When Eating Healthy Becomes An Obsession: Orthorexia
Although eating healthy is a highly recommended habit, as with everything, if it is taken to the extreme it can be dangerous, since the affected person can have nutritional deficiencies
Eating healthy is necessary to be fit or not to get sick. While this is true, the problem begins when healthy food becomes an obsession. This disorder is called orthorexia and today we want to talk to you about it so that you can identify it.
Orthorexia is a modern eating disorder that mostly affects young women. Currently, our society places great importance on healthy eating. This, together with the bombardment of information that exists, can cause the development of this unhealthy obsession.
What is orthorexia?
It is an obsession to eat healthy that can lead to malnutrition and even death. Most orthorexia patients are young women up to 35 years of age who insist on healthy eating.
They begin by stopping consuming red meat, eggs, and dairy. Then, these prohibitions are extended to sugars, fats, dyes, etc. In short: the focus is on the type of food eaten and not on the importance of a balanced diet.
In addition, these patients suffer social isolation and rejection by their inner circle, since they tend to feel superior to others due to the type of life they lead. In fact, they tend to organize their diet well in advance, go to organic markets and analyze the components of each food.
Delving deeper into orthorexia
To understand this new eating disorder a little more, we must analyze its name, which derives from the Greek “orthos” (correct) and “orexi” (appetite). Therefore it means “appetite for what is right”. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the person will not always be thin. The obsession does not have to do with the image, but with eating well.
Orthorexia begins as an attempt to improve the quality of life and diet but then turns into extremism. In this way, what at first is a healthy choice can later become an obsession.
Typical behaviors
The main characteristic of a person with orthorexia is rigidity and prohibition. This means that you are eliminating from your diet everything that you consider “unhealthy.” This is the case of animal fat, refined flours, preservatives and additives.
The problem is that the “unsuitable” list never stops expanding. Therefore, less and less food is allowed and consumed. While in anorexia and bulimia the focus is on quantity, in orthorexia the important thing is the quality of food. However, we must pay attention because it can turn into anorexia.
Therefore, in order to identify someone with orthorexia, we simply have to analyze their words in front of food. They know by heart how each food is composed, they have their own criteria about what is bad and what is good … They also exercise a value judgment in relation to what other people eat.
Orthorexia and family
The obsession is such that the negative side of each food is sought, which becomes part of the prohibited list. In addition, t ienen always they answer when asked why not eat that. In fact, his speech is well founded and may even include scientific research.
Another issue that we cannot ignore is that it is a pathology that usually begins in adolescence. In many cases, parents are also fans of healthy living. Therefore, they urge their children to eat well and even go to the gym together.
The culture of healthy and organic is instilled in the next generation, but the problem is that young people are already born with that legacy, so it is easier for them to demonize certain foods. If sweets are not eaten at home because they are bad for health, the children are more likely to suffer from orthorexia.
This disorder is not as well known as anorexia or bulimia, but it is becoming more common in advanced societies due to excessive concern for healthy living. Therefore, if you know someone with this type of attitude, it is important that you convince him to put himself in the hands of professionals.
