Orthorexia - do you have it?

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  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    I think it's because there is such interest in health and diet and seems like every newspaper, newswebsite, etc likes to feature things about how food is killing us, or will be soon even if you feel fine now. There's even a whole crop of documentaries that have come out in recent years about the subject. Most of the common diseases in the US like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, have been linked to diets and then, these irresponsible types of articles want to further link them to very specific foods. I've flipped through health (and other types) of magazines that will tell you on one page that, say, coffee is the ANSWER to all kinds of health problems but 6 pages later, that coffee is going to kill you. In fact, that extreme focus on a food, is another thing I see a lot - some food, oil, herb that's going to make you slim, clear out your arteries, fix all your problems.

    So maybe you decide to cut out all processed food and just eat the basics but immediately, you will see/hear/read a bunch of stuff about pesticides, hormones, etc, so, now you feel you have to only buy organic or else grow it yourself....

    I have a close relative who I think has this. I think it's sad when it starts as a desire to take really good care of yourself, implying that all diseases are 100% preventable through diet. Diet is a big factor in many diseases but it's not the only one.
  • NYChick84
    NYChick84 Posts: 331 Member
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    I don't consider myself one, however, judging on the foods I eat on the regular, one may assume that I was beginning to become one. I choose my foods based on what will give me the most substance for the least amount of carbs and sugar. I know that I don't consume all of my calories after I log my exercise, but I do watch my carb and sugar intake.....
  • rebeccap13
    rebeccap13 Posts: 754 Member
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    I'm not, but I'm glad you posted this as I tend to use the term often and people should be aware of this disorder.

    I'd never heard the term before. That link was included in newletter I recieve. It would seem anyone following a Paleo or Primal diet would fit the description. Or perhaps there is more to it than is covered in this article.

    Would vegetarians and vegan be considered to have it? And if so, would it matter whether they gave up meat for humanitarian reasons rather than because they thought it unhealthy.

    Getting rid of something due to a sensitivity wouldn't be considered orthorexia in regards to some people who eat paleo or primal. Although that is an interesting point, same with the vegetarians and vegans.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Surely it has more to do with your mental state that what your diet actually entails? Take me for example, I would love to not eat industrially processed food and eat a diet full of nutritious, whole foods -- I don't want to eat wood, fake berries or year old fresh orange juice* -- but I compromise everyday for various reasons.

    So because there's MSG in my dip, nitrites in my bacon and added sugars in my salad dressing that means I'm not orthorexic? But if I had access to and could afford to eat what I really wanted to then that suddenly means I'm suffering from orthorexia?

    No, that's not my understanding of the disease at all. It's when a person believes that healthy foods are not good. I've had people tell me beans are poisonous. That type of thought could be a sign of Orthorexia because there is plenty of evidence that beans are healthy. Thinking things like MSG, added sugar ro nitrates are unhealthy wouldnt be because there is evidence that these can be unhealthy.

    It's not about incuding unhealthy foods, it's about not including healthy foods because you think them unhealthy. From what I read, it's really the "why" that defines the disease. If I exclude whole wheat because I'm glucose intolerant, that would not make me Orthorexic. If I exclude whole wheat because I think the entire world is glucose intolerant, that could be a sign of it.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    Oh great. Now my family is going to accuse me of having this disorder.
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
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    I have a close relative who I think has this. I think it's sad when it starts as a desire to take really good care of yourself, implying that all diseases are 100% preventable through diet. Diet is a big factor in many diseases but it's not the only one.

    Related to this, I think is also the supplement takers. A TV show (I'm looking at you Dr Oz) says that such and such supplement prevents X disease, then a magazine says some other supplement prevents Y disease but then these tv shows and magazines have to stay in business so they have to come up with something new on a daily or weekly basis in order to keep their membership up. Then you have people taking so many supplements that really don't matter for the most part.

    I remember watching a Dr G Medical Examiner episode where a woman mysteriously died and was totally into health and nutrition. She had a huge shelf of supplements she took every day and it was actually the reactions between the supplements that killed her.
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
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    The key word in there is the progressive nature of it.

