Healthy food obsession sparks rise in new eating disorder
Fixation with healthy eating can be sign of serious psychological disorder
The Observer, Sunday 16 August 2009
Eating disorder charities are reporting a rise in the number of people suffering from a serious psychological condition characterised by an obsession with healthy eating.
The condition, orthorexia nervosa, affects equal numbers of men and women, but sufferers tend to be aged over 30, middle-class and well-educated.
The condition was named by a Californian doctor, Steven Bratman, in 1997, and is described as a "fixation on righteous eating". Until a few years ago, there were so few sufferers that doctors usually included them under the catch-all label of "Ednos" – eating disorders not otherwise recognised. Now, experts say, orthorexics take up such a significant proportion of the Ednos group that they should be treated separately.
"I am definitely seeing significantly more orthorexics than just a few years ago," said Ursula Philpot, chair of the British Dietetic Association's mental health group. "Other eating disorders focus on quantity of food but orthorexics can be overweight or look normal. They are solely concerned with the quality of the food they put in their bodies, refining and restricting their diets according to their personal understanding of which foods are truly 'pure'."
Orthorexics commonly have rigid rules around eating. Refusing to touch sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy foods is just the start of their diet restrictions. Any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out.
The obsession about which foods are "good" and which are "bad" means orthorexics can end up malnourished. Their dietary restrictions commonly cause sufferers to feel proud of their "virtuous" behaviour even if it means that eating becomes so stressful their personal relationships can come under pressure and they become socially isolated.
"The issues underlying orthorexia are often the same as anorexia and the two conditions can overlap but orthorexia is very definitely a distinct disorder," said Philpot. "Those most susceptible are middle-class, well-educated people who read about food scares in the papers, research them on the internet, and have the time and money to source what they believe to be purer alternatives."
Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre for Eating Disorders, said: "There is a fine line between people who think they are taking care of themselves by manipulating their diet and those who have orthorexia. I see people around me who have no idea they have this disorder. I see it in my practice and I see it among my friends and colleagues."
Jade believes the condition is on the increase because "modern society has lost its way with food". She said: "It's everywhere, from the people who think it's normal if their friends stop eating entire food groups, to the trainers in the gym who [promote] certain foods to enhance performance, to the proliferation of nutritionists, dieticians and naturopaths [who believe in curing problems through entirely natural methods such as sunlight and massage].
"And just look in the bookshops – all the diets that advise eating according to your blood type or metabolic rate. This is all grist for the mill to those looking for proof to confirm or encourage their anxieties around food."
Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:56 pm
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alexclaton VIP
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 674 Location: Hell on earth
if people are that worried about their food maybe they should grow the shit themselves... seriously there was a time when you'd eat something even if it wasn't very appealing because it was eat what you had available or starve, now we have so many damn choices lol
but seriously unless you grow it yourself you have no way of knowing how safe the food is besides hearsay...
But you see the set up of those who are conscious of the poisons in food being labeled as mentally ill. Not everyone has the ability to grow their own food, and in reality it requires about one acre of intensive growing to feed one person for a year, not to mention the ability to store the food without it going bad. This article actually has the message that only crazy people are concerned with what they eat.
Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:07 am
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alexclaton VIP
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 674 Location: Hell on earth
you should know by now that they wanna label everything we do regardless if it makes sense or not as a mental disorder... the ones who are loony are the ones coming up with these labels in the first place...
as far as the food, well some people do go a bit over bored with the healthy eating shit just like some people get so overly worried about germs. there's nothing wrong with paying attention to what you eat, however some people would rather starve then take a chance eating something that might have some pesticide or something on it... which is silly, ffs there are people who drink from from polluted ponds and still survive (not saying its a good idea). just saying people worry so much about shit and yet instead of doing something about it would just complain about it (to psychiatrists etc who are of course gonna think there's a problem with these people).
All I'm saying is in this day and age we can afford to be picky, there was a time when we couldn't... we aren't going to immediately die for eating chemicals that are everywhere... if people are so concerned about their food then the only way to be 100% sure its safe is to grow it yourself... otherwise there's always room for it to be tampered with....
