When to eat healthy becomes a dangerous obsession

By Cara Roberts Murer

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 14, 2019 (HealthDay News) – When eating healthy becomes an obsession at any time of the day or night, it could be a sign of trouble.

An extreme concern with a healthy diet is a food order called orthorexia nervosa. Although less known than anorexia nervosa or bulimia – and not as well documented – a new study review indicates that orthorexia can also have serious emotional and physical consequences.

"Orthorexia is really more than a healthy diet," said Jennifer Mills, co-author of the journal, associate professor of health at York University in Toronto. "It's a healthy diet pushed to the extreme, where it starts to cause problems to people in their lives and begins to feel completely out of control."

The review of published research on disorder worldwide has recently been published in the journal Appetite.

Mills and her colleague Sarah McComb examined risk factors and the links between orthorexia and other mental disorders. Orthorexia, unlike some other eating disorders, is not yet recognized in conventional psychiatric textbooks.

A healthy diet at the extreme

No clear line separates a healthy diet from the extreme diet of orthorexia.

The foods that a person with orthorexia could avoid are the same ones that a person with healthy habits could avoid: preservatives, synthetic products, salt, sugar, fats, dairy products, others animal products, genetically modified or non-organic foods.

It comes down to whether avoiding food leads to obsession – taking too much time and energy to think and wonder what to eat. Some people can eliminate many categories of food and eat only a very small number of things. People suffering from orthorexia are usually less concerned with reducing calories than with the perceived quality of their foods.

"They often take more and more time thinking about the foods they have to buy, in particular, that keep them from living their whole lives," said Lauren Smolar, who did not participate in the event. # 39; s exam. She is Program Director of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a non-profit association. "This can lead to malnutrition or weight loss in a very difficult and potentially dangerous way."

A person suffering from orthorexia could be so focused on the types of foods and on the preparation of these foods that it becomes impossible to eat unmanufactured foods at home.

"This can lead to all sorts of problems, such as isolation, the inability to eat in others or not being able to eat in a restaurant, lest the food has not been prepared for very pure and clean way, "said Mills. "It's the kind of thing that could make a person feel that it's taking their life."

Cultural trends could fuel these fears, Mills said. Through the Internet and social media, users have unrestricted access to information, whether it is good or not based on scientific evidence.

Food trends that restrict certain foods are worrisome, said Smolar, who added that dieting is one of the main triggers of eating disorders. All foods are good in moderation, she said, and a diversified diet is preferable.

Although many believe that eating disorders are a problem that affects young women, orthorexia seems to be experienced in the same way by men and by women, the study revealed.

People who follow a vegan or vegan diet or have a poor body image are at higher risk.

For some, the underlying cause is another eating disorder, and healthy eating is considered a socially acceptable way to limit calories, Mills said. For others, obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety can manifest itself in the need to eat very rigidly.

"In this sense, it looks a lot like what we see in other types of OCD, where someone may be afraid of being sick or being exposed to germs." he's not doing it. " Wash your hands enough or they do not do something in a very special way, "Mills said.

Get help

Orthorexia should be taken seriously, said Mills. Talk to your primary care doctor. Meeting a psychologist who specializes in anxiety disorders, eating disorders or body image can also be helpful, she said.

NEDA offers an online screening tool that assesses the risks and a helpline where you can voice your concerns and know the resources.

"As awareness increases, more and more people are recognizing the symptoms and looking for opportunities for help," said Smolar. "It's something that I think we still have a lot to learn."