Orthorexia: Is it Possible To Eat Too Healthy?

Colorado physician Steven Bratman coined the term Orthorexia in 1997 to describe people who are virtually obsessed with eating perfectly healthy diets. He used the Greek root “orthos” meaning “correct”, with “orexis” for “appetite”. Unlike anorexia (which technically means “no appetite”) and bulimia (the translation of which is “ox hunger”), orthorexia has yet to be defined as an eating disorder in the psychological diagnostic manuals. The focus is not as much on body appearance as what goes into the body: Those with orthorexia are not as much concerned with what they look like as with how they may be damaging their body by ingesting some chemicals or components that are impure or unhealthy.

Meanwhile, these people (mostly women) are becoming malnourished and ill because of their attempts to eat healthy. In addition to an obsessive focus on avoiding certain foods or food components, such as fat, chemicals, additives or processed foods there is also a fear of poisoning their body and a need to ingest only “pure” or “natural” and wholesome foods and ingredients. Common characteristics of those with orthorexia include reading labels to excess, avoiding eating in restaurants or anywhere else where someone else has prepared their food, and spending hours a day planning their next few meals.

It’s not unusual for a person with this disorder to have virtually the same foods at each meal every day. For instance, someone will express concern with their diet and recite their usual intake as oatmeal and fresh fruit at breakfast, yogurt and carrot sticks for lunch, and grain-fed chicken breast with brown rice and a vegetable for dinner. A snack might be rice cakes or fresh fruit. Sound healthy? Well, all the foods are low in fat and dense in nutrition. But there is hardly enough of it! A diet like this is lacking in virtually every nutrient, including calories (of which there are fewer than 800), protein (fewer than 40 grams), fat (fewer than 10 grams), calcium, and most other vitamins and minerals.

The focus on eating the most healthy foods turns into an obsession and a fear and the result is weight loss to the point of malnutrition. If you believe you or someone you know may be experiencing some of these characteristics, seek attention from a qualified medical professional. The therapy usually focuses on re-training the person’s perception of food and what is actually healthy. The goal is to return the person to enjoying life and meals more, and including a greater variety of foods in their diet to take in the nutrition their body really needs.

photo credit: Francis Mayne