I Ate 12 Bananas a Day for Nearly Two Years
Going vegan is not a cure for disordered eating
It was recently National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and the first thing that came to my mind were bananas. I ate thousands of bananas over the course of nearly two years that I tried Freelee the Banana Girl’s #RawTill4 diet.
I’m not writing to specifically bash any one diet. I am one woman banging on one pot amidst a sea of survivors trying to draw attention to a vitally important issue. Of every single mental illness in the book (specifically, the DSM-5), eating disorders produce the highest mortality rate of them all. One person dies of an eating disorder every 62 minutes, according to a study by the Eating Disorders Coalition. And, disordered eating is on the rise.
So, there I am. I had been vegan for six years already, the entirety of which was disordered, and I realize I have an eating disorder. How do I comb out the mental illness from moral conviction? I wish I was certified to offer any kind of professional answer, but I am not a therapist (read: my perspective is in no way intended to be used in lieu of professional help).
I’ve been vegan for about eight years now, but I had disordered eating my entire life. My mother and I would binge eat a tub of Ben & Jerry’s before dinner and lie about it to my…
