Orthorexia and the Perfect Diet Plan
When Healthy Eating Becomes a Serious Eating Problem
Dec 23, 2008
Orthorexia nervosa - though this issue has not been officially declared an eating disorder, worthy of a diagnosis, it is gaining in recognition.
"The whole issue is obsession," says Steven Bratman, MD, who in 1997 coined the word orthorexia from the Greek ortho, meaning straight and correct..." [1]. Dr. Bratman has been accused of inventing a new diagnosis to feed his pocketbook. However, there appears to be a growing amount of evidence that supports Dr. Bratman's theory.
Core of Orthorexia
When an obsession is focused upon eating all the right foods and only the right foods, this could be a red flag for orthorexia. What's wrong with wanting to eat the right foods? The clincher is, the practice becomes so rigid that it loses the healthy concept. The quest to eat with purity becomes a controlling factor in daily living - so much so that relationships are sacrificed to the eater's rigid, controlling desire to eat only pure foods.
Pure Foods
What are pure foods? Some examples include eating only raw vegetables or fruits. Processed foods are definitely not on the eater's list of possibilities. An occasional visit to a fast food restaurant is definitely out of the question as well. Food and creating the purest meal plan becomes the focus of daily thinking and living.
Losing the Healthy Concept
Orthorexia may start innocently enough. For instance, perhaps someone suffers from a food allergy. The eater eliminates this particular food item from the diet. Result, the eater feels better. Next logical step is to remove other "unhealthy" items from the diet. Eventually, this becomes an obsession.
Over time so many items are eliminated from the diet, that, the foods eaten become rigidly structured. Ultimately, the original healthy concept becomes blurred with more restrictions. The more restrictions with what food is chosen, at some point in time will reach a pinnacle when important nutrients are no longer part of the dieter's meal plan. When this happens the "healthy" diet becomes counter productive.
There is also a "high" that may be experienced with orthorexia. Self-esteem is pumped up with the knowledge that the eater is eating healthy foods. The mental, emotional and physical high then feeds on itself, triggering the obsession. Guilt, even severe guilt may follow if there is any variation from the healthy meal. This, too, becomes a factor in securing the overly rigid healthy food intake and practice.
Difference and Similarity Between Anorexia and Orthorexia
Anorexics are severely afraid of being or becoming fat, and therefore, pursue such a weight loss regimen that not only are their caloric intakes curtailed sharply, but they may also pursue an overly rigid exercise program. The exercise may be so focused that more calories are burned than are consumed ultimately leading to health consequences due to severe starvation.
Orthorexia is not fixated upon fear of fat. It is a fixation upon eating only healthy foods - becoming a purist eater. However, the similarity between anorexia and orthorexia is that, the orthorexic develops such a severe caloric intake that this regimen results in extreme loss of weight and nutrients needed by the body to function properly. Organs, due to a severe lack of badly needed nutrients, ultimately shut down.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with wanting to eat a healthy diet. Healthy diets lower the risks of developing some potentially dangerous health problems. However, purity eating to the extreme, holds severe health risks, too.
Sources
Note to the reader: This article is not intended to treat or diagnose any disorder.
 |
