'Clean eating' eating disciples alive

An eating disorder specialist has spoken out against the “toxic” effects of the clean eating movement.

Dr Max Pemberton has written an open letter for the Daily Mail revealing the rise in young women who are developing eating disorders as a result of following restrictive and supposedly “healthier” diets.

“For those of us who work in treating eating disorders, ‘clean eating’ – a trend that focuses on avoiding processed foods and consuming raw, unrefined produce – is a phrase we have come to dread,” he wrote.

He notes an “emaciated” 20-year-old patient in her second year of university as typical of the women he sees. Like many others, her interest in wellness has perpetuated a demonisation of food groups, leaving her with a predominantly plant-based diet that is deficient in nutrients.

Pemberton explains that many of his female patients are unable to squat or even walk up a flight of stairs because their body lacks sufficient energy and is subsequently eating its own muscles. In some cases, he notes, their condition is so severe that he refers them straight to emergency services, fearing that they are close to death.

Many will have also developed reproductive issues, while others will develop osteoporosis and fractures due to weak bones.

However, the damages Pemberton sees aren’t exclusively physical.Many will experience mental health conditions such as depression due to a lack of glucose in the blood. Not to mention an endless shame cycle where patients follow periods of clean eating by bingeing and subsequent vomiting.

In the worst cases, he explains, repeated vomiting can cause the body to lose electrolytes which knocks circulation out of balance and can lead to heart attacks.

“At best, clean eating is nonsense dressed up as health advice. At worst, it is embraced by those with underlying psychological difficulties and used to justify an increasingly restrictive diet – with potentially life-threatening results,” he writes.

With figures from NHS Digital showing a rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders in England in the past 
five years, Pemberton believes the problem has been exacerbated by the rise of clean eating in celebrity culture.

He criticises stars like Ella Woodward and the Hemsley sisters for “peddling absolute quackery” without substantial scientific evidence.

Incidentally, Woodward, who shot to fame after she successfully treated postural tachycardia syndrome through a plant-based diet, has since distanced herself from the movement.

“I am removing the word ‘clean’ from posts to ensure no relation to the new meaning of the word and what it has come to represent,” Woodward wrote in a blog post earlier this year.

Similarly, when the Hemsleys appeared in BBC Horizon’s Clean Eating: The Dirty Truth, Jasmine, 36, said: “As with any trend there is always a backlash, which in a way is a good thing as it gets people talking about food. It is a media-coined term. We have never, ever used the phrase ‘clean eating’.”