When “Healthy Eating” Starts to Become Unhealthy

Wanting to eat well and look after your health can be a positive thing. But sometimes an interest in nutrition can gradually become more rigid, rule-driven and anxiety-provoking.

What starts as “I’m trying to eat healthier” can slowly turn into “I can’t eat that.”

Foods may begin to be labelled as clean, healthy, safe, bad, processed or unhealthy. The list of foods that feel acceptable can become smaller, while the amount of time spent thinking about food becomes greater.

So, when does an interest in healthy eating become something worth paying attention to?

When food rules start multiplying

You might begin with one or two changes, such as reducing certain foods or checking nutrition labels. Over time, however, more rules can creep in.

You may find yourself:

• checking calories, carbohydrates, fat, sugar or ingredients frequently

• avoiding foods you once enjoyed

• always choosing the lowest-calorie or “healthiest” option

• feeling uncomfortable eating food prepared by someone else

• worrying about ingredients you cannot control

• feeling guilty after eating foods you consider “bad”

• trying to compensate afterwards by restricting food or exercising

• spending increasing amounts of time planning and thinking about food.

The individual behaviour isn't always the issue.

The rigidity and anxiety around it are often more important.

When eating begins to affect everyday life

One of the signs I look for is whether food rules are starting to interfere with someone's life.

Can you go to a restaurant without needing to check the menu beforehand?

Can you eat a meal someone else has cooked?

Can you have birthday cake because it's someone's birthday?

Can plans around food change without causing significant anxiety?

Can you choose something simply because you enjoy it?

When maintaining a particular way of eating begins to take priority over relationships, social occasions, spontaneity or enjoyment, it may no longer be supporting your overall wellbeing.

But isn't wanting to eat healthily a good thing?

Nutrition absolutely matters.

But nutrition isn't about achieving a “perfect” diet.

Eating also has social, emotional, cultural and practical roles in our lives. Convenience matters. Enjoyment matters. Sharing food with other people matters. And being able to eat flexibly matters. A healthy relationship with food allows room for different foods without needing every meal to meet a particular set of rules.

A useful question to ask yourself

Rather than asking:

“Is my diet healthy enough?”

you might ask:

“Are my food choices supporting my life or is my life increasingly organised around my food choices?”

If thoughts about food, ingredients, weight or eating are taking up a lot of mental space, or breaking your food rules leads to guilt, anxiety, restriction or compensatory behaviours, it may be worth seeking support.

Support is about more than knowing what to eat

For many people struggling with rigid eating, the problem isn't a lack of nutrition knowledge. In fact, they may know a great deal about food and nutrition.

The harder part can be learning to tolerate uncertainty, challenge rigid food rules, understand the fears underneath them and gradually build greater flexibility around eating.

As both an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Registered Counsellor, I work with the nutritional and emotional aspects of eating, including eating disorders, disordered eating, food anxiety and difficult relationships with food.

Support doesn't mean giving up on health.

Sometimes it means developing a way of eating that supports both your physical health and your ability to live your life.

Helen Dean

Accredited Practising Dietitian | Registered Counsellor

Currently welcoming new clients and referrals.