    Most dieters, paleo, vegan, etc... are not Orthorexic, but some are. Much like how if you begin restricting your food intake and progressively tighten the clamps continuously, you will end up anorexic, eating what you to believe to be healthy then progressively adjusting your intake obsessed with healthy eating perfection will lead to orthorexia.

    Moreso than paleo, raw veganism is closely associated with orthorexia, the healthy ideal of raw veganism is not a sustainable diet for humans and will lead to malnourishment. However there are many paleoists who are orthorexic as well, utterly obsessed with the healthfulness of a small subset of foods to the exclusion (and virtual hatred) of all others. However it isn't nearly as physically debilitating as a raw vegan diet because your average pure paleo diet is not as prone to malnourishment, even if the mental side of the orthrexia is the same.

    I ti sjust a logical outcome of our society's relationship with food. Over time there has been an increased labeling of foods as good foods and bad foods. Healthy and healthier. We are long past the days of food being meals or dessert, where that which is not dessert is good for you, without any particular item being better or worse for you. Believing in that sort of system nowadays is akin to food athieism, foods are labeled good and bad nowadays, and every different sect has their own definition of good and bad. The logical extreme of this labeling has to exist, people who beleieve a very small subest of food is the healthiest, and all else is bad and inedible, taking the ideals of their particular sect to the extreme.

    Would you please elaborate such.....mmm...statements ?
    cheers
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Surely it has more to do with your mental state that what your diet actually entails? Take me for example, I would love to not eat industrially processed food and eat a diet full of nutritious, whole foods -- I don't want to eat wood, fake berries or year old fresh orange juice* -- but I compromise everyday for various reasons.

    So because there's MSG in my dip, nitrites in my bacon and added sugars in my salad dressing that means I'm not orthorexic? But if I had access to and could afford to eat what I really wanted to then that suddenly means I'm suffering from orthorexia?

    No, that's not my understanding of the disease at all. It's when a person believes that healthy foods are not good. I've had people tell me beans are poisonous. That type of thought could be a sign of Orthorexia because there is plenty of evidence that beans are healthy. Thinking things like MSG, added sugar ro nitrates are unhealthy wouldnt be because there is evidence that these can be unhealthy.

    It's not about incuding unhealthy foods, it's about not including healthy foods because you think them unhealthy. From what I read, it's really the "why" that defines the disease. If I exclude whole wheat because I'm glucose intolerant, that would not make me Orthorexic. If I exclude whole wheat because I think the entire world is glucose intolerant, that could be a sign of it.

    Again though, those may be signs but it is not the whole picture. Above and beyond the tenents of this diet ethos or that, no matter how silly they may be, there also has to be a progressive nature to it. An unending obsession to eliminate all impurity, getting stricter and stricter and stricter.
  • mommymeg2
    mommymeg2 Posts: 145 Member
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    We joked that my husband was orthorexic. It was frustrating for us all because we couldn't enjoy going to a birthday party without hearing about the 100 ways the food we ate could potentially kill us. Thankfully he realized it was becoming an obsession and he has since learned it's about balance and has relaxed a bit.
  • amymt10
    amymt10 Posts: 271 Member
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    WOW!!! Very interesting!!!!
  • carpar1
    carpar1 Posts: 211 Member
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    Oh great. Now my family is going to accuse me of having this disorder.

    Ditto!
  • KombuchaCat
    KombuchaCat Posts: 834 Member
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    Interesting...I am a healthnut but not to the extreme. I'm vegetarian (almost totally vegan) and eat as close to 100% organic as I can but am not progressing to eating virtually nothing. This sounds almost like an OCD type thing.
  • HealthFreak1967
    HealthFreak1967 Posts: 116 Member
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    i think i may, but i have recurrent binges, the worse of which i do consume things i render 'bad' 'unhealthy' or 'off limits', and i used to make myself purge because I want to be pure and cleansed, but now I made myself stop b/c of all the side effects
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Interesting...I am a healthnut but not to the extreme. I'm vegetarian (almost totally vegan) and eat as close to 100% organic as I can but am not progressing to eating virtually nothing. This sounds almost like an OCD type thing.

