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(MENAFN – Gulf Times) When does the worry of eating well become pathological? According to experts, when the desire to eat healthy becomes an unhealthy obsession. Mental health experts call it "orthorexia nervosa", which literally means "good appetite … carried to the extreme".
Hey, we are all a little crazy about food sometimes, right? I went through my part of rigid eating habits in my youth. Orthorexia is rigid when eating steroids. Not to be confused with anorexia or bulimia that focus on the amount of food eaten, people with orthorexia focus on the quality of the food consumed. Eating becomes a ritual. And any food considered unhealthy or unclean is strictly avoided. In this desire to achieve a perfect diet, many end up with nutritional deficiencies, medical complications and little pleasure in their lives. This is why some have described orthorexia as "a disguised disease under".
Many experts recognize orthorexia as an obsessive-compulsive type eating disorder, although the American Psychiatric Association has not yet made an official diagnosis of it. Nevertheless, in 1997, Dr. Steven Bratman coined the term "orthorexia" and devised these questions that indicate a tendency to this disease:
Do you worry more about the virtue of what you eat than the pleasure you get from it?
l Do you spend more than three hours a day thinking about healthy foods?
l Do you despise others who do not eat like you?
l Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet has increased?
l Do you feel intensely guilty if you deviate from your diet?
If they are indicators of food disorder, go back and see what most experts would consider a normal diet:
l You are more concerned with life than with food. You take the time to plan balanced meals, shop and prepare healthy food, but it does not take all day.
l You actually enjoy a variety of healthy foods and you strive to include fresh ingredients in your meals. But you do not necessarily despise others who may not share the same joy in your food choices.
l You do not preach to your children or others that certain foods are prepared by the devil. Instead, you set a good example by choosing healthy foods most of the time. And you recognize that the movie popcorn is not going to kill you.
l You strive to make reasonable food decisions, for example, by refusing fried Oreos at the county fair. But you could share an ice cream cone with your grandchildren without making yourself feel it.
l You do not avoid social gatherings simply because some foods may not live up to your expectations. You make reasonable choices in the choices you have.
l You realize that sometimes life happens and that perfect meals are not always a reality. You forgive yourself and continue. Tribune News Service
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