What is ‘orthorexia’ and could YOU be suffering from it?

What is orthorexia?

Orthorexia is a condition where sufferers have an unhealthy obsession with what would normally be healthy eating.

They are often fixated on being righteous when it comes to their food intake.

For many sufferers, following an obsessively healthy diet is not about weight loss but more about becoming ‘invincible’ to diseases and feeling like the ‘ultimate physical specimen’.

A doctor who recovered from the condition told orthorexia.com: “I pursued wellness through healthy eating for years, but gradually I began to sense that something was going wrong. The poetry of my life was disappearing. My ability to carry on normal conversations was hindered by intrusive thoughts of food.

“The need to obtain meals free of meat, fat, and artificial chemicals had put nearly all social forms of eating beyond my reach. I was lonely and obsessed. … I found it terribly difficult to free myself. I had been seduced by righteous eating. The problem of my life's meaning had been transferred inexorably to food, and I could not reclaim it.”

What are the symptoms?

Orthorexia is sometimes more difficult to detect than other eating disorders as sufferers can come across as looking healthy and fit. Obsession with healthy eating and avoiding unhealthy foods can often lead to anxiety and depression, which manifests itself through the sufferer’s behaviour.

Orthorexics can become withdrawn, avoiding situations where they might be tempted by unhealthy foods.

They may also be controlling about what sort of foods they eat as well as how their food is prepared or by whom.

How is it harmful?

Sufferers of orthorexia not only inevitably develop physical health problems, but they are also more prone to anxiety and depression. Linking food with self esteem and self worth can cause distressing mental health problems that can really affect the sufferer’s life.

Is it unhealthy to follow a ‘healthy’ diet?

Following a healthy balanced diet by no means suggests that you might be orthorexic.

It is when healthy eating becomes OBSESSIVE and prevents you from leading a normal, active life that it becomes a problem.

How is Orthorexia treated?

If you are worried that you or a loved one is suffering from obsessive eating habits such as orthorexia, it’s important that you contact your GP.

Talking therapies such as counselling can help sufferers come to the realisation that though eating healthily is important, placing value in one’s diet alone is detrimental to their self esteem. A counsellor will also talk through reasons why so much focus has been put on healthy eating and how to lead a normal, healthy lifestyle without so many restrictions.

Why are people talking it about it NOW?

The trend of ‘clean eating’ has spread like wild fire across Instagram and Twitter, with bloggers and Instagram stars becoming household names in their own right.

Sharing pictures of ‘clean’ meals and recipes encourages users to feel validated by their obsessive food choices.

Though lifestyle bloggers can’t be held fully accountable for the onset of orthorexia, the influence of online media no doubt plays a role in exacerbating feelings related to orthorexia.

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If you are worried about orthorexia or any other eating disorder, visit www.b-eat.co.uk