    Yes, I read about it on a few other Medical sites and the obsessive nature is what defines the condition (there is still debate an whether to make it a recognized disease). And often those with it feel virtuous about their eating habits.

    This is from webmd:
    http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/anorexia-nervosa/news/20001117/orthorexia-good-diets-gone-bad
    So what constitutes orthorexia?

    --Are you spending more than three hours a day thinking about healthy food?
    --Are you planning tomorrow's menu today?
    --Is the virtue you feel about what you eat more important than the pleasure you receive from eating it?
    --Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet increased?
    --Have you become stricter with yourself?
    --Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthy? Do you look down on others who don't eat this way?
    --Do you skip foods you once enjoyed in order to eat the "right" foods?
    --Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat anywhere but at home, distancing you from friends and family.
    --Do you feel guilt or self-loathing when you stray from your diet?
    --When you eat the way you're supposed to, do you feel in total control?
  • cameralinds
    cameralinds Posts: 239
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    There is healthy eating, organic eating, veganism, whatever label you put on something and then there is Orthorexia. Orthorexia is connected with underlying issues that create the behavior in the first place. While someone can be a mostly organic eater who is also vegan, they won't necessarily be using it as a "coping mechanism" or as something they can "control." I hate using the word control because that's what eating disorders are mostly about, but it's also not about control at all to a degree. I'm digressing. Anyway, my point, healthy eating is sometimes just healthy eating. Healthy eating can sometimes be Orthorexia, but it's more than likely, if someone has it, they know. (Based on overwhelming anxiety for eating something not on their meal plan. They just might not know the name for it.)
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    I have a close relative who I think has this. I think it's sad when it starts as a desire to take really good care of yourself, implying that all diseases are 100% preventable through diet. Diet is a big factor in many diseases but it's not the only one.

    Related to this, I think is also the supplement takers. A TV show (I'm looking at you Dr Oz) says that such and such supplement prevents X disease, then a magazine says some other supplement prevents Y disease but then these tv shows and magazines have to stay in business so they have to come up with something new on a daily or weekly basis in order to keep their membership up. Then you have people taking so many supplements that really don't matter for the most part.

    I remember watching a Dr G Medical Examiner episode where a woman mysteriously died and was totally into health and nutrition. She had a huge shelf of supplements she took every day and it was actually the reactions between the supplements that killed her.


    Yes I agree with you! I knew a woman like this who eventually died of cancer. When she finally sought treatment (since she was very anti-Western medicine) she was at stage 4, it had spread all over her body. It was really sad.

    My close relative has gone through several supplement 'phases' and is truly insulted if she gets so much as a head cold because it seems to her that she should not get sick at all, based on her diet and vitamin intake.
  • ipag
    ipag Posts: 137
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    Judging by the parameters given, pretty much everyone on MFP has some form of Orthorexia.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Judging by the parameters given, pretty much everyone on MFP has some form of Orthorexia.

    I thought the same thing. The webmd article sited above also states:

    "If you answered yes to two or three of these questions, you may have a mild case of orthorexia. Four or more means that you need to relax more when it comes to food. If all these items apply to you, you have become obsessed with food."

    If being honest, I'd reply yes to one of those questions, and sometimes to three others. But I'm thinking the "sometimes" would save me from a diagnosis.
  • SkinnyChemicals
    SkinnyChemicals Posts: 86
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    I eat empty calories everyday. Yummy empty calories..so no.
  • ipag
    ipag Posts: 137
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    I think these questions are kind of BS but these are the questions I answered yes to.

    --Are you planning tomorrow's menu today?
    Yes, because I prefer not to go shopping everyday. I usually plan my meals a week at a time plus it helps with my budget.

    --Have you become stricter with yourself?
    Yes, that's how you lose weight, right?

    --Do you skip foods you once enjoyed in order to eat the "right" foods?
    Yes, I used to eat pasta everyday, can't do that anymore, and I still would if I didn't become morbidly obese.

    By these standards I have a mild case of orthorexia.

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