How closely is Veganism related to eating disorders like anorexia?

I notice that the Vegans are mostly very young, and are controlling their diet more for fear of weight than anything else.
It makes me think Vegan is just a PC term for bulimia/anorexia.

The primary features of both anorexia and bulimia are that they are control driven behaviour. Study after study comes up with this.
Sorry but when I read answers from Y!A Vegans they are anorexic and bulimic style asnswers.
It is all about control.

you obviously don't know too many vegans

what worms??

i thought people who are anorexic don't eat? Vegans eat so how could they be anorexic?

People with anorexia do not eat. If they do eat, it's something extremely low-calorie, and vegetables are low in calories. Bulimia is where you binge and purge. For example: You've been starving yourself so you decide to stop at Mcdonald's and order half the stuff on the menu, then stop and get a dozen donuts, then finish it off with half the menu from Burger King. You eat everything you get, then you throw it up.

A person with either of these mental diseases will not come out and say they have them. They try to cover them up by saying things like, "I'm just a vegan."

Making a conscious decision not to eat meat for your health or humanitarian reasons is very different from the mental disorders bulimia and anorexia.

I'm a vegetarian, and my goal is to not lose weight. I eat many complex carbohydrates to help maintain my weight. I didn't become a vegetarian to lose it.

No they are not linked. I dont eat animal products and I'm not sick. I graze all day and love it. It is a moral choice and it is my choice. I dont judge those that have different choices I just dont feel comfortable eating anything that was alive. My boyfriend is a trained chef and we cook a ton of vegan stuff. I have never actually known a vegan anorexic. Most vegans and vegetarians I know are super healthy and love food.

okay first off, bulimia is THROWING UP after you eat. vegans/vegetarians do not do that in general. and being a vegetarian does not necessarily mean that your going to be anorexic. most have very healthy diets and stay slim for GOOD reasons. please use your sources and come back next time.

Veganism is not an eating disorder so there is no proper comparison.

Veganism is a concious choice to not eat meat but generally in educated adults, it's a choice to also have proper nutrition.

I have cooked for a number of Indians over the years who have been vegans all of their lives and so were their parents, etc. They have a wonderfully varied diet with great herbs and spices.

Unfortunately, there are some people who have misunderstood Veganism, and adopted it for the wrong reasons. They don't usually stay with it as a life choice, tho.

Hell no!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im a vegan and its a healthy life style. But yes, it does look like we starve our selves because we only eat fiber, protien, and no fat from fast-food, or meat. Veganism is not close to anorexia unless u make it like that. Like Im 16 5'4 and 99.02 lb because I don't eat fat. It may look like we are anorexic, but we're not unless we chose to be. (which I don't)

well, hope this answers ur question

It's not veganism's fault if the teeny-boppers hijack it for misguided reasons. Of course there are poorly planned unhealthy vegan diets, but there are also good vegan diets.

In my first year of university, I saw both extremes (girls eating just lettuce for lunch and dinner and girls and guys eating fried chicken for lunch and pork ribs for dinner all week). I would love to beat them all up. Oh wait, someone is going to thumb me down.

The two are not medically related. Either you're not observing properly or you're jumping to conclusions. How many vegans do you know anyway?

There is a connection, but it exists because some people with eating disorders "convert to veganism" as a way of trying to hide their anorexia (it gives them a social excuse to turn down certain foods.) This does not mean veganism is an eating disorder or that it causes eating disorders. It just means that some people with eating disorders are subscribing to your logic that it's a more PC way of having people view their eating patterns.

Most vegans have chosen it for reasons like their health, animal rights or environmental reasons (and many for a combination of those.) I am half-heartedly hoping I lose a little weight by going vegan (I was vegetarian for 20 years and have been vegan for a little over a month) but it's not remotely my purpose for it. And so far it's not working!

vegan - Don't eat meat and animal products, Keeps it down
Anorexia/Bulimia - Does not eat anything, trows it up
See the difference

No, but some people with eating disorders will say "I'm vegetarian" in an attempt to cover it up.

My wife is a Dietitian in a mental hospital and she says this happens sometimes.

I only know one vegan personally, and he is an 89 year old Hindu guru or "holy man." My wife is Hindu and has several vegetarian relatives, some of whom are elderly. It's a tradition in India that has been around for thousands of years. We suspect that our sister in law may have had bulimia in the past (but she's not vegetarian or vegan).

Not related at all.

sammy!!---you aren't a little birdie any more?

sandstorm---you KNOW there won't be any thumbs down left when they're done with me!

A friend of mine battled with anorexia her whole life and died in her late teens because of it. The little food she did eat included chicken and fish... definitely not a vegan diet. I can tell you Veganism and anorexia are 2 completely different things. Anorexia and bulimia for starters are illnesses... veganism is a conscious lifestyle choice. Anorexics don't eat, vegans don't eat animal products but can and do still eat as much as they want. I for one eat 3 meals a day with snacks in between... just last night in fact I ate nearly a whole packet of biscuits after dinner which I didn't and never would throw up... something I'm sure an anorexic or bulimic person would not find themselves doing. I can't believe how ignorant and naive this question is. Who are these vegans you are supposedly noticing to be young and trying to lose weight? The only ones I come across are vegans out of compassion and not in an attempt to have a slimmer figure.

Your comparison is wrong. There have been vegans in India for centuries, they also have pacifists.

Vegans and pacifists suffer from some sort of mental illness but it is not bulimia or anorexia.

Your questions makes absolutely no sense.

If someone eats a "vegan" diet just because they want to lose weight, THEY ARE NOT VEGAN IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

If someone does it for reasons other than animal rights, that person is not vegan and it is highly doubtful that they actually pay attention to less obvious animal ingredients in their food.