Alanis Morissette opens up about her eating disorder
SHE’S one of the most loved singers of the 90s, but Alanis Morissette says she has battled with bingeing and purging over the years.
SINGER Alanis Morissette is opening up about her battles with various eating disorders in a new book.
The Ironic hit maker has battled with bingeing, purging, starving herself and overeating over the years. But she admits she had to take a different approach to break her habits, because food addiction issues are nothing like those linked to drug or alcohol abuse.
She tells Women’s Health, “The big question for me around eating-disorder recovery is, ‘What is sobriety with food?’ We know with alcohol, you just don’t drink it and don’t go to a bar. With heroin, you just don’t go near it.
“Whereas with food, you have to eat, so how can one go from, in my case, bingeing and purging, starving, overeating, the scale going up and down — how can I go from that to a sober approach?”
Although Morrissette’s bad habits with food began as a child, the singer insists her spirituality and the way she applies it to her new way of eating is finally paying off.
She continues, “I’ve been so disassociated for most of my life, and it’s shown up in various forms like eating disorders and not having boundaries around having sex as a young person, and just not being aware of boundaries and having a lot of mine be violated and not considered.
“For me, the idea of building boundaries has become a huge part of my spiritual practice.”
And she has started paying close attention to food that makes her feel bad and good, adding, “I was raised on macaroni and cheese, but I’ve noticed allergies that have gone away when I step away from dairy.
“I’ve noticed when I get the high-nutrient greens, I sleep better. There’s less moodiness. Food is entirely medicine to me.
“That doesn’t mean I’m just eating seeds and raspberries, although that’s fun, too.”
Morrissette is planning to detail her struggles in an as-yet-untitled memoir due out later this year.