetables. It also needs healthy fats and proteins to function properly. Also, the huge amounts of fiber found in this type of diet can play havoc with the digestive system, with disastrous results.
This type of obsession may be fueled by social media. Images of colorful, perfect foods artistically displayed in meal prep containers and jars can encourage people to set rigid rules for themselves about what they eat and when. And this type of rigidity can often be the first sign of a serious eating disorder. People who are already prone to eating disorders or obsessions can be particularly at risk because of their prior tendencies as well as the barrage of āhealthy eatingā messages and images theyāre exposed to.
Meal prepping may put people at risk of orthorexia because it encourages rigid control of your diet and eating patterns. It encourages people to meal plan days if not weeks in advance and discourages deviation from the plan. This tight control, coupled with the plethora of low-calorie, āhealthyā recipes online, can make obsessive behaviors seem normal and even required. And this type of behavior can end up being a serious threat to your overall health. Unfortunately, if you are under chronic stress or have adrenal fatigue, you may be even more prone to these types of obsessive eating behaviors, and this can have an impact on your overall health and the underlying disorder.
Modern life is filled with a variety of tiny stressors. However, these small stressors can build up into a very negative effect on your physical, mental, and emotional health. When you experience stress, your NeuroEndoMetablic (NEM) Stress Response activates. This changes the way organs and systems in your body function. One of the most important changes is the excretion of cortisol, which is released into your body by your adrenal glands. Cortisol prepares your body to fight or flee from the cause of the stress, which is why itās often called the stress hormone. This is an ancient stress response system that once kept your human ancestors safe from predators.
However, in the modern western world, the threat has changed. Predators donāt typically threaten your daily life, and the cause of stress is often emotional, mental, or environmental. Common stressors today include relationships, work stressors, environmental stressors such as noise pollution and toxins, and lifestyle choices such as a poor diet and lack of exercise. Unfortunately, your body doesnāt know that it doesnāt need to flee from your stressors, so it reacts in the same way. And because these stressors are ongoing, the NEM stress response is required to be active all the time as well.
This constant demand for cortisol can have a very negative effect on your adrenal glands, eventually leading to adrenal fatigue. And because cortisol effects every system and circuit in your body, this can cause widespread system dysregulation, including in the neuroaffect circuit, which can make you more prone to obsessive behaviors and affect your meal prepping habits.
The neuroaffect circuit is the part of your NEM Stress Response that connects the microbiome, or the bacterial balance in your body, the brain, and the autonomic nervous system. These three systems exist in a delicate balance, each influencing, directing and controlling the others. Unfortunately, when you have AFS this balance can fall apart.
One of the most common problems that people experience when they experience constant stress or have AFS is neurotransmitter imbalances. These are chemicals produced by your brain that allow neurons to communicate and thus carry out their designated functions. And when the natural balance of these neurotransmitters is upset or when there is a deficiency, it can cause a range of problems.
Neurotransmitter imbalances can be caused by AFS, dietary choices, toxins, digestive problems, and by stress alone. They are extremely common, but it can be difficult to obtain objective proof of the condition. For this reason, imbalances are often ignored, which can cause serious issues. Neurotransmitter deficiencies have been associated with several problems and diseases including addictions, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), anxiety, depression, and other physical problems. This could make it a factor in orthorexia and any health problems associated with meal prepping.
Meal prepping doesnāt have to be a destructive activity that worsens your health and causes additional stress. With appropriate dietary choices, used in a relaxed manner and with an awareness of the dangers, it can be used to support your health, lower your stress levels, and give you healthy meals all week. And these are all very important aims.
However, itās a good idea to get the advice of a dietitian if you plan to use meal prepping to stick with a strict dietary regimen to ensure that you are actually giving your body what it needs and not being overly restrictive. Likewise, if you suspect you may have orthorexia, know that this is an eating disorder that can endanger your health. Please be sure to talk to your loved ones about it or seek out the support of a trusted health professional or counselor, and donāt let meal prepping be an excuse to endanger your long-term health.
The goal is to improve your overall health. One of the most vital strategies involves what you eat. You canāt recover if you donāt give your body what it needs to function properly. Meal prepping can make this process easier. One of the key strategies to AFS recovery is to adopt specific dietary changes that will give your body the nutrients it needs. Meal prepping can allow you to store healthy, nourishing meals in the fridge so theyāre ready when you need them but donāt have the energy or the time to cook them from scratch.
If youāre looking to improve your health by improving your diet, then meal prepping can be a great way to start. People with a busy lifestyle often find this habit to be very beneficial to their health and a great way to save time on weekday evenings. However, this trend can also give rise to less healthy behaviors and obsessions about what you eat, which is a health risk that you need to avoid if possible. As with most things in life, itās all about balance. And when you do meal prep, you need to find a balance between your time, the healthiest foods, and what your body needs in a nutritional sense. Finding this balance will allow you to regain your health after disorders such as AFS and it will also keep you healthier and happier in the long-term.
Meal prepping allows you to store healthy, balanced meals in the fridge so that you always have something healthy and delicious to eat. However, you also need to be aware of the possible dangers of going too far and putting self-imposed dietary rules above the nutritional needs of your body.