The word “diet” can set off a lot of people who’ve had bad experience with diet plans. Like fashion fads & faux pas, trendy diets can be hit or miss & are largely influenced by the information immediately available.
Research has shown that humans require a diverse array of nutrition on a daily basis, but the question is how?
How do we get everything we need without anything we don’t? Some people believe they’ve found the answers among lifestyle diets.
For some these lifestyle diets take on a like of their own & manifest (alongside over mental health issues) as eating disorders, which we will also talk about.
Diet
(noun.)
- The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
- A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
(verb.)
- Restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight.
Origin
Middle English from Old French diete (noun), dieter (verb), via Latin from Greek diaita ‘a way of life’.
Herbivore, Omnivore & Carnivore
- Herbivores eat only plants
- Omnivores eat plants & animals
- Carnivores eat only other animals
Humans are omnivorous as a group, though as individuals that may not be true.
Kosher
One’s diet as defined in the Torah.
Halal
One’s diet as defined in the Qur’an.
Vegan
One who does not consume any meat, dairy, or consume/use other animal derived products or by-products, such as gelatin, fur or leather.
Vegetarian
Pollotarian
Vegetarian + Poultry Consumption
Pescatarian
Vegetarian + Fish Consumption
Lacto-Veg.
Vegetarian + Dairy Consumption
Ovo-Veg.
Vegetarian + Egg Consumption
Flexitarian
Vegetarian + Very Limited Meat Consumption
Macrobiotic
Buddhist: Whole grains / Cereal & Some Produce
Fruitarian
Fruits, Nuts & Seeds
Raw / Living Food
Unheated / Uncooked Plant-Based Foods
Clean Eating
- Eat for nourishment (instead of for boredom)
- Eat plant based foods (instead of vitamins)
- Eat real foods (instead of junk foods)
Paleo
“A diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit and excluding dairy or cereal products and processed food.”
Ketogenic
Low Carb, High Fat
Gluten
“A mixture of two proteins present in cereal grains, especially wheat, which is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.”
Lactose
“A sugar present in milk.”
Sucrose
“A compound which is the chief component of cane or beet sugar.”
Fructose
“A sugar of the hexose class found especially in honey and fruit.”
Organic
The adjective relating to ‘living matter,’ but also a standard in terms of consumerism.
Free-Range
GMO
Antibiotic-Free
Meal Planning
Calorie Counting
Eating Disorder
National Eating Disorder Association
Malnourishment
The point of which someone is so deprived for nutrition their body cannot function properly.
Dehydration
The point of which someone is so deprived of water their body cannot function properly.
Orthorexia
An unhealthy obsession with healthy eating, to the point of suffering. Not a formal diagnosis. Theories suggests it the behavior pattern might be linked to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
BED
Binge Eating Disorder “is a severe, life-threatening, and treatable eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and not regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g., purging) to counter the binge eating.”
It is the most common eating disorder in the United States.
Bulimia Nervosa
“A serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.”
Anorexia Nervosa
“An eating disorder characterized by weight loss (or lack of appropriate weight gain in growing children); difficulties maintaining an appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature; and, in many individuals, distorted body image.”
ARFID
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder “is similar to anorexia in that both disorders involve limitations in the amount and/or types of food consumed, but unlike anorexia, ARFID does not involve any distress about body shape or size, or fears of fatness.”
Pica
“An eating disorder that involves eating items that are not typically thought of as food and that do not contain significant nutritional value, such as hair, dirt, and paint chips.”
Rumination Disorder
“The regular regurgitation of food that occurs for at least one month. Regurgitated food may be re-chewed, re-swallowed, or spit out. Typically, when someone regurgitates their food, they do not appear to be making an effort, nor do they appear to be stressed, upset, or disgusted.”
Laxative Abuse
The misuse of laxative medications as a means of controlling weight.
OSFED
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders
UFED
Unspecified feeding or eating disorder
Food Bullying
Bullying of any sort is an awful thing. Many people have been bullied over when or what or how they eat. But, what happens if someone is so ‘concerned’ with your diet that they restrict it for you? What if someone’s intention for bullying you is to get you to eat more?
- Food control abuse: starvation
- Food control abuse: saturation
If you or someone you know are experiencing food control abuse, click here or call 1-800-799-7233.
