What it is Orthorexia?
Orthorexia is a type of mental disorder in which a person is obsessed with eating only organic foods. The menu selection procedure becomes fanatical and becomes the only vital issue. Such people veer between soy cheese, raw fruit and gluten-free flour, losing their relevance. They are terrified of artificial food additives, preservatives, pesticide residues in plant foods or antibiotics in animal foods.
Some do not eat sugar, salt or caviar as a matter of principle, but eat freely outside their own individual restrictions. Orthorexics are not just any lacto- or pesco-vegetarians, fruitarians, or raw foodists. The taste of food and animal life are not important to them. What matters is whether the product is “healthy”, in which case it should be consumed in large quantities, or “harmful”, in which case it should not be consumed under any circumstances. People with orthorexia usually do not eat salty, sugary, fatty, starchy foods, alcohol, and caffeine. Sometimes flour, meat or dairy products are completely excluded.
Unlike anorexia or bulimia, which are recognized as neuropsychiatric disorders, orthorexia is not currently considered a disease. Those suffering from this disorder are not always obsessed with their weight and care not about the quantity of what they eat, but about its quality, but they care maniacally. Meals occur strictly on time, regardless of the feeling of hunger. Not only products are sacralized, but also the methods of their preparation. The “correct” dishes with a coating that does no harm appear in the house. For cutting products, only boards made of environmentally friendly materials are used.
Signs of orthorexia nervosa
- Carefully examines product labels
- Even on holidays does not change eating habits
- Afraid to travel: in an unfamiliar place, it is not known where to look for safe food
- Preaches his faith
- Appears at the party when everything is already eaten
- Constantly reads about "useful" and "harmful" products on the Internet
It is not clear how such a reverent attitude to food is formed. Most often, women under 35 suffer from orthorexia, men less often. These can be insecure people who find realization in proper nutrition. Or, on the contrary, perfectionists who put forward excessive demands on themselves. Perhaps the real motive for the desire to eat only healthy food is the struggle with obstacles, with the challenge of others and one's own appetite. The process is more important than the result.
Orthorexia is often driven by the fear of getting sick, the fear of looking bad, and sometimes just fashion. The desire for “proper” nutrition was especially fashionable by Hollywood stars, every second of which got hooked on their own original diet, loosely associated with a healthy lifestyle.
When Healthy Eating Hurts
This is not to say that orthorexia is an eating disorder. Apologists for proper nutrition just get a balanced set of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and trace elements. There is no reason to believe that orthorexia is harmful to the health of the body. But for the psyche of a person suffering from orthorexia, the harm can be tangible.
He turns his faith in favor of raw vegetables into a religious cult, and for each his own, and his life into a service to healthy eating! An easy offense, for example, an eaten donuts, becomes a grave sin, GMOs or fast food become the work of the devil. Fear and tension caused by food, while not realized and not reflected.
One can compare this approach with food prohibitions in some religions, but any kosher food, once and for all regulated by apocryphal texts, will turn out to be much safer. In the case of people with orthorexia, the process usually goes on increasing: all new “bad” foods are excluded from the diet. In severe cases, dietary restrictions can lead to indigestion, malnutrition, low sex hormone levels, and more serious illnesses. Voluntary food restrictions may, for example, look like this:
- Microwave kills food
- Milk is useful only if it comes from a young cow
- On even days you need to eat natural products of red color, on odd days - green
- Proteins should not be eaten at the same time as starch
- Cayenne pepper is good for health, it should be added to any dessert
Orthorexia should be considered a serious psychological disorder. For those who suffer from it, everything in life is a menu. If a person has the remnants of socialization, he can only talk about the “right” food. In addition, the search for information, the purchase of organic products and special ways of cooking lead to a lack of time and money for the banal maintenance of health, sports and quality recreation. It is the lack of a sense of proportion that makes the life of lovers of proper nutrition a tragedy.
