Media mogul and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey struggled with her weight for decades. In 1988, she famously wheeled out a wagon of fat on her popular talk show. The yellow glob represented the 67 pounds that she lost from a four-month liquid fast—weight that she quickly gained back when she started eating solid food again.
After years of unhealthy yo-yo dieting, Winfrey, a survivor of childhood trauma, who was raped at the age of 9, finally understood that finding peace with her body wasn’t going to be solved by the next fad diet.
Through an examination of her relationship with food, she learned that she was unconsciously eating her emotions.
“Food was just a symbol for me of repressing other feelings,” Winfrey told CBS in a 2017 interview.
One size doesn’t fit all
Unhealed trauma doesn’t stay quiet. It is the hand that unconsciously dips into the chip bag when hunger has long since been sated. Or it manifests as denial of the basic nutrients needed to live. Whether eating too much or too little, functional nutrition therapy can help.
“Our relationship with food is often a gateway to understanding deeper issues in our past that we need to acknowledge and heal,” said nutritionist Jordan Hostetler.
Hostetler, a licensed and registered dietician, joined the Blu Haven team this year to help improve the overall health of clients.
“To do the hard work of healing our interior lives, it helps to stabilize physical health. That is where nutrition coaching comes in,” she said.
Hostetler is an expert in functional nutrition, which is the practice of considering every aspect of one’s health, diet, and overall lifestyle when giving nutrition recommendations.
“There are so many myths about dieting and frankly, one size doesn’t fit all. Each person has different stressors, different learned behaviors, and different nutritional needs,” she said. “I uncover your unique issues. I don’t just tell you to eat an apple and it will all be OK.”
A traditional nutritionist will prescribe a diet of nutritious foods, whereas a functional nutritionist uncovers both the physical and psychological root causes contributing to a client’s unique situation before prescribing a course of action. For example, constant fatigue may indicate a hormone imbalance; unexplained weight gain may be an overabundance of stress.
Blu Haven introduces nutrition therapy
Monique Harris, BluHaven’s director, believes providing nutrition education is integral to the center’s mission of treating the whole person.
“We were really missing the nutrition education piece in our program,” Harris said. “Especially for clients who have been unsuccessful with the standard nutritionist’s recommendations, Jordan uses a combination of science-based and patient-centered approach that yields results.”
According to Harris, functional nutrition therapy enhances her work as a trauma therapist. “When I work with a client, I can identify stress eating. Jordan can then take them a step further and help them unpack that — some physical symptoms associated with trauma can be controlled by addressing their biochemical roots.” she said.
Mind, body, and spirit are the cornerstones of wellness
Oprah Winfrey’s public journey to wellness from a traumatic childhood is a testament that it is possible to overcome both trauma and disordered eating. Her story teaches us that mind, body, and spirit are the cornerstones of wellness. Each needs attention.
Winfrey is candid about the abuse she experienced as a child that left her feeling unsafe and unloved. She learned maladaptive ways of dealing with her feelings. Instead of feeling stress during her years of hosting her talk show, Winfrey said she ate it—any emotion was an excuse to unconsciously eat.
By understanding her relationship with food and her past, Winfrey feels better, healthier and doesn’t worry about overeating now. She learned to manage her eating, opening up space to learn healthier coping strategies.
“Once I became more conscious, more aware of what I’m eating,” Winfrey said, “I became more conscious and aware of everything.”
FIRST NUTRITION SESSION FREE FOR CURRENT CLIENTS
Because we believe that it is vital to treat both mind and body for wellness, Blu Haven is offering an initial FREE functional nutrition therapy session to current clients (clients meeting with Blu Haven therapists during the months June and July are eligible). Email info@wellnessatblu.com or call (301) 824-9890 to set up your FREE hour-long online appointment